Continental renames industrial business as Commercial Specialty Tires

Continental AG is to rename its industrial tyres business unit as “Commercial Specialty Tires” (CST). According to the company, the changeover process started in October 2012 and will be finalized by January 2013. Continental reports that the move is part of a global strategy and “paves the ground for future growth in the segment of commercial tyres.”

What Conti now calls commercial specialty tyres basically includes a broad range that don’t fall into the largest car and truck categories and aren’t for two-wheel vehicles. Following the move, the Continental Commercial Specialty Tires unit is expected to “significantly extend and enlarge” its product range and customer service portfolio. There is even talk of  “interdisciplinary execution of projects for various industry sectors” becoming a core competency.

“Moving from Industrial Tires to Commercial Specialty Tires is not only about changing our name and adding some new products to the existing tire portfolio”, says Dr. Michael Andreas Maertens, managing director of Continental CST. “It’ is a big opportunity to broaden our scope and to develop our capabilities to better serve individual needs of our customers worldwide.” 

Further details of the strategy are expected in the new year.