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.”
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.
Yesterday, Korean firm SK Innovation and Germany’s Continental signed an agreement to create a jointly managed company. SK Innovation and Conti will respectively hold 51 per cent and 49 per cent shareholdings in this joint venture, which is being set up with the goal of mutually developing, producing and globally marketing lithium-ion battery systems for cars. This agreement comes half a year after the two companies signed a letter of intent.
Continental has announced the appointment of Steve Howat to the role of general manager in the tyre manufacturer’s Technical Services division, UK and Ireland. Howat joins from Bridgestone, where he held the position of European Training Manager, delivering extensive technical, business and sales training to the company’s customers and staff across Europe. Having joined Continental on 1 June, he will replace respected industry expert Roger Sanders, who is retiring this year after nearly 30 years’ service with the company.
It’s sometimes said that good employees are worth their weight in gold, and at Continental this may well be literally the case. The German tyre maker and automotive component supplier encourages those working at its 126 global locations to submit ideas on how efficiency and cost effectiveness can be boosted, and last year some 310,000 of these employee-driven suggestions were implemented. These ideas, says Continental, saved the company almost 120 million euros.
The Klarius Group ranks sixth in the list of ‘top 10 manufacturers with biggest international sales’ published in The Sunday Times HSBC International Track 200 league table, where the company also achieved 62nd place overall. The league table ranks Britain’s privately owned companies with the fastest growing international sales. It is researched and compiled by Fast Track and was published in The Sunday Times on 8th July 2012. The published figures show 70 per cent of sales being generated outside of the UK, mainly in Continental Europe, with sales growing 58 per cent between 2008 and 2010.
Continental will aim to support its fleet business with the creation of two new independent departments to oversee the areas of Fleet Support and Truck Tyre Marketing across Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA), focussing specifically on its Conti360° Fleet Services. The company has appointed Martin Burdorf to take charge of fleet management, while Barry Guildford will become the new marketing chief. Both will report directly to Herbert Mensching, director of Marketing and Sales Truck Tyres EMEA.
To demonstrate its various solutions for electric vehicles, Continental has converted a bog-standard Renault Megane to a prototype electric vehicle. Around 40 components the company produces for electric vehicles have been integrated into the Megane, including the motor, battery, power electronics, displays and controls, all the peripheral devices for propulsion and charging and – most importantly for us – Conti.eContact tyres. Most of components used are already on the market or are ready to go into production.
Indian manufacturer Metro Tyres aims to significantly increase its share of India’s motorcycle tyre market and is considering entering the passenger car tyre segment after 2015. Managing director Rummy Chhabra disclosed this information to news agency the Press Trust of India while outlining the company’s investment plan for the next few years. PTI has not given any specific information on Metro’s intended activities within the passenger car tyre business, such as the extent, if at all, technology partner Continental will be involved.
Continental Tire will serve as the “official tyre” of 2012 Herbalife World Football Challenge in the US following the signing of a sponsorship deal. Under the agreement, Continental Tire will receive field board signage, end board signage, in-stadium media, hospitality, and category exclusivity at all the championship, which will take place across North America between 18 July and 11 August. This latest deal is in addition to the company’s official status sponsorship of Major League Soccer (MLS). Last year Bridgestone was a sponsor of the event.
No particular surprises awaited Tyres & Accessories at Continental’s Reifen 2012 stand. The German tyre maker presented its full consumer tyre range, including several key new products also seen at the Geneva Motor Show in February – the recently launched ContiPremiumContact 5, the ContiWinterContact TS850 and the Conti.e.Contact Winter.
Continental says it has expanded its research and development centre in Hanover-Stöcken and installed a new facility that can inspect the insides of passenger car and commercial vehicle tyres more quickly and efficiently. The advantage offered by the LINAC (Linear Electronic Accumulation) computer tomography facility, says Conti, is that it enables internal tyre components to be tested under conditions that replicate on-road driving conditions.
Continental states that it tested around 500 truck and bus tyres in preparation for releasing its European label results on 1 July. The German tyre maker says it has now integrated all measured tyre data into the company’s existing internal and external SAP-supported computer systems and made it available to retailers. Unlike passenger car and van tyres, no physical label will be affixed to individual truck and bus tyres, however. Instead, Continental and its sales partners will list the data in the technical documents for the products, at points of sale, on the internet and on invoices.
Continental Tyres has introduced new visual alignment indicators (VAI) on two long distance truck tyre sizes; the first time such indicators have become available on truck tyres in Europe. The VAIs aim to show operators incorrect wheel alignment on trucks and trailers more easily and without the use of expensive electronic measuring systems. Conti says the system should help fleet operators to spot excessive positive or negative camber angles or too much toe-in or toe-out, all of which can decrease tyre life through uneven wear and increase fuel consumption. Early detection through a simple visual check can be carried out as part of a routine maintenance inspection.
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.
