RANCHO CUCAMONGA, CA -- Hideo Honda, chief executive officer and chairman of Falken Tire Corp. (FTC), has retired from his post, effective Jan. 1. After ensuring the smooth transition of his successor, Honda will return to Japan where he will serve as an advisor to Sumitomo Rubber Industries, Ltd. (“SRI”) for the remainder of 2007.

Honda joined Falken Tire in 1999 as president and chief operating officer and was promoted to chief executive officer and chairman on Jan. 1, 2006. During his tenure, Honda is credited with increasing FTC sales fourfold and building the Falken brand into one of the leading high performance tire brands in North America.

Replacing Honda as chief executive officer and chairman will be Yasushi (Tank) Tanaka, who is currently serving as a director at SRI Tire Trading Ltd. in Tokyo. Tanaka joined SRI in 1976, and has spent the majority of his career in the export and OE departments of SRI and SRI Tire Trading Ltd.