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.”
Continental has manufactured tyres for more than 120 years, and these decades in the business have given it considerable brand recognition. It now intends to leverage the widespread awareness of the Continental name to aid its aftermarket vehicle electronics and mechatronics business. Going forward, its VDO line will be rebranded.
MOIA has selected Continental to look after its tyre service requirements. Continental will provide the ridesharing firm’s fleet of electric vehicles with tyres and support in line with a Conti360° Fleet Solutions mileage contract, with the Continental VanContact 4Season the preferred tyre of choice.
Following the news that Elmar Degenhart is stepping down as Continental AG chief executive at the end of the month, Nikolai Setzer is being touted as his most likely replacement. On 12 November 2020 Continental AG’s supervisory board is scheduled to meet. Deciding the successor to outgoing CEO Elmar Degenhart will no-doubt be top of the agenda. According to the German Handelsblatt newspaper, Nikolai Setzer has been lined up to take over from the outgoing Conti boss.
Although his contract has almost another four years to run, Dr Elmar Degenhart has notified Continental AG of his intention to step down as chief executive officer and as director of the Continental Executive Board. Dr Degenhart’s decision to take leave of the company on 30 November 2020 is based upon “reasons of immediately essential preventive health care,” he informed Continental’s Supervisory Board yesterday. In the near future, Professor Wolfgang Reitzle will convene the Supervisory Board to decide upon the appointment of Degenhart’s successor.
Continental has reported its Q3 2020 financial results, and these are better than many expected. Although quarterly consolidated sales of 10.295 billion euros were 7.3 per cent below the 11.303 billion euros reported in Q3 2019, the adjusted EBIT margin of 8.1 per cent was 2.5 per cent higher. The Rubber Technologies division, which includes Continental’s tyre business, was crucial to this success.
Following the reports that Continental is in talks to sell off various parts of its wider group, analysts have responded positively to Siemens’ recent sale of its Energy division, saying it is good for Conti.
Upgrading their rating to “buy”, Jefferies analysts said: “Siemen’s recent spin-off of Energy gives confidence that Conti’s share price will benefit from its planned spin-off of Vitesco as the combined market cap of Siemens and Energy was up 7 per cent on the day of transaction (DAX +3%)” The implication, they explained, was that there was a discount in Siemens’ sum-of-the-parts valuation. That being the case, given Conti’s “more attractive transaction structure”, the analysts predicted that Conti’s “re-rating should be more pronounced.”
The recent news that Continental AG will close its Aachen, Germany tyre factory underlines the fact that it is aiming to cut 13,000 of 59,000 jobs in Germany as part of a major group-wide cost-cutting programme. Now, the German Manager Magazin is reporting that Continental is also considering the sale of parts of the wider group. Indeed, Continental is said to be in talks “already with prospective customers”. The Rubber Technologies business sector, which includes Continentals Tire and ContiTech division is also said to be affected.
About a year ago Continental announced its selection as a tyre supplier to the ID.3, and under this arrangement is providing original equipment EcoContact 6 summer tyres, WinterContact TS 850P winter tyres and AllSeasonContact all-season tyres. But tyres are only one of a host of Continental products and technologies going into the new all-electric range. The company is also supplying computer equipment, brake technology, hose lines, heat pumps and driver assistance systems.
Bridgestone’s Blizzak LM005 tyre has won the Auto Express Winter Tyre Test 2020 beating 205/55 R16 tyres from seven other manufacturers to the top of the table. Auto Express cited the tyre’s performance in the wet as a key factor. The tyre, which boasts an ‘A’ tyre label grade for wet grip across the full range, has secured Bridgestone’s first Auto Express test win and follows on from a series of improved results in recent times. However, there were strong performances from Hankook’s Winter i*cept RS2 (2nd) and Michelin’s Alpin 6 (3rd). At the same time, we have to note that Hankook Goodyear and Dunlop each won individual categories as well as Bridgestone, of course. Looking forward, Continental’s TS 870 has to be described as the one that got away because it’s market-beating performance couldn’t be counted owing to the fact that the Covid-19 pandemic has delayed the new tyre’s release for a year.
Continental has once again released an overview of the European regulations regarding winter tyre equipment for trucks and buses. It also gives advice relating on who should be informed if you do breakdown.
It is somewhat ironic that the number 2020 has inherent associations with perfect vision and yet this year has turned out to be the most unpredictable in a lifetime. For example, no-one saw President Trump’s twitter-borne sideswipe at Goodyear’s tyres coming last month – how could they? However, on a more serious note, the effects of uncertainty has real-life impact. And this month has seen more than its fair share of such harsh realities in the tyre industry.
This article appears in full in the October edition of Tyres & Accessories magazine. Not yet a subscriber? You can change that here.
The supervisory board of Continental AG has approved the executive board’s decision to discontinue production at the manufacturer’s plant in Aachen, Germany by the end of 2021. The supervisory board confirmed the executive boards decision during a board meeting today (30 September 2020). The closure decision will affect around 1,800 out of the about 2,000 jobs located at the Aachen site.
Reclaimed Carbon Black (rCB) firm Pyrolyx, which signed a five-year supply deal with continental in November 2019, has withdrawn from both the Australian and German stock markets.
Continental is changing the name of its StraddleMaster+ port tyre line to TerminalMaster V.ply. This change of name is also accompanied by a significant expansion of the tyre’s application recommendations: Instead of primarily being intended for use on straddle carriers, Continental says “intensive tests in the laboratory and in real-life use” have led it to additionally recommend the tyre for use at airports and for heavy-duty transport in the industrial sector.
Following the closure of Continental’s Aachen, Germany tyre production facility, Tyres & Accessories asked representatives of the company’s UK operation (Continental Tyre Group) what the impact will be on local customers. In short, the company is aiming to continue “high quality” service.Following the closure of Continental’s Aachen, Germany tyre production facility, Tyres & Accessories asked representatives of the company’s UK operation (Continental Tyre Group) what the impact will be on local customers. In short, the company is aiming to continue “high quality” service.
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Continental
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Continental AG