Continental Archives - Page 162 of 229 - Tyrepress

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.”

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Ford Announces 10th World Excellence Awards

The Ford Motor Company has held its 10th annual World Excellence Awards, at which the automotive manufacturer acknowledged 47 global suppliers for their efforts towards helping Ford develop higher quality and lower cost vehicles. According to Ford, the awards also recognise suppliers for embracing Ford’s vision of profitable growth, teamwork and a better world, and the list of companies so recognised includes several that fall under the ‘tyres and accessories’ umbrella.

First distributed in 1998, the World Excellence Awards were jointly developed by Ford and its suppliers. There are three levels of awards: Gold, Silver and Recognition of Achievement. The gold and silver awards are presented to Ford’s top production and non-production suppliers that consistently demonstrate superior quality, delivery and cost performance. The third award, Recognition of Achievement, is given to suppliers that improve customer satisfaction.

18th April 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Viking International – Performance for All Budgets

An impressive range of high performance tyres is available from Viking International, including the UK’s most popular premium brands. And the Glasgow based company is confident it can supply these products at highly competitive prices. Premium brands on offer include Pirelli, Continental, Dunlop, Michelin, Goodyear and Bridgestone in all the latest patterns and sizes.

As an alternative to premium brands, Viking International can supply its own ultra high performance tyre range, Millennium. Intended to provide high performance at an affordable price, the Millennium range comes in asymmetric and directional patterns, each designed with exceptional performance and handling in all weather conditions in mind.

18th April 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Customer is King?

It’s an age-old (and some would argue overused) cliché in the tyre industry, but to what extent is the customer really king in the UK tyre retail business? Could sales staff have even taken this approach too far, at the expense of optimum sales prices? This month, in the first part of an exclusive bi-monthly ‘mystery caller’ series, Tyres & Accessories is publishing an insight into the service performance of retail outlets up and down the country, produced in association with research specialists, Encircle Marketing.

Ever wondered how much the average tyre retails for (broken down by speed rating, sales channel and indexed against the market average)? Want to know which brands tyre fitters recommend first and what sales arguments they use? Look no further than this page in this month’s magazine and the UK section in future issues (starting in June 2008’s T&A) for further detailed mystery shopper analyses. The conclusions published here are drawn from March 2008 data based on over 12,000 prices, more than 4,000 argumentations and in excess of 1,800 mystery calls made up till 27/03/08.

18th April 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

CTNA Makes Healthcare Funds Available for USW Retirees

The United Steelworkers stated on April 15 that Continental Tire North America, (CTNA) has agreed to make US$158 million in payments to a retiree health insurance fund. The settlement is in response to a lawsuit filed by the USW and a number of retirees when CTNA implemented a $3,000 cap on its payments for retiree health coverage, a change that increased monthly health coverage fees for some retirees up to $1000 or more.

“This was an unconscionable attempt by an employer to strip away benefits from retirees who had already paid for them with a lifetime of work,” said USW president Leo W. Gerard. “We couldn’t let that happen, especially given the current shambles of our country’s health care system.” The lawsuit asserted that CTNA’s changes to its retiree health care coverage in April 2007 violated federal law. Last July, Judge Jack Zouhary of the Northern District of Ohio agreed by ruling that the company had no right to reduce or terminate benefits.

17th April 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

CST wins Quality Performance Award

Continental Sime Tyre (CST) received its second straight Outstanding Quality Performance Award from Toyota’s Assembly Services Sdn. Bhd. on 31st March 2008. The award for 2007 was presented at the 13th Toyota Suppliers’ Conference held at the Bluewave Hotel in Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia.

The award was presented for tyres supplied by CST’s Alor Star plant for 3 Toyota models, i.e. Toyota Innova, Hilux Single Cab and Fortuner. The four criteria for selection were:

15th April 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Continental Unveils HTR2 at CV Show

Continental has unveiled its new HTR2 “second generation” trailer tyre at the Commercial Vehicle Show in Birmingham. With 20 per cent more rubber in the tread area and new steel belt and bead designs, Continental claims the HTR2 offers the best rolling resistance in the segment and better retreadability than before. The HTR2 will be available immediately, initially in 385/65 R22.5. The launch is the first part of a two-year programme that will see the manufacturer replace 60 per cent of its truck range in the next two years.

Continental puts the increased performance offered by the HTR2 down to three new technologies incorporated in the trailer tyre’s design – the tread, the bead/belt construction, and the inner liner.

15th April 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Continental Faces Legal Complaint in Brazil

Complaints of uncompetitive behaviour appear to have been made against Continental AG in Brazil. A company spokesman has stated that Conti does indeed face a legal complaint there, however he did not, as the complaint remains pending, disclose the exact nature of the complaint or who initiated it.

A report published in Germany’s Handelsblatt business newspaper indicates that Brazil’s Ministry of Justice has raised allegations against the Continental Siemens VDO unit, claiming it has on several occasions attempted to have a trip recorder produced by rival company Seva Engenharia Eletrônica withdrawn from sale. After these attempts failed, it is alleged that the Conti unit approached the competitor with the suggestion of establishing a cartel.

11th April 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Commercial Tyres Announces Competition Winner

Kent based tyre dealer, Commercial Tyres has named Fleet Manager Stuart Joyce based in Snodland, Kent, as the winner of its recent prize draw. The competition, run in association with Continental Tyres, gave away a brand new LG 32-inch LCD television to Mr Joyce of Alan Firmin Ltd after he completed a questionnaire and submitting it to his local Commercial Tyres depot.

Paul Kuske of Commercial Tyres commented: “We have been an official representative of the Continental Tyres dealer network – ContiNetwork – for six years now and were very pleased to be chosen as a partner for this competition. We hope Mr Joyce gets a lot of enjoyment out of his prize and look forward to establishing a good relationship with him in the future”.

9th April 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Tyre Golf Day

The (Alternative) TWG was set up about 10 years ago by Martin Stiles of Victoria Tyres and the members used to meet once a year down in Marlow to discuss the state of the trade and to have a good Christmas ‘blow out’.

The last meeting was about three years ago due to Martin leaving the trade, since when the group has been reformed by the committee of Andy Baron (Iverson Tyres) and Paul Ruddock (Stapletons).
The format is a golf and social event afterwards, twice a year and players are by invitation only.
There are around 25 in the group and 16 met for the first golf day in April at Staverton Park Golf Course. The 16 were:

9th April 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Continental Receives Top Toyota Award

Continental AG has received its fifth straight Excellence Award in Supplier Diversity from Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America. The award was presented at Toyota’s recent Supplier Business Meeting and Awards Ceremony.

Toyota said the award program acknowledges suppliers that exceed expectations in launch performance, technology, supplier diversity, value improvement and quality. (Tire Review/Akron)

2nd April 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Conti Launches Rear-End Collision Prevention System

On the final day of March an important new product from Continental was given its series production debut – a sensor system designed to prevent rear-end collisions at city driving speeds. Premiering on Volvo’s XC60, Continental calls the new sensor system an “important milestone” for its all-round ContiGuard safety system.

The system monitors the road ahead of the vehicle, and is networked with the braking system. It automatically applies the brakes if there is a risk of a rear-end collision and the driver either fails to react or if his or her reactions are too slow. Continental has developed and supplied both the infrared sensor, which monitors the road ahead and detects objects, and the electronic braking system, both of which are core components of Volvo´s innovative “City Safety” concept.

2nd April 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Conti announces Tyre Supply Agreements with Scania, MAN

Continental and truck and bus manufacturer Scania have furthered their relationship by establishing a long-term agreement for Scania’s global tyre supplies from 2008 to 2010. The contract includes both truck and bus tyres and will grow the business in both segments. “As well as the positive growth of the European business, we have also entered the Brazilian market, securing the local tyre production by contracting significant volumes from 2008 to 2010,” says Markus Junk, key-account manager at Scania.

Conti has also renewed its supplier contract with MAN Nutzfahrzeuge AG for supply to the heavy truck segment. Running from the start of this year through to 2010, the agreement covers 19.5-inch tyres and above for heavy-duty trucks and buses. This is not the first renewal of the contract – three years ago, Continental and MAN extended their working relationship by 36 months. ”The continuation of the supplier contract is further confirmation of a long-standing and intensive partnership between the two firms”, said Heinrich Schmitz-Horsch, key account manager for original equipment in Continental’s Truck Tyres division.

1st April 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Dr. Neumann to Head Restructured Conti Powertrain Division

The Powertrain Division of Continental AG is to be restructured worldwide in an attempt to make the most of its production facilities within a two-year period and address production cost issues. According to Continental this restructuring programme is the result of a thorough analysis it conducted into the division’s strengths and weaknesses.

“We offer a broad range of products and we are convinced that they hold significant market potential that we will be able to fully exploit in the near future,” commented Continental Executive Board member Dr. Karl-Thomas Neumann. “But to achieve this we have to ensure that we are properly structured. We will undertake a global restructuring programme with the aim of optimising production within a period of around two years and achieving a much better balance between high-cost and low-cost locations.

28th March 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Bandvulc Keeps Boots On The Move

Boots, part of the Alliance Boots group worldwide pharmaceutical, health and beauty company, has selected Bandvulc and Bandvulc Tyre Contracts to administer its commercial tyre policy at its Headquarters and largest logistics base within the UK.

After competitive bids from all of the major suppliers and manufacturers, Bandvulc Tyre Contracts was awarded the business based on its ability to deliver solutions to the highest standards, as required by Boots. David Landy, the Fleet Manager for Boots, adds: “Our fleet at Nottingham is primarily trailers; with over 500 being based here at any one time, it was essential that the offer focused on competitive pricing and the ability to deliver results. Like any business, delivery of what you commit to is a vital part of any agreement and that is what we saw in Bandvulc Tyre Contracts. The solutions offered were practical and deliverable, hence their success.”

25th March 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Continental’s Romania Headcount Set to Reach 7,500

Continental AG is reportedly set to recruit another 1,350 people for its factories in Timisoara, Carei and Arad, Romania, by the end of the year. As a result the total employees count in the area is expected to reach 7,500. Continental’s tyre factory in Timisoara intends to hire 200 people during the course of 2008, Bucharest’s Ziarul Financiar reported. Currently, Continental runs five production facilities in Romania with 6,150 employees, a figure that includes 2,300 graduate engineers. If the proportion of engineers remains the same, the company will recruit around 500 engineers this year.

19th March 2008/by Tyrepress Editors