Old and New Faces at Federal

Old and New Faces at Federal
Mike Chiang joins the marketing department from
C o m m u n i c a t i o n D e s i g n a t L i n g Tu n g Te c h n o l o g y
Federal Technology Center, bringing us a wealth of
University. A strong supporter and fan of the McClaren
experience and technical knowledge.
Having spent
Mercedes Team, Kimi is extremely into F1 and has
thirteen years at R&D, Mike served as the chief designer
watched the event twice in Shanghai, China. He has also
and engineer of the 595. After studying mechanical
driven at the Zhuhai, China racetrack, and claims to have
engineering at Nan-Ya Technical College in Taiwan, Mike
been to all the go-cart tracks in Taiwan. We welcome
has been with us since. In his free time, he is an
Mike Chiang
Kimi Lan
Kimi Lan to our team.
extremely devoted F1 fan. We are glad to have Mike join
the marketing department. Mike will aid greatly in new product strategy
Steven Peng is a veteran in the industry, having
and in providing us with in-depth scientific industry and market research.
worked for a wheel/rim company in Taiwan for the past
five years as a sales executive. He majored in
Tony Lo is also a new member of the marketing team.
International Trade in College, and is presently married
After graduating from Yuan Zhi University in Taiwan,
with
majoring in Information Communication, his first job was
Department, Steven will be in charge of the European
at Pixel Advertising Co., working on print media design.
Steven Peng
In addition, he has also worked in design/layout at the
1
kid.
Joining
F e d e r a l ’s
Global
Business
market and he looks forward to meeting old and new
customers and friends this year at Essen.
and
the Formoza FD1, the FD2
Hero will be at REIFEN
Both
Federal
will be on display for all to
th
see. And from our Himalaya
in Essen, Germany. We
Wintersports Series, we are
proud to bring you our new
2006 from May 23-26
leading motorcycle magazine in Taiwan – Autobike
Magazine. At Federal, Tony will be responsible for all the
Tony Lo
What’s New at Federal & Hero?
Come Visit Us at Reifen 2006
Paulo
Peng
joins
F e d e r a l ’s
Global
Business
design and visual effects of all print media, web design,
Department and will be servicing our customers in the
will
catalogs, brochures, etc. We welcome Tony to our team, and are delighted
Eastern United States and Canada. He graduated from
Booth#325, Hall 3. We
to have such talent working with us.
Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, Canada, majoring
would love to take this
in Marketing and Finance. Prior to coming to Federal, he
opportunity to meet up
Hero Tire will be displayed
has worked as sales/marketing at an Internet company in
with old friends, and
as a stand alone brand. A lot
share with you the latest
of exciting things are going
Nick Chiu joins the marketing team after positions with
several I.T. companies, and working at Taiwan High
Paulo Peng
Canada, and has worked in sales at a digital camera
Speed Railway. Nick studied International Communication
company in Taiwan. Due to his love of cars and motor
and Trade at Takushoku University in Tokyo, Japan. At
sports, Paulo also worked part time for a car tuning shop. He is single, and
Federal, Nick’s main responsibilities will be working with
during his free time enjoys basketball and driving.
located
at
on at Hero presently. Come
witness the launch of Hero’s brand new CIS. The brand new Milanza
present – consisting of the 595, 595RS, and the brand new 595EVO. Also
promote Federal Motorsports in Japan. Nick holds a very
Daniel Tsay will be our new sales executive in charge
important position for Federal as Japan is a very
of the Central and South American Region. Daniel is
to be displayed is the entire Couragia Adventure Series for on-and off-
fluent in Spanish, having lived in Argentina for 10 years.
road use – the S/U, M/T, H/T and A/T. In addition, the 2nd generation of
important market for us. In his free time, Nick is an avid bowler.
Himalaya WS2.
happenings at Federal.
From Federal, the entire Motorsports 595 Competition Series will be
our Japanese distributors and the Japanese media, to
Nick Chiu
be
HZ1, a new performance tire from Hero, will be launched at Essen. In
addition, two new series will be displayed – the Vanteza and Dynastorm.
We look forward to this event and hope to see all of you there.
He returned to Taiwan after high school to attend Tong
Kimi Lan comes to Federal's international marketing department from
Hai University, majoring in English. Prior to coming here,
our domestic sales/marketing department. His experience is in domestic
Daniel has worked in the travel industry, in the footwear
marketing, working with the local Taiwan media, and pricing and
Daniel Tsay
industry in Mexico for 3 years, and as sales in a PCB
positioning of all our tires in Taiwan. Kimi will now be in charge of
equipment company in Taiwan for 6 years. Daniel is
strategy/planning, and all tire promotion activities locally and internationally
excited about joining Federal and looks forward to meeting all our friends
– international conventions, local launches, etc. Kimi studied Visual
and partners.
New Born Baby!! Congratulations to
Mr. David Lin and Wife!!!
distributor in Suriname (AutoMax).
Working with D Sport Magazine in 2006, Federal’s ads will appear in
FEDERAL TIRE is celebrating the premiere of a
The transformation of our brand reflects our
new brand character – Feddi – that embodies the
uncompromising commitment to compete with the best in
company’s position as a leading tire brand. Feddi’s
the world as a manufacturer and marketer of great tires
every move, and different styles represent different
for all consumers. Feddi reflects the exciting things
values of Federal – innovative yet mature,
we’ve been doing at Federal. It is a visual representation
enthusiastic and friendly. Feddi will now be a part of
of the evolution of the brand and the company. The transformation that
Federal Tire’s Corporate Identity System. He is smart, fun, outgoing, and
has been happening behind the scenes at Federal is now visible to the
passionate, and his choice of clothes reflect his devotion and love for
world.
motorsports. His ever-changing hairstyle will always mirror and match that
We would like to share with you a picture of Mr. David Lin's new baby. David is our
IDRC, D Sport Magazine,
and Federal
FEDDI – Federal’s New Brand Character
of Federal’s latest tire pattern. Feddi will act as our
“Feddi affirms and emphasizes all that we are today and are
spokesperson, constantly communicating our brand and ideas
working to become – contemporary, smart, fresh, innovative, and
to the world – bringing us closer to consumers, and bringing
capable of competing and connecting in new markets and niches”
our customers closer to us.
says Jamie Ma, CEO of Federal.
Syrian National Football Team
Proudly Wears Federal Jackets
R&D in the motorsports arena.”
Federal Tire is a performance tire manufacturer with
operations around the world. With a brand new Motorsports
Line – including the 595 Competition Series and the FZ
Combat Series, the Couragia Adventure Series, and
Mr. Abouras of AAA RAS – proud sponsor
the magazine, and we are pleased to announce that at Import Drag’s
events throughout the U.S.A. this year, Federal’s banner will be
distributor in Syria, the Syrian National
drag racing, Federal will also be handing out souvenirs and gifts at the
Football team proudly wears Federal jackets
events. We would like to thank IDRC for making this possible. Please
during warm-up and practice matches. Mr.
see below for a schedule of the events this year. If you happen to be in
Abouras, a football fanatic, is a proud
the area, be sure to make time to attend one of the events.
Date
Event Name
Venue
numerous other tires to fit all consumers’ needs, Feddi
of Syrian National Football Team – our
proudly displayed at the circuits. To promote Federal into the world of
further symbolizes Federal’s motto – Always Innovation.
sponsor of his country’s team, and has offered his support to them
City
financially throughout the years.
Every single member of the
04/8-9
West Coast Nationals
Los Angeles County Raceway
Palmdale, CA
TBA
TBA
TBA
TBA
06/25
East Coast Nationals
Maryland International Raceway
Budds Creek, MD
10/7
Firebird Nationals
Firebird International Raceway
Phoenix, AZ
10/28-29
Summer Nationals
Los Angeles County Raceway
Palmdale, CA
Football Team competed
11/18-19
International Finals
California Speed/Dragway
Fontana, CA
Taiwan in March.
Source: www.importdrag.com
“Feddi also represents Federal
Technology Center’s dedication to further involvement and
Federal and Hero – Brand New Websites!!
team uses Federal tires on their
Please take the time to visit us on our brand new websites –
addition, we have made shopping for merchandise a lot easier on the
own vehicles – sponsored by
www.federaltire.com and www.herotire.com . We put a lot of hard
new website. New products and specifications will constantly be
AAA RAS!! The Syrian National
work into the structure and design of the websites to serve all our
updated. As for our distributors, please remember to email us for your
customers and distributors better. We hope you enjoy this brand new
password for “distributor login”. We hope you enjoy our brand new
look. Viewers are now able to download the coolest screensavers, read
website, and please provide any comments or ideas you may have to
the latest news at Federal, and download our Quarterly News. In
help us serve you better. Email us at marketing@federaltire.com.tw
in
595RS vs. Others
An Excerpt from Japanese Magazine “Option”
Japanese car magazine, Option, had a special
handle my 600hp S15, so this
feature on Asian brand drifting tires. Renowned
tire should be much more than
professional
enough for most modified cars
drifters
and
drivers Kobyashi from MCR,
available
Huruguchi
Yashio Oka, Huruguchi and
t o d a y.
Even
after
extreme driving,
Kumakubo tested the 595RS
spinning and
from Federal, Wanli’s S-1088,
drifting, tread blocks are still
and Nexen’s N5000 and N3000.
intact, and wear is very even.
Federal Visits Australia and
New Zealand Distributors
On a short 10 day trip to Australia, Jamie Ma, CEO of Federal, Johnny
and brand awareness of Federal in the
Chen, Worldwide Sales Manager, and Norman Chiang, Sales Executive,
country and within the world of drifting. At the
paid visits to 6 of our distributors there to further improve and understand
meeting, we also had the opportunity to meet
the needs of the Australian and New Zealand market.
with and talk to a lot of dealers. We would
also like to take this opportunity to thank
Australia
is
a
very
big,
yet
very
competitive market for Federal. Big players
still dominate the tire market, and Federal
Ya s h i o O k a – “ T h e R S w o u l d
perform superbly even in large,
Federal 595RS
Front: 215/45-17
Rear: 235/45-17
On the same day, two other tires were tested – Wanli and Nexen –
Over
Andrew James, Graham S. Neighbour,
Craig R. Felton, Gordon Smith.
In 3rd gear, the performance
in. Congratulations to NTW on a brand new
3000 square meter warehouse!
Kumho, Nexen, Silverstone, and Maxxis.
Vertical and lateral grip are both outstanding.
Handling has also left me speechless.
magazine tire test which Federal participated
Daniel Watt, Michael Truscott.
competes with the likes of Hankook,
by the same drivers, and their comments are as follows:
international racing circuits!”
Yashio Oka
N T W f o r t h e i r h e l p w i t h t h e “W h e e l s ”
sixty
brands
compete
in
the
T h e n w e w e n t t o Vi c t o r i a t o s e e o u r
Australian/New Zealand area. However, due
distributor for Hero Tires, Chapel Corner.
to the popularity of off-road sports and
Presently, Chapel Corner has a 35,000
hobbying, and the ever growing interest and
square ft. warehouse, and is presently
of the 595RS is comparable to top-tier
competition in drifting, we continue to see
planning another one. Chapel Corner
Japanese brand UHP tires made for strong
strong potential in our new Couragia
DRIFT
grip and handling. In other words, due to
the soft compound of the tire surface,
handling is made easy for the driver. Had
the test tires been 18 or 19 inch tires, I
Wanli S-1088
Front: 215/45-17
Rear: 225/45-17
GRIP
Adventure Series, and distributors strongly
anticipate the launch of the 595EVO.
distributes to all the major tire outlets in
Victoria, and they are very excited about the
new Milanza HZ1. They anticipate and hope for a more complete size list,
which we will definitely be able to do for them.
In Brisbane, we visited our Federal and
believe the results would prompt everybody
Kobayashi– “I would never use this tire
to be addicted users of the RS. This is a very
for straight line acceleration.”
strong performing and well-made tire, it is
The front tires seem to lose control when
definitely made to race and drift.
braking at high speeds. However, considering
Kobayashi
NETA s car with Federal Logo.
that today is my first time drifting, this tire drifts
very well. I am not sure whether this means that
this tire is great for drifting, or whether it should be
seen as a tire with weak grip.
T
DRIF
Huruguchi – “Firstly, grip is weak!!”
Hero distributor, NETA, and met with David
In Western Australia, our sales team visited Cometti Tires. Cometti has
McKay, Paul Hunt, and Bob Hunter. NETA
over 200 customers in their area, and is a strong promoter of our 595
has been very successful with promoting
Competition Series. Cometti also sees strong growth in drifting in
our 595 Competition Series in the area, and
Australia, and thus see strong growth potential in our drift tires. They look
we were more than happy to see the new
forward to our new tires in the Couragia
decor of their delivery truck.
Adventure Series.
In Canberra, we met up with NTW. All wholesale managers came to
Also in Western Australia, we visited our
their Canberra headquarters for this meeting. NTW has aided us a lot with
Hero distributor – Simbay Tyre. Simbay is a
sponsorships of pro drifting drivers, and they hope we sponsor more
very solid and strong distributor, selling tires
events and/or drivers there, believing that this would greatly increase sales
to over 140 customers, including tire shops
The tail of the car tends to lose control when
Huruguchi
and franchise chain stores. They look
braking – this should be due to the sidewall
forward to distributing Hero tires as it will be
and the surface being too soft. Lateral grip is
a strong addition to their present product
much better than vertical grip.
l i n e . We l o o k f o r w a r d t o w o r k i n g w i t h
Kobayashi from MCR – “Grip of the RS exceeds my
Yashio – “Not suitable for timed lap races.”
with a more complete Hero size and pattern
An exceptional, high performance tire made for vehicles
The tire is not stiff enough, front tires are not
line-up in the near future.
lower than 500hp. Handling and grip is exceptional, and the
too responsive, and grip on turns is not that great.
tires seem to follow every direction of the driver. This is very
Although not as bad as snow tires, speed must be
important for a driver like me, I am most concerned about
John Dosset.
Simbay, and will work hard to provide them
wildest imagination!”
Kobayashi
Leigh Cometti, Brian Cometti and
employees.
Yashio Oka
NTW s car with Federal Logo.
Bill Donaldson.
reduced dramatically to enter into sharp turns safely.
grip at all speeds and levels. However, fitting
these onto a 500hp car, when braking and
turning, the stiffness of the sidewalls is a
bit too soft. In conclusion, performance of
the RS varies greatly depending on the
Nexen N5000 & N3000
horsepower of the vehicle, and is optimal
Front: 215/45-17 N3000
for cars 500hp or lower.
Rear: 235/15-17 N5000
DRIFT
Kumakubo – “This tire really smokes!”
Recently, Federal’s tires has appeared quite often at the
Kumakubo – “The rear tires
Ebisu Racetrack, and this must be because of the new
Kumakubo
are ok”
595RS! I am very impressed by its pattern, but even more
shocked after taking it for a spin. All around performance
The N5000 is a much stronger
Kumakubo
performance tire. These tires are
makes this tire very easy to handle. When drifting, performance is
good enough for those just starting
fabulous and the smoke caused by the spinning tires is also an awesome
to learn how to drift, and for vehicles
sight. I only have two concerns – its price is considered a bit high when
of a low horsepower. I would have
compared to other Asian brands, and due to
preferred to test the car with
very few grooves, wet performance still has
N5000s in the front and rear.
Federal Recognizes 2005’s Top Sales
Jamie Ma, CEO of Federal, personally presented an award to the
top sales of 2005 – Mr. Rafael Chen and Mr. Chiakee Hong. Both,
through their hard work and devotion, have not only reached the
sales target in their respective regions, but have surpassed it
substantially. Our customers/distributors have also continuously
praised them for their friendliness and enthusiastic service.
GRIP
Kobayashi – “Not a suitable tire for professional race
circuits”
Handling is not too good during turns and braking. This
should be due to the extreme lack of stiffness in the
GRIP
sidewalls. Had this been a Japanese brand tire, this would
not be acceptable. Not able to handle high speeds, but
should be ok for normal road driving.
Yashio Oka – “Enough if just driving for fun.”
Huruguchi – “Can be used on high horsepower vehicles too!”
Grip is quite normal. Hardness of tire surface and
A true performance tire offering exceptional grip and speed. Lateral grip
is extremely solid. Handling and overall steering both meet my standards.
This tire should not be a problem for timed lap racing. The RS was able to
stiffness of the sidewalls is much less than expected. Not
Yashio Oka
recommended at all for professional racing. I imagine it
would be like using snow tires on asphalt.
In hopes that one day, Taiwan can
produce a driver capable of competing in
the internationally renowned Japanese
D1 competition, Federal Corporation, on
February 21, 2006, officially signed on
to be tested.
Kobayashi
Federal Supports Local Drift Team –
American International Car Company
Congratulations to
Rafael!!
Rafael Chen has been with Federal for more than
4 years. He started out as a sales rep. for the Middle
East markets and after very strong growth, went on
to serve the Central and South American markets
mainly due to his fluency in speaking Spanish. After
two years, Rafael has achieved new highs in terms of
sales and new customers in both these regions.
Chiakee Hong has worked at
Federal for 3 years. He is our sales executive
servicing the Japan and Asian markets. This is a very
important market for us in terms of UHP sales, and is
a very difficult market due to strong competition,
often hindering growth. However, Chiakee overcame
these circumstances to not only achieving and going
beyond his sales target, he has also succeeded in
opening for Federal many new markets in the region.
professional drifter – Johnson Lee.
After careful selection from
numerous
drifters,
professional
Federal
local
decided
on
sponsoring Johnson Lee, seeing
great potential in him in years to
come. With all local media
present, Federal signed an
agreement with Mr. Robert Tsai,
manager of the team. With
Federal’s support, in 2006, Mr.
Robert Tsai and Johnson Lee will lead the team
Congratulations to
Chiakee!!
Congratulations to Mr. Chiakee Hong and Mr. Rafael Chen for their
phenomenal work!!
to participate in several drifting events throughout Taiwan, promoting
the sport locally. Johnson Lee will also collaborate closely with
Federal in the future pertaining to tire tests, offering his expertise to
Federal Technology Center to design a tire that is most suitable for
Taiwan and maybe the international drifting scene.