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.”
In its annual winter tyre performance survey, German motoring publication AutoBild narrows a wide field of 49 winter tyres and two all-season tyres with wet and snow braking measurements before conducting a full test of a range of characteristics. 19 tyres made it through to the 2015/16 season test, conducted using the tyre size 185/60 R15.
On 1 September 2015 former Continental Banden Groep managing director, Bert Stellinga, took on a direct role in Pon Tyre Group as director of marketing intelligence and pricing. Jannes Bouman takes over as MD of Conti Banden on an interim basis. Pon Tyre Group owns businesses including Continental Banden Groep, Euro-Tyre and Reifen Gundlach.
Just a generation ago the humble motor vehicle doubled as a ‘fortress of solitude’, a place the long arm of everyday responsibility couldn’t reach and a haven for those seeking a few moments’ headspace at the start or the end of a busy day. But unreachability is an increasingly scarce commodity these days. The introduction of hands-free systems has transformed the fortress into an office on four wheels for many, and now technology lurking just around the corner will bring our home-life cares to us on the road as well.
Our 2015 online branding study, which measures the online branding of leading tyre firms in partnership with NetNames, has a new winner. After years of Michelin dominance across both the “prominence” and “sentiment” metrics NetNames measures, Continental has surged to victory in the sentiment part of the 2015 survey, overtaking Michelin for the lead and just a whisker behind in terms of prominence.
In early October, global transport leaders and policy makers will gather in Bordeaux to experience the latest developments from the intelligent transport solutions (ITS) industry, as the ITS World Congress opens its doors.
The entire sales management team within Continental’s tyre business in China has been removed from their duties, and an investigation has begun into allegations of corruption. German financial daily Handelsblatt reported yesterday that a number of managers allegedly “personally enriched” themselves through business transactions. Continental declined to officially comment on the situation as the investigation is not yet complete.
Work has begun to expand Continental’s Sumter tyre factory in the USA. The company reports breaking ground on the project, and it is working to a timetable that will see plant production capacity rise from approximately four million units planned for 2016 to around eight million units by 2021. The Sumter workforce will rise in line with this capacity increase, growing from more than 700 (the plant is expected to employ around 800 by the end of this year) to some 1,600 employees. By the time this project is complete, Continental will have invested more than US$500 million into the Sumter plant.
Continental’s acquisition of A-Z Formen- und Maschinenbau GmbH last year brought one of the world’s most skilled tyre mould manufacturers in-house. Now the German tyre maker has announced its intention to expand capacity for extremely detailed tread designs at the A-Z factory in Runding, Bavaria this year through the construction of a new foundry. This project will be funded by a €6 million investment in A-Z Formen- und Maschinenbau. Continental says the investment will better prepare it for the increasingly complex nature of tyre moulds and their production, and will lead to 20 new jobs being created at Runding site.
One of the many global debuts we can expect at this month’s IAA exhibition is the latest and greatest from Continental, and prior to the Frankfurt show dealers and automotive media gained the chance to discover this new ultra high performance summer tyre – a product Continental’s head of tyre development says is the company’s sportiest on-road tyre ever. Our first impression of the Continental SportContact 6 is of a tyre that allows drivers to explore the limits of sport car performance while offering a forgiving response should the limits of the driver’s own abilities be reached first.
Coinciding with the start of the 2015/16 European football season, various tyre manufacturers have continued the step up in sponsorship involvement with some of Europe’s biggest clubs. Continuing the trend Tyres & Accessories observed last year, bigger, broader deals are expanding tyres’ role in football, and increasing the prominence of brands outside the traditional premium names.
Continental Tyres today announced a sponsorship deal with media group Future plc that will see the tyre maker involved across Future’s leading tech titles and take on headline sponsorship of the T3 Awards 2015.
Continental Commercial Specialty Tires (CST) has launched two new tyres for off-the-road applications – the Conti EM-Master, which is available in E3/L3 and E4/L4 versions, and the E4 Conti RDT-Master. The manufacturer says the tyres are customised for specific demands encountered in the construction and earthmover segment and offer “excellent traction and high cutting resistance” regardless of application condition, be it soft, muddy soil, solid terrain or anything in between. The first of these new ‘ContiEarth’ tyres will be available at the end of this year, and Continental says further sizes and tyre solutions are planned for 2016 and beyond.
Recent ads from Continental cockily ask ‘Who says you can’t win them all?’ The tyre maker raises a fair point – it has enjoyed a good run of test victories in recent times, with its ContiPremiumContact 5 topping the ADAC and Auto Bild tyre tests in Germany and the ContiSportContact 5 claiming victory in this year’s auto motor und sport summer tyre test. Here in the UK, the ContiSportContact 5 was named top tyre in the recent Auto Express test of 11 size 225/45R17 tyres, and now evo magazine has named the ContiSportContact 5 winner of its summer tyre test – for the second year in a row.
Until this year, Continental only produced run-flat tyres at its Aachen and Korbach factories in Germany. However a couple of years ago the company saw a need to expand production of original equipment run-flats in response to growing demand from vehicle manufacturers, and at the end of 2013 the decision was taken to equip the Continental Matador Rubber factory in Púchov, Slovakia to make self-supporting run-flat, or SSR tyres.
Starting in September, Continental will introduce a new programme that will train “young people who are passionate about IT” to become automotive software developers. According to Ariane Reinhart, the tyre and automotive systems manufacturer’s Executive Board member in charge of human resources, the training programme will be based in Germany and involve close collaboration between Continental’s various divisions.
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