Dubai: Tyre makers Pirelli has decided to cancel the production and launch of the 2021 Pirelli Calendar in light of the current COVID-19 emergency.
In the context of other initiatives already undertaken by the company, ‘The Cal’ project in fact agreed to donate 100,000 euros for the fight against coronavirus and research into the pandemic.
Founded in Milan’s Bicocca district in Italy in 1872, Pirelli is the fifth largest tyre manufacturer (behind Bridgestone, Michelin, Goodyear and Continental) and currently the sole tyre supplier for the FIA Formula One World Championship (at least until 2023), the FIM World Superbike Championship and the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series in the past.
Involved with fashion as well in the past, Pirelli has published its annual calendar since 1964 featuring contributions of many famous photographers over the years including Helmut Newton, Steve McCurry, Peter Lindbergh, Richard Avedon and Bruce Weber.
“The production of the Pirelli Calendar has been stopped before, in 1967 and then from 1975 to 1983. The unprecedented COVID-19 emergency has forced us to do so again today. We will return to the project when the time is right, together with the people who today were working on it with us,” Executive vice-chairman and CEO of Pirelli, Marco Tronchetti Provera, has said in a statement.
Now solely a tyre manufacturing company for cars, motorcycles and bicycles, Pirelli today operates in more than 160 countries through 19 manufacturing sites in 13 countries with a network of nearly 14,600 distributors and retailers.
