Continental Archives - Page 166 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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Blackcircles.com Adds Autocar Tyre Tests to Website

In partnership with Autocar Magazine, Blackcircles.com has entered into a partnership with Autocar Magazine that will enable the online tyre retailer to offer exclusive online video reviews of leading tyre brands. The video reviews will cover tests of numerous premium brands including Continental, Goodyear, Michelin, Bridgestone and Pirelli.

Blackcircles.com reports it is “delighted” to be partnering with the word’s first automotive magazine, and believes the impartial tests will help its customers make the correct and safe choice when selecting new tyres. The Autocar tests involve a series of categories, such as wet and dry braking and wet and dry handling. Motorists are able to access the video reviews by visiting www.blackcircles.com/tyretests.

28th January 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

1,000 Conti Tyres Stolen From Truck

Over 1,000 tyres were stolen from a lorry parked in a layby on the A43 between Northampton and Towcester. According to local news sources, the tyres were taken from a plain blue articulated lorry parked in the layby on the southbound carriageway near Blisworth between 23:00 on 23 January and 8:00 the following morning. The stolen tyres are ContiPremiumContact 205/55 R Continental tyres and are estimated to represent a six-figure retail sales value in total.

25th January 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Passenger Car Centre Opens In Malaysia

Towards the end of last year, Heap Heng Tayar Sdn. Bhd., in partnership with Continental Sime Tyre (CST), opened the first BestDrive Continental Passenger Car and Light Truck (PLT) Centre in Kedah, Malaysia.

To date, seven BestDrive Continental PLT Centres have been opened throughout Peninsula Malaysia, with more to come, says Choong Kee Seng, Sales Director at CST. The concept of the centres is to provide a broad range of car and light truck-related services, aimed squarely at the premium customer segment.

22nd January 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Dieter Rogge Heads Continental Powertrain Division

Following Continental’s acquisition of Siemens VDO, and the divisional reordering that followed, Dieter Rogge has been named as head of Continental’s new Powertrain Division which employs around 27,000 people. With more than 60 sites throughout the world, the Division is one of the three new automotive divisions within Continental, the international automotive supplier. Powertrain brings together innovative and efficient system solutions affecting every aspect of a vehicle’s drive train and is divided into the following business units: Gasoline Systems, Diesel Systems, Electronics, Transmission, Sensors, Hybrid Electric Vehicle, Turbochargers and Actuators, Motor Drives & Fuel Supply.

21st January 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Conti Breaks Ground on Asia Headquarters & Engineering Centre

On January 16 Continental AG held an official groundbreaking ceremony for its new Continental Asia Headquarters and dedicated Engineering Center in China. The new facility was first announced in July 2007 and Continental reports that a total of 60 million euros will be invested into the project, located in the Yangpu District of Shanghai. When complete the facility will encompass a total floor space of approximately 14,000 square metres, including a 14-floor office building. From May 2009 onwards nearly 900 Continental Group employees from the company’s Tire, Automotive and ContiTech divisions will be housed in the new premises. The site will also house one of Conti’s two key Engineering Center operations, supporting the design and testing of certain electronic products. Another facility with large-scale equipment for bench testing will be located in Shanghai’s Jiading District.

17th January 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

CTNA May Have Broken Even in 2007 – Wennemer

The chairman of Continental’s executive board, Manfred Wennemer, has said the company’s CTNA operations in the US may have broken even in 2007; if so, this will be the first time in over a decade that CTNA has entered into the black.

“Everything is not finalised, and it’s still too close to tell, but I am hoping we did it,” commented Wennemer to Dow Jones Newswires. During the last two years Conti’s US tyre operation has attempted to reduce costs, mainly through plant closures and changes to employee health care benefits. To remain competitive as a producer in this region, strategic spending has also been implemented; as much as US$100 million was earmarked for upgrades to CTNA’s Mount Vernon facility, where the introduction of more than 500 new or expanded tyre products have been scheduled for introduction between 2006 and 2009.

17th January 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Conti Renews Uniroyal UK Distribution Agreement

The partnership established in 2000 between Continental Tyre Group (CTG) and Uniroyal Truck Tyres UK, granting exclusive rights to distribute Uniroyal brand truck tyres throughout the UK & Ireland, has been extended for a further five years.

With CTG’s technical expertise acting as a strong foundation, the Uniroyal brand has become established and recognised as a durable, competitively priced tyre range featuring products designed to suit a wide variety of applications. This reputation has allowed Uniroyal Truck Tyres UK, a subsidiary of national tyre wholesaler Kings Road Tyres (KRT) to build a strong following for the brand in the commercial vehicle sector.

11th January 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Conti to Build Rs 1 billion Automotive Plant in India

Continental AG is looking to boost its India operations and broaden the range of products on offer to customers in the region following its recent buyout of Siemens’ VDO unit. One particular new investment Conti is making in India is its planned automotive electronics plant and R&D facility in Bangalore, which will be established with an initial investment of Rs 1 billion (£12.9 million). Joint venture facilities operated in conjunction with Rico and Ashok Leyland will also attract fresh investment in the coming years.

“In the next decade one of the main focuses of the automotive industry will be the so-called affordable cars, especially in the growth markets like India and China. The production of cars within a price range of Rs 5 Lakh (about £6,500) will increase from current figure of 650,000 to approximately 1.1 million units by 2017. This is a 70 per cent increase. To cope with this demand we have to focus on solutions for the Indian market; people want safe, yet affordable cars,” said Dr. Karl-Thomas Neumann, chief technology officer and board member of Continental AG. “Continental has developed strategies and products that are suited to these demands,” Dr. Neumann added.

10th January 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Continental to Relaunch ContiNetwork

Product News, UK News

When Tyres & Accessories recently attended Continental’s annual media briefing, we expected to hear details of the previous year’s market statistics and product trends. However T&A got more than we bargained for when Continental UK commercial tyre business director, Arthur Gregg, revealed that the company is relaunching its ContiNetwork commercial vehicle retail business in February and will spend the next few years completely refreshing its product line-up.

Full details will be published when the official relaunch takes place in February, but here is a rough outline: Continental are aiming to give their dealers a more equitable system, whereby each company will have increased freedom to choose how much fleet business they commit to. Executives recognise that large amounts of fleet business suits some dealers better than others. In addition, Continental will unveil a new “dealer charter” (not a contract), which aims to improve two-way communications. In a related move T&A learnt that a new fleet manager for the Northern region will join the company this month.

8th January 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

New Reports On UK Tyre Market Size

One thing that almost everybody agrees on in the UK tyre industry is the lack of readily available, meaningful statistics on the size and value of the tyre market. The NTDA has teamed up with research company GfK to produce the "World of Tyres" – an exclusive members' newsletter which includes a regular review of retail sales data on the passenger car, 4X4 and light commercial tyre market.

7th January 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Continental Plans Hungarian Brake Testing Facility

Reports in the Hungarian press state that Continental is to invest “billions of Forints” in a new testing facility for electronic braking systems (EBS) and their components in Hungary, around 15 to 20 kilometres from the city of Veszprém. The exact location will be decided on later this month and the project will be completed by the end of the year, creating 30 new jobs.

4th January 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Continental Opens 100th Dealership in China

Continental Tire opened its 100th dealership in China in mid-December. According to a company statement, Conti plans to have a total of 300 dealerships across China by the end of 2008. “The hundredth store in China is a milestone for our long-term development in China,” said Klaus Kreipe, chief of Continental Tire China operation at the opening ceremony of the new store in Shanghai. The news follows Continental’s decision to invest three-digit millions of euros in its first production plant in China. The new production line will be based in Hefei, the capital city of Anhui province. The new plant is set to start construction in mid-2008 and will output 4 million tyres, primarily for China’s domestic market when it is finished. In October 2007 Continental AG set up a storage and logistics centre in Shanghai. The new centre has a capacity to stockpile 80,000 tyres, and could distribute as many as 400,000 tyres annually. Continental AG established its Asian headquarters in Shanghai in January 2006.

2nd January 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Brose Buys Conti’s Electric Motor Operations

On 20 December the Brose Group agreed to buy Continental’s Electric Motor operations. The acquisition is subject to the approval of the antitrust authorities. “We decided to sell the former Siemens VDO Electric Motor Drives operations and Continental’s cooling fan business to the Brose Group because Brose’s excellent positioning in the market segment creates exceedingly good prospects for that business,” said Continental’s Executive Board Chairman, Manfred Wennemer. The news follows Continental’s acquisition of Siemens VDO and, according Wennemer.

21st December 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Bandag and Conti go their Separate Ways

At the end of this year, the ContiTread cold retreading partnership between Bandag Europe and the Continental AG will come to an end. In a message to Bandag partners in Europe Mike Tirona, Vice President and General Manager Bandag EMEA (Europe, Middle East, Africa), explained that the decision was made jointly and in a friendly atmosphere. The question is who will now produce ContiTread treads? Will they be made in Continental’s factories or in partnership with another manufacturer? The latter certainly appears to be the case. While no details have yet been officially confirmed, Continental representatives told Tyres & Accessories that negotiations with “another international retread supplier” are already at an advanced stage and that these are expected to be completed in early 2008, with the first Conti-Tread strips to be produced outside of Bandag’s Belgian Lanklaar factory to follow in March 2008.

21st December 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Continental South Africa Wins Green Award

South Africa’s Institute of Waste Management, in conjunction with the provincial economic development and environmental affairs department, has given Continental Tyre SA the inaugural Eastern Cape Clean Industry Award for the manufacturing sector. The award particularly recognised the company‘s “transparent and traceable environmental management system”. In reaction to the announcement, Continental SA managing director Claudio Boezio said: “It‘s great to be recognised for our efforts with this award, and it‘s even better to know our efforts are reducing the harm our planet endures on a daily basis.

17th December 2007/by Tyrepress Editors