CTA Praises Staff for ContiTire Awards Performance

Continental Tire the Americas (CTA) has commented on the global recognition it gained during the recent ContiTire Awards ceremony in Hannover, Germany. At the awards CTA project teams walked away with three of the five awards, an occurrence the American operation comments is “indicative of the organisation’s dedication and commitment to excellence, and its key role in Continental Tire’s success in the global marketplace.”

“I would like to thank the award-winning team members for their outstanding dedication to initiatives that contributed significantly to our company’s success,” said Matthias Schoenberg, CEO, Continental Tire the Americas.

The ContiTire Awards acknowledges Continental employees around the world for exceptional performance as part of project teams that provide outstanding value to the corporation. The Americas organisation notes it was well represented among the 192 nominations received worldwide; CTA employees submitted 55 nominations. Twelve of the 25 finalists vying for a ContiTire Award were CTA initiatives.

“This level of activity and success demonstrates to our colleagues and our customers that Continental Tire the Americas is truly engaged in our Mission: ‘Performance is our Passion,’” Schoenberg added.

The three CTA projects that received a ContiTire Award were:  Engage 360, a web-based training program designed for customers and employees of both the Passenger Car & Light Truck (PLT) and Commercial Vehicle Tire (CVT) Divisions; Growth in Argentina for Passenger Car & Light Truck (PLT) and Commercial Vehicle Tire (CVT) Divisions, a strategy to pursue growth in the Argentinean market; The GOLD dealer program, an initiative that provides incentives to tyre retailers in the United States.

The Engage 360 project team, based in Fort Mill, South Carolina, was acknowledged with a ContiTire Award in the “leadership” category. The project also received the corporation-wide BASICS award; this recognition singled-out team members for implementing “the BASICS”, which are guidelines that reflect the corporation’s vision, values and self-image. Engage 360 is a web-based programme that was launched in 2008 – and quickly, says CTA, became the “go-to” training site for customers and employees to learn about the company’s products and programmes.

Another team at the company’s Fort Mill headquarters earned a ContiTire Award in the “business” category for making changes to the GOLD dealer program that resulted in record sales. The GOLD dealer program, introduced in 2003, provides incentives to tyre retailers in the United States for carrying Continental Tire product lines. As CTA explains, the project team implemented changes to the programme that created a significant advantage over competitors’ programmes, and provided the field sales force with a tool that attracted new retailers to the programme.

A team based in Argentina and Brazil earned a ContiTire Award in the “management” category. The group developed and implemented a comprehensive strategic plan for growth in the Argentinean market – and CTA reports the programme has delivered positive results, with the team managing to double the company’s PLT market share in less than one year, and anticipates doubling market share again by 2014. Similarly, the Commercial Vehicle Tire division is charting significant growth in market share.