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 AG majority shareholder Schaeffler AG is one of five companies that have been handed substantial fines for operating a cartel in the automotive bearing market. The European Commission fined the companies a total of more than €953 million, with the largest single fine given to Schaeffler. The German manufacturer must pay €370.5 million, almost 40 per cent of the total penalty.
Mitas is celebrating a decade of manufacturing Continental agricultural tyres under licence. Following the signing of the the licence agreement in 2004, Mitas has produced more than 300,000 tonnes of Continental tyres. Currently, Mitas offers more than 200 variations of agricultural Continental tyres. Mitas recently extended its Trademark License Agreement with Continental Tyres through to 2019.
Assuming the market develops according to expectations, Continental intends to increase its global employee count by around 7,000 in 2014. This would bring the number on its payroll to approximately 185,000 by the end of the year. This is about 50,000 jobs more than in 2009, during the midst of the financial crisis. At the end of 2013, the employee count had reached around 178,000, with 50,000 of these positions based in the company’s home country, Germany.
It’s been a double victory for the home team as Continental receives first place in two German magazine polls. The tyre maker says, as you may expect, that it is very pleased with the results of the AutoBild and Auto Zeitung reader surveys.
During last Thursday’s annual press conference, Continental CEO Dr. Elmar Degenhart shared that expansion of the tyre business and further acquisitions are on the cards as part of the company’s aim of reducing its reliance on the automotive original equipment industry. After discussing the recent acquisition of Veyance Technologies, a firm he described as “ideally” matching the ContiTech division in terms of both product range and markets, Degenhart added that further steps towards reducing automotive OE dependence will follow: “Firstly, in the form of continuous expansion of our replacement tyre business. And then too, we are not ruling out the possibility of further acquisitions.”
This year, Continental expects to sell a total of 11 million more tyres in the European and the NAFTA replacement markets than in 2013. Speaking at the company’s press day in Hannover, Germany today, Continental CEO Dr. Elmar Degenhart stated that the tyre maker anticipates an increase of two per cent in these two regions, markets he said were “very important to our tyre replacement business”. He added that together with further growth effects in Asia and South America, Continental is looking forward to its global replacement tyre business rising three per cent this year. In regards to the original equipment segment, the CEO said Continental expects global production of passenger cars, SUVs and light commercial vehicles to increase by about two per cent.
Following last year’s roll out of its third generation coach and bus tyre range, Continental will turn its attention to goods vehicles at the CV Show 2014. Conti plans to showcase the first two products from its goods vehicles range: the ContiEcoPlus and the Conti Hybrid. The manufacturer has begun a new naming system for its TBR tyres, with the nomenclature designed to describe more clearly the application the product is intended for.
During 2013 the UK was the only major market in Europe to record growth in new car registrations. But it wasn’t just an increase, with a near 10 per cent improvement in the number of new car registrations in 2013 compared with 2012, last year is being touted as a milestone in the market’s overall recovery. And what’s more a large and growing part of it was made up of the kind of 4×4, SUV and CUV vehicles that require the large and greater load bearing tyres that make-up the broader 4×4 tyre segment.
Together with the Fraunhofer Institute for Molecular Biology and Applied Ecology (IME), Continental has gained a nomination at the GreenTec Awards 2014 for the joint “Rubin” project. The project, which focuses on the industrialisation of rubber sourced from dandelions, is one of three nominees in the ‘Automobility’ category, one of 14 awards categories. On 25 February, the awards jury will decide on the podium positions for the three finalists in each category, and the awards will be given out on 4 May at the start of IFAT, the world’s leading trade fair for water, sewage, waste, and raw materials management.
The ContiRoadAttack 2 Gran Turismo touring sport tyre has been approved as an original equipment fitment for the BMW R1200 RT, Continental reports. This latest version of the ContiRoadAttack 2 bears the initials ‘GT’ on the tyre’s sidewall and has been optimised for use on heavy weight touring and naked bikes, with a wear-resistant compound and a reinforced casing design that includes a second casing layer for enhanced stability and easier handling.
On 1 July 2014, Klaus Deller will take over from Klaus Rosenfeld as chief executive officer of major Continental shareholder Schaeffler AG; Rosenfeld has held this office on an interim basis since the departure of Jürgen M. Geißinger last year. Deller will also become a member of the Board of Directors of INA-Holding. The appointment was confirmed by Schaeffler’s Supervisory Board yesterday.
The winners of the Tire Technology International Awards for Innovation and Excellence 2014 have been announced, and Continental has walked away with awards in two of the five regular categories. In addition to being named Tire Manufacturer of the Year, the German firm was recipient of the Tire Manufacturing Innovation of the Year award for its ContiLifeCycle facility in Hannover. Other winners included Bridgestone, VMI and Sumitomo Rubber Industries. The awards were presented at a gala dinner held during this week’s Tire Technology Expo in Cologne.
Last month Tyres & Accessories published an exclusive preview of the 2014 additions to Continental’s mid-European and Nordic winter tyre stables. The central story was that Conti has launched the new Continental WinterContact TS 850 P. In addition T&A also got the opportunity to experience the performance of the new product’s 4×4 variant, the WinterContact TS 830 P SUV. Key facts includes that the TS 850 P outperforms its predecessor both dry road snow handling and braking. The products also raise the label scores from EC to CC territory. Both tyres will be available from the Autumn.
Infinity Tyres’ KK Singh, Infinity Europe’s OTR and agricultural sales manager has revealed it is expanding its agricultural tyre range, manufactured by Shandong Linglong and distributed onto the UK agricultural market by Europa Tyres, and expects to increase its visibility on the market during 2014.
Continental has concluded an agreement with equity firm The Carlyle Group to purchase Veyance Technologies Inc for roughly 1.4 billion euros. Veyance operates globally in the field of rubber and plastics technology and in 2013 recorded sales of approximately 1.5 billion Euro, around 90 per cent of which were achieved outside the automotive industry. Veyance has 27 plants around the world and a workforce of about 9,000 employees at the end of 2013. The Carlyle Group announced it had bought what was formerly Goodyear’s Engineered Products division for US$1.475 billion on 23 March 2007.
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