Hannover-based Continental AG is a leading automotive supplier and – according to the company – is “the choice of leading car manufacturers, offering award-winning tyres that deliver responsive braking in all weather conditions.”
The air around the Place de la Bourse in central Paris, previously home to the French stock market, was heavy with the stench of burning tyres on May 18. Hundreds of Continental employees, together with representatives from the CGT union, congregated at the historic trading site and vented their emotions ahead of planned talks on the closure of Conti’s Clairoix factory.
The conflict regarding plans to end commercial vehicle tyre production at Continental’s Hanover-Stöcken plant has been resolved, the company reports. Continental management, the IG BCE trade union and employee representatives have reached an agreement on a solution that, in Conti’s words, “makes use of all instruments the labour market provides and opens up prospects for 2010.” The agreement will see the suspension of commercial vehicle tyre production at Stöcken as of the end of 2009, a move supplemented by a number of other measures.
“The package is the result of several rounds of intensive talks that came close to being bro-ken off at a number of points. In the end, however, the two sides moved closer and, against the backdrop of a dogged and complex economic situation, faced up to their responsibility,” said Werner Bischoff of the IG BCE Executive Committee following talks on May 19.
Continental has negotiated a deal reportedly worth six figures with Inside Media for consumer PR in the UK, selecting the firm after pitches from five companies. PR Week’s Chloe Markowicz reports that the German manufacturer has given Inside Media a UK brief that will include the promotion of the brand’s safety message and its involvement in the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa. The commercial vehicles side of the business will still be related in the media by Conti’s existing agency Automotive PR and motoring PR will be processed in-house.
The major focus is said to be in publications outside the sphere of the traditional motoring press, with the more generalised lifestyle media specifically in the frame. Continental’s communications manager Laura Hardy told Tyrepress.com, “Inside Media are working to increase our press coverage outside of the motoring pages. A lot of drivers don’t read the traditional motoring media but we still want to take the Continental brand name and our safety message to them, that’s why we’ve chosen Inside Media who are specialize in national press and lifestyle media coverage.”
Hot on the heels of OE reports from Michelin and Pirelli is news that Continental has especially adapted its ContiSportContact 3 for the Porsche Panamera. Conti states the new sports saloon will be launched with its tyres, tweaked to match the car’s chassis and particular specifications. This limited series of Porsche specific tyres will display the designation ‘N0’ after the product name as a point of difference from the standard ContiSportContact 3.
The Panamera’s front wheels will be fitted with size 255/45 ZR 19 (100Y) tyres while the rear will wear size 285/40 ZR 19 (103Y). The alternative sizes 245/50 ZR 18 (100Y) and 275/45 ZR 18 (103Y) have also been approved by Porsche for the Panamera and also carry the special designation ‘N0’.
Continental has announced the launch of its new range of commercial vehicle regional and long distance tyres. The manufacturer has called the launch its “biggest for ten years”, representing four new design features for the second generation of steer and drive tyres, joining the HTR 2, which has been on the market for about a year. The tyres feature entirely new inner liner technology, dubbed AirKeep for its ability to stay inflated for longer, in addition to modifications to the belt, bead and contour design.
Conti is backing up its new range with a “Technology Truck” tour throughout Europe, including a visit to the UK in June, to showcase the range to fleet managers and dealers, as well as providing a new electronic tool, based on research conducted by Continental and certified by DEKRA, which calculates the economic and ecological benefits of fitting the new range to customers’ fleets: the ContiCostCalculator. The series 2 regional and long distance tyres will be available initially in the following sizes: Regional HSR 2 (steer) and HDR 2 (drive) – 295/80R22.5, 315/80R22.5, 315/70R22.5; HTR 2 (trailer) – 385/65R22.5, 445/65R22.5. Long-Distance HSL 2 (steer) and HDL 2 (drive) – 295/60R22.5, 315/60R22.5. The HTL 1 series trailer tyre is still available in sizes 385/55R22.5, 385/55R19.5 and 445/45R19.5.
John A. Bailey Jr., quality systems manager at Continental Carbon Co. in Houston, Texas, has received the Award of Merit and accompanying title of fellow from ASTM International. The Award of Merit is ASTM’s highest organizational recognition for individual contributions to ASTM standards activities. ASTM Committee D24 on Carbon Black recognized Bailey for his exceptional leadership and his contributions in the area of sampling and statistical measurements and the development of new analytical standards.
After spearheading the turnaround of Continental Tire North America’s consumer tyre business, Andreas Gerstenberger will now turn his attention to Continental AG’s retail store business. Gerstenberger was named executive vice president of ContiTrade, which operates company-owned and franchised retail tire stores in 12 European countries. He will relocate to Hannover, Germany, later this year. Bill Caldwell, head of CTNA’s passenger and light truck tire OE business, was named to replace Gerstenberger. He will serve as vice president of sales and marketing.
“Andreas has played a pivotal role in building an excellent marketing and sales team that contributed significantly to the turn around of CTNA’s operations,” said Matthias Schoenberg, CTNA CEO. “He developed an outstanding team, and together they delivered for us a consistent marketing strategy, which included the revamping of the Continental and General tire brands, developing innovative consumer promotions as well as growing our retail footprint to ensure profitable growth for CTNA.
Continental Tire North America, Inc. is to supply Freightliner with original equipment tyres for all its Freightliner Business Class M2 medium-duty trucks. In addition, Continental’s range of commercial vehicle tyres will be optional on other Daimler Trucks North America LLC (DTNA) brands including Western Star trucks, Thomas Built buses, Freightliner Custom Chassis Corporation chassis and all other Freightliner vehicles.
Melissa Clausen, Freightliner Trucks’ director of product marketing commented: “Continental’s heavy steer tyres complement our proven engineering for the Business Class M2 trucks. The M2 is designed for maximum reliability and fuel efficiency, and this is what we found in Continental’s product offering.”
Under a new agreement, Marangoni Tread North America will produce custom pre-cure retreading stock for Continental Tire North America. The new ContiTread will features the same rubber compounding, tread designs and fuel-saving technologies as new Continental tyres, said CTNA, and will be
available to fleets in the US and Canada. In addition, CTNA and Marangoni are working to establish “a total retreading business model” for dealers that will “include setups of retread operations with Marangoni equipment, and sales of the ContiTread products.”
Marangoni will produce ContiTreads based on the Continental HDL Eco Plus and the HTL Eco Plus tyres, both of which are EPA SmartWay certified. Initially, the retread stock will be produced in Marangoni’s Ringtread technology; later, cut-to-length precure stock will be made available. (Tire Review/Akron)
Semperit’s tyre, the Speed-Life represents the Continental second-brand’s affordable entry into the high performance market place. It benefits from an advanced generation silica compound, which gives the tyre better handling characteristics in the wet as well as reduced fuel consumption.
The use of offset tread blocks of varying sizes enables the contact between the tyre and the road to be staggered, this minimises the noise output to give a quiet and comfortable drive.
In last May’s feature on high and ultra high performance tyres, Tyres & Accessories noted the persistence of the rise in popularity for the market segment. In 2008, the trend continued apace, with some figures suggesting that the UK market share for UHP tyres was closing in on a fifth, rising from 16.9 per cent in 2007 to 19.5 per cent last year. It is fair to say that things are likely to be a little different following the financial crises experienced from the middle of 2008, though even if much of the market will be downgrading to lower performance vehicles with smaller rim sizes – as seems to be the general consensus – it is likely to be a couple of years before the market feels the changes. And while even perennially popular cars such as the Ford Focus and the Volkswagen Golf tend towards higher performance tyres, with rims not uncommonly topping 16”, perhaps there is a decent chance that the market will remain relatively stable.
The discovery that 200 burly policemen were waiting for them on the German side of the border led to a spontaneous change of plans for up to 500 workers from Continental’s Clairoix, France factory. Instead of heading in the direction of a company facility in Aachen, the workers have opted to avoid the Polizei and remain on French soil. Thus they have turned their attention to the Conti plant in Sarreguemines.
As of May 6 Continental AG reports that its talks with Dubai’s Moaffaq Al Gaddah (MAG) Group are ‘continuing’, with discussions centring on jointly defining the terms of a possible takeover proposal for Conti’s Clairoix plant. This meeting began the day after management from MAG visited the French factory, 24 hours later than originally planned – the visit was delayed for a day at the request of France’s Ministry for the Economy, Finances and Employment on safety grounds, the site having been closed temporarily following the destruction of fire prevention, alarm and surveillance systems.
At the start of May Continental kicked off its “Road-Show 2009”, and is taking its show truck – featuring a display of its tyres and their various features – on a European tour. The road trip traverses the continent, from Helsinki to southern Portugal, Paris to the Baltic states and on to Sofia in Bulgaria. In total the Road-Show will cover more than 20 European Union lands and stop at more than 50 locations.
Available in 17, 18 or 19” with V, W, Y and Z speed ratings, the ContiSportContact 3 range is the latest in Continental’s range of ultra high performance, sporty tyres. The German manufacturer places special emphasis on the technological developments built on the model of the ContiSportContact 2, measuring the improvements through stringent in-house performance testing. The truism that cars in general have increased the power available to the average driver can be applied especially to the UHP segment, so transferring that increased power to the road with the required levels of control requires of top UHP manufacturers commitment to equal technological advances.
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