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 a Europe-wide tender process, Continental has been awarded a contract to deliver Deutsche Bahn some 17,000 bus tyres in several countries. Upon announcing the tyre supply deal for Deutsche Bahn’s DB Region and DB Arriva subsidiaries, the railway operator said Continental won the contract as its overall economic and service-oriented package created a favourable impression.
It’s as old as the pneumatic tyre itself – this year, Continental Tire the Americas’ Aldora Mills tyre cord plant in Barnesville, Georgia celebrates 125 years in operation. The facility began life as a cotton mill in 1888 and began producing tyre cord around 1920. Today the 82,500 square metre plant produces around 16 thousand tonnes of tyre cord fabric a year for use in the manufacture of passenger car and light commercial vehicle tyres.
The ‘REDI-Sensor’ tyre pressure monitoring system marketed under Continental’s VDO brand has been sold in North America for the last three years, and the automotive supplier claims the product has enjoyed great success there. Now, with EU Regulation 523/2012 coming into effect in little over one year from now, the company is rolling out REDI-Sensor here in Europe. The multi-application TPMS sensor will be introduced into the European market in summer 2014.
Next month’s Agritechnica 2013 fair in Germany gives Mitas the opportunity to show off the latest additions to its range of CHO (cyclic harvesting operation) tyres intended for large combine harvesters. The company will present five new Mitas and Continental-brand CHO sizes.
Continental is expanding its range of trailer tyres to include an increased load index option specifically designed for regional delivery applications. Thanks to its 5 tonne load capacity, the HTR 2 XL 385/65 R 22.5 with load index 164 is suitable for vehicles with a curb weight (without trailer) of up to 25 tonnes, including the city semitrailers used for making deliveries throughout Europe.
According to a statement released by German tyre maker Continental on 14 October, the joint venture project it operates with and the Fraunhofer Institute for Molecular Biology and Applied Ecology (IME) is “on the verge of a breakthrough.” Recently, work began on the construction of a pilot facility at IME’s Münster site in Germany, and when finished this will be able to produce larger volumes of dandelion-derived natural rubber.
Continental Tire the Americas’ new PCR to light truck tyre manufacturing plant in Sumter, South Carolina is nearing completion, having broken ground on the site in mid-2012.
Continental will pursue the principle of making commercial vehicle tyres go further for customers with its synergetic TBR retreading facility named the ContiLifeCycle Plant. Announced in 2012 and due to open in Hannover-Stöcken later in 2013, the 10 million euro-plus plant is set to become the world’s first plant to integrate rubber recycling with hot and cold retreading, and will create more than 100 new jobs at Conti’s headquarters. Tyrepress got in touch with Christian Saas, Conti’s director Retread Business Commercial Vehicle Tires, to get the latest information on the plant prior to it coming on line.
Maxam Tire, the Luxembourg-based manufacturer of industrial, construction and OTR radial tyres, has announced a key appointment to its management team. Peter Kraus (47) joined the company at the beginning of September as business development manager for Germany, Switzerland and Austria, responsible for the entire Maxam product range.
Around €40 million will be invested in Continental’s Korbach factory in Germany by 2018, the tyre maker reported on 30 September. The company’s Tire Division will use these funds to establish a specialist production line for 19 to 22-inch passenger car and light commercial vehicle tyres to meet growing international demand from both the original […]
Since the start of August Dr. Ralf Cramer has been headquartered in Shanghai as head of Continental China. Replacing him as chairman of the Management Board for the Chassis & Safety division is Frank Jourdan, who has also joined Continental’s Executive Board. Jourdan’s appointment to the board was confirmed at Continental’s Supervisory Board meeting on 25 September, together with the renewal of Dr. Elmar Degenhart’s tenure as Executive Board chairman for a further five years.
It’s been a year since Continental returned to what it calls the “stock exchange premier league”, and the German firm considers its DAX comeback to have been an “overwhelmingly positive” one. Over the last twelve months the company’s shares have risen more than 54 per cent to €125.55 and even recorded an all-time high of €127.45. And after joining in 22nd position for market capitalisation, the company moved up to 19th place thanks to strong share performance.
In the September issue of German publication Auto Motor und Sport (20/2013), eight brands of winter tyre were put through their paces. Seven types of size 225/50 R17 V tyre and a set of Michelin 225/50 R17 H tyres were fitted to a BMW 330d for the test and subject to handling and braking tests in snow, wet and dry conditions, along with condition-specific tests such as aquaplaning, traction, comfort, rolling noise and rolling resistance. Here is what Auto Motor und Sport found out:
Giti Tire has announced the establishment of new technical centres in Germany and the US. The two sites will work in collaboration with the company’s MIRA-based UK facility as well as its centres located in Indonesia and China. Giti now employs more than 600 R&D personnel and describes the creation of a European and North American technical centre as marking a “significant development in the research and development capabilities of the company.”
According to Continental, the habour tyre range it unveiled at the TOC Container Supply Chain Europe exhibition in Rotterdam in July has struck a chord with port operators. The company claims that more than half the respondents to a recent survey plan to purchase or recommend the newly-released range.
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