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.”
Following its original equipment launch in 2015, Mitas Premium will replace the Continental brand for rear radial agricultural tyres on the replacement market in January 2016. Mitas Premium tyres will be gradually phased in worldwide for purchase from local Mitas dealers. The manufacturer added that Mitas Premium tyres bear the same technical specifications as Continental agri tyres, which Mitas has manufactured under license since 2004.
Messe Essen’s Reifen show will be the epicentre of the global tyre industry from 24 to 27 May 2016. The event organiser has confirmed that the 20 largest tyre manufacturers in the world will be present, including key players such as Bridgestone, Continental, Cooper Tires, Goodyear, Falken Tyre Europe, Hankook, Maxxis, Michelin, Pirelli and Yokohama. The demand for stand space for workshop equipment providers is also growing, according to Messe Essen: Corghi, Rema Tip Top and Snap-on will all be amongst the exhibitors.
Continental Tyres has its continental-tyres.co.uk web site a makeover and aligned the relaunched version with global sites. “Increasingly our customers are turning to the Internet for information about our tyres,” explained Stephan Meier who heads up eBusiness EMEA at Continental: “With our new-look website we are aiming to offer visitors even more targeted and rapid access to the information they want, providing them, for example, with better and faster online advice on selecting the right Continental tyres for their needs.”
Gordonind, the equipment manufacturer, has announced that its Mini Mobile Press for solid tyres is being tested by Continental in Europe. Writing in a statement, the company said: “Gordonind are delighted to announce that the prestigious Continental Commercial Specialty Tires (CST) are now testing the Mini Mobile Press In Europe”. The company explained that the tests are being carried out “with a view to improving and enhancing mobile solid tyre service”.
Three of the largest French tyre distributors have agreed to cooperate on the Fleetpartner fleet tyre project. Together partners Eurotyre, BestDrive and Siligom offer some 550 points of sale across the country, in a move designed to appeal to key account customers.
Continental AG’s tyre division is planning to “significantly expand” its Contidrom testing and development centre, north of Hannover. According to local press reports, the tyre manufacturer have already bought an adjacent 20-hectare area of forest. The expansion is said to focus on expanding wet handling test capacities which have been described as a “bottleneck” for the entire site. Nearly 11,000 tyre tests are currently conducted on-site.
Even during its third year on the market, Continental’s WinterContact TS 850 is a frontrunner in many winter tyre tests. Following its recent victory in this year’s GTÜ size 225/50 R17 test and the 205/55 R16 comparative test conducted by Germany’s ADAC, Austria’s ÖAMTC and Switzerland’s TCS, the WinterContact TS 850 has secured a second consecutive victory in the size 185/65 R15 winter test performed by German motoring magazine Autozeiting. The publication describes the tyre as “invariably safe, fast and balanced.
CEVA Logistics has been awarded the contract to provide tyre warehousing and transportation services to Continental in the UK. The new five-year contract is worth more than US$50 million and involves CEVA’s management of the 21,000 square metre Continental warehouse within the Central Park industrial estate in Rugby. The supply chain management company will receive, store and dispatch around three million tyres a year and also manage Continental’s UK transport requirements using both its own dedicated fleet and a network of regional partners.
Prior to the start of the IAA show, which is currently taking place in Frankfurt, Continental’s Dr Elmar Degenhart announced the introduction of new tyre-based technology. The Executive Board chairman stated: “In future we’ll build sensors into tyres that are capable of immediately sensing the texture of a road surface. In this way we will turn the tyre into an important component in our in-car sensor network.”
Continental AG majority shareholder and automotive industry supplier Schaeffler today announced its intention to place up to 166 million new and existing non-voting common Schaeffler AG shares with institutional investors and to list these on the Prime Standard segment of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange’s regulated market. The proceeds of this initial public offering will be used to reduce debt within both Schaeffler AG and Schaeffler Holding.
Following the news that Continental has topped this year’s sentiment rankings in our annual online branding survey, company representatives has expressed their delight at the win and their ambition to take both the sentiment and prominence titles next year.
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.
If you would like the latest news from the Chinese tyre industry in Chinese, visit our partner site TyrepressChina.com. Or click below to continue on Tyrepress.