Press Release

Goodyear Announces Purchase of Big Stake in South African Company

11/20/96

Goodyear Buys Major Stake In South African Firm


JOHANNESBURG, South Africa, Nov. 18 -- Goodyear today
announced an agreement to purchase a 60 percent interest of Contred,
the tire and engineered products subsidiary of Consol Ltd.

Consol is a subsidiary of Anglovaal Industries Ltd., a South African
industrial group.

The $121-million (approximately 568 million South African Rand
including loans assumed) purchase price includes a factory in
Uitenhage, Cape Province, bought from Goodyear in 1989; a major chain
of 195 retail stores; and the nation's largest retreading operation
with 41 plants, according to Goodyear Chairman, CEO and President
Samir G. Gibara.

Tycon, a division of Contred, distributes Goodyear-trademarked
products through direct and authorized distributor channels. It is
South Africa's largest manufacturer of heavy-duty conveyor belts and
power transmission products.

Gibara said the combined sales of these operations were $400 million
(approximately 1.81 billion South African Rand) for the 12 month
period ended June 30.

"Our return to South Africa is an outstanding opportunity, and we look
forward to resuming our activities while contributing to the country's
transformation into a competitive, rapidly growing economy," Gibara
said.

"Reestablishing our ownership interest clearly fits with Goodyear's
strategy for its mission into the 21st century," he said. "Our global
growth strategy centers, in part, around strategic acquisitions and
expansions, fast and profitable growth in all our core businesses and
holding a number one or two position in every market we choose to
serve.

"Goodyear's re-entry to South Africa is an excellent example of our
investment in the future. Here, we will grow our business, provide
exports to sub-Saharan and other African countries, develop new
state-of-the-art products -- especially for applications in the many
mining operations on the continent -- and make the South African tire
and industrial rubber products plant a very competitive world-class
organization."

Gibara said the Uitenhage plant will be integrated into Goodyear's
global network, enabling it to become an export source for Goodyear.

Goodyear products have been available in South Africa since 1916. In
1947, the company began manufacturing tires and engineered products in
Uitenhage, about 20 miles from Port Elizabeth in Cape Province.

As an early signatory to the Sullivan Principles, Goodyear invested
more than $10 million in education and retraining, housing and
community and social programs to benefit its workforce.

"To this day, we are very proud of having maintained our employment
practices in South Africa in a morally and socially responsible
manner," Gibara said.

Through a technology and licensing agreement, Gibara said, Consol
Limited maintained and increased Goodyear's presence at the market
level and continued manufacturing at the Uitenhage plant. He noted
that Goodyear had been extremely satisfied with Consol's
representation of Goodyear in the market, as well as the technology
and distribution enhancements made since 1989.

Goodyear employs more than 90,000 throughout the world, and its 1995
sales exceeded $13 billion.

The agreement will be effective Jan. 1, 1997.