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.”
As a sponsor of the World and European Cup championships, Continental is well aware of the expense involved in supporting the beautiful game. Even individuals fork out a tidy sum for the privilege of supporting their favourite team. Figures released by Continental Tyres indicate that the average football fan will spend nearly £56,000 over a lifetime doing just that.
Mitas Tyres UK Limited says its customers will benefit from extension of its distribution contract with Derbyshire-based Ascott Transport Limited (ATL); the deal with ATL enables next-day delivery on the company’s range of agricultural, industrial and motorcycle products. ATL manages the storage and distribution of the tyre maker’s tyres throughout the UK, and hold stocks of Mitas, Continental and Cultor-brand tyres to the value of £800,000 to £1,000,000.
The Recycling and Economic Development Initiative of South Africa (REDISA) has appointed Continental SA sales director Eddie Jordaan and Alliance Tyre Africa managing director Piet Swart to key positions within the fledgling recycling scheme. Both men take up their posts with REDISA on 1 September.
Continental says it plans to premiere its next generation of truck tyres at the IAA Commercial Vehicle Show 2012, which takes place in Hannover, Germany from 20 to 27 September. According to the German tyre maker’s account, there should be plenty to see – Continental says it will launch the “most comprehensive range of truck and bus tyres in the history of the company” during 2013. Nikolai Setzer, head of Continental’s Tyres division, Dr. Andreas Esser, head of the Commercial Vehicle Tyres business unit and Herbert Mensching, head of Marketing and Sales Truck Tyres EMEA, will discuss this and other current plans and developments at a press conference on 18 September.
Continental has appointed ex-Bridgestone Europe communications vice-president Des Collins head of its new Liaison Office for Public Affairs in Brussels, Belgium. This new office in the European Union’s political capital opened on 1 August, and Collins takes responsibility for representing the legislative and regulatory interests of both Continental’s Rubber and Automotive Groups.
Continental has announced the appointment earlier this year of Thomas Recke to the newly-created position of communications manager for global media relations and internal communications within the company’s Commercial Vehicle Tires business unit. In this role, Recke takes responsibility for issues monitoring and political communications for the business unit; he reports to Dr. Christiane Pfeiffer, who is in charge of global communications for Commercial Vehicle Tires.
Production at Tanzanian tyre maker General Tyre East Africa will reportedly resume within a year. Last year management of the company – which hasn’t produced a tyre since 2007 – was placed in the hands of Tanzania’s National Development Corporation, and the corporation’s corporate affairs manager now says that investors from China, Malaysia and South Africa have shown interest in the getting the company up and running again.
Continental has cut the ribbon on a new £8.5 million mixer at its Port Elizabeth tyre making plant in South Africa. Nikolai Setzer, member of Continental's Executive Board and head of the company’s global tyre business, was on hand to do the honours. Continental says the new mixer, which was imported from Germany, allows for superior temperature control during the mixing cycle, enabling a more accurate reproducibility of compounds and better dispersion of the fillers.
Continental AG may have delivered 948 million euros of adjusted pre-tax profits (EBIT) in the second quarter of 2012, compared with consensus expectations of 865 million euros, but the biggest surprise for analysts was said to have been the group margin figure. At 11.5 per cent this was nearly a percentage point (and therefore on the way to 10 per cent) higher than 10.6 per cent that was expected.
On the back of its second quarter results, which nearly matched those attained in the first quarter, Continental sees itself “on track for another record year.” Commenting on the German tyre and automotive supplier’s performance to 30 June, Executive Board chairman Dr. Elmar Degenhart stated “based on the successful first half of the year, we are confident that we will comfortably achieve the goals we have set for the year. Nonetheless, we must continue to keep a close eye on the uncertainties on the global sales markets, the difficult economic situation in some European Union member states and the slowdown in global economic growth.
Italian brake manufacturer Tarox launched its carbon ceramic ultra-high performance braking range earlier in the year, a product that draws on the company’s motorsport experience extending as far as Formula One. It continues to supply quality replacement products for models such as the Mk2 Ford Focus RS, and though the company supplies all car shapes and sizes, its managing director told Tyres & Accessories that it continues to pursue quality certification as a strategic necessity.
Continental Tire the Americas has begun recruiting employees for its new plant in Sumter, South Carolina. The tyre maker says the staffing process and manufacturing training for the first 150 employees will begin in the first quarter of 2013, and during the first phase of production in late 2013 and early 2014 the Sumter facility will employ around 300 production workers. Around 1,600 people will work at the plant when work is complete and production is in full swing.
To accommodate the company’s growth in Asia, Continental has opened a new research and development centre in Singapore. The facility, which covers a floorspace of some 10,170 square metres, houses around 650 employees from the company’s Tire and ContiTech divisions and the Automotive Group’s interior division. Continental invested S$36 million (£18.4 million) in setting up the new seven-storey centre.
Want to achieve 84 miles per gallon or 2.8 litres per 100 kilometres? Then you need an economical vehicle, efficient driving style – and suitable tyres. Norwegians Knut Wilthil and Hanrik Borchegrevink recently set out to smash the economy record for a series production diesel vehicle on European roads and headed out on a road trip from Helsingfors, near the Finnish capital Helsinki. They chose the Ford Mondeo ECOnetic, fitted with Continental’s ContiEcoContact 5 summer tyres.
Irish delivery company Fegan Transport has fitted cheaper tyres to its 25 DAF tractor units and 50-plus trailers for years in a bid to save money, but less than satisfactory returns on the company’s investment led to a rethink. Having moved back to premium tyres from Continental, the company says performance and life expectancy have increased; arguably more beneficial in balancing the books than the experiment with lower-cost rubber. “We’d used Continental tyres before, and then found that some of the Chinese tyres coming onto the market were cheaper, but it took us two years to realise that this wasn’t actually the best way to go. In some cases we’d taken the tyres off the vehicles after just 40,000km, because we found that they weren’t delivering what we expected,” reveals Martin Fegan, owner of Fegan Transport Ltd.
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