Continental Produces 500 millionth Floating Brake Calliper

On July 19 Continental celebrated the production of the world’s 500 millionth floating calliper at its facility in Rheinböllen, Germany. Commenting on the occasion, Heinz Zingel, executive vice president of the Company’s Hydraulic Brake Systems Business Unit, which belongs to the Chassis & Safety Division, said “Each year, the Hydraulic Brake Systems Business Unit produces more than 33 million floating callipers at sites in Germany, the United Kingdom, Spain, Portugal, the Slovak Republic, the USA, Brazil, China, Japan and Taiwan. Annual production is some ten million at Rheinböllen alone, making it the world’s leading production site for Continental brake callipers.”

Conti produced the first floating calliper in 1977 in Culpeper, USA, with parallel production in Rheinböllen, Germany, beginning in 1978. The new floating calliper design, known as FN for short, made its debut in the 1980 Ford Escort; today, it is one of Continental’s most successful products. In addition to enhanced braking performance, further development work over a 30-year period has also achieved improvements in installation space and weight. Light alloys are being introduced with the latest FN-AL design. At present the use of alternative materials is restricted to aluminium due to the extremely high demands placed upon these materials.