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All New Look for General Brand

(Akron/Tire Review) The General Tire brand is alive and well, and even has an all-new look. Continental Tire North America unveiled a new logo and logomark for the General brand, its first such revision in the nearly 20 years that Continental has owned the brand.

The new look was unveiled earlier this week at CTNA’s annual Gold Select Dealer Meeting, held in San Antonio. The new look received an enthusiastic response from the nearly 200 dealers in attendance.

The logo features the words “General Tire” in a strong, modern type style. The large “G” is gone, replaced by a shield with the stylized letters “GT” in the middle.

19th March 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

General Tire Sales Could Grow 10 per cent in 2007

Distributed exclusively in England, Scotland and Wales by the UK’s leading 4×4 tyre wholesaler (Micheldever/Southam Tyres), the General brand is reportedly the fastest growing 4×4 range in the UK market. According to Alan Baldwin, Micheldever’s sales director and 4×4 specialist, General’s awareness of the market and desire to produce products that consumers want, will result in an increase in market share of about 10 per cent in 2007. General Tire, a wholly owned subsidiary of Continental Tyre AG, is the specialist arm of the well-known German premium tyre manufacturer.

14th March 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Conti Launches General Brand Winter Tyre

Continental Tire North America Inc. has released the first of an all-new winter tyre range under its General Tire brand. The range is known as Altimax and the initial tyre on offer, the Altimax Arctic, is being promoted as General Tire’s first true winter tyre.

22nd January 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

SEMA Show 2006: CTNA Shows Off New General Powerline

(Las Vegas/Tire Review) Continental Tire North America has introduced the new General Altimax series, a new flagship powerline for the General brand. CTNA said the debut is part of its “revitalization efforts for the General Tire brand which entails the brand’s steadfast commitment to meeting the needs of a broad range of consumers. This General tyre line will focus on a wide range of today’s consumers. Consumers that demand a brand they can trust, but also one that remains proactive in technology to ensure the highest level of product performance and quality,” said Travis Roffler, CTNA’s director of marketing.

2nd November 2006/by Tyrepress Editors

Union Ratifies Continental’s Severance Agreement

United Steelworkers of America members have ratified an agreement providing severance packages and lump-sum payments involving Continental Tire North America’s decision to close its tyre plant in Mayfield, Kentucky, within the next few months.

20th October 2006/by Tyrepress Editors

USW Files Complaint With State Department Against Continental

(Akron/Tire Review) The United Steelworkers (USW) has filed a complaint with the US State Department against German tyre and auto system maker Continental AG, alleging breaches of the Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

9th August 2006/by Tyrepress Editors

Continental Closes Akron Test Centre

Continental has said that it will close its Akron tyre testing centre, its last operation in the city. Around 20 people will loose their jobs with most work being transferred to Europe, the Associated Press has reported. Continental acquired the test centre in 1987 when it bought the tyre operations of the former General Tire Company. One of the main features of the test site was a large wheel that could run tyres at speeds of up to 400 miles per hour.

22nd February 2005/by Tyrepress Editors

Fire at Conti’s Mount Vernon Plant

Officials have report that a fire broke out at the Continental General Tire plant in Mount Vernon, Illinois. No injuries have been reported. Fire and water damage was estimated to be more than $100,000. The fire is believed to have started when a welder working in the curing department ignited some chemicals. The resulting fireball burned through the ceiling, but was brought under control within half-an-hour. Employees were evacuated as a precaution, though plant operations resumed a short time later.

10th January 2005/by Tyrepress Editors

Mayfield Plant Produces Last Tyre

After pleas from unions to reconsider its closure plans, Continental General Tire finally closed the production side of its Mayfield plant this week. The closure will result in about 800 jobs losses. Continental announced in June that the plant would close on Dec. 31. Plant manager Hank Eisenga said the facility was scheduled to go on its standard two-week winter shutdown on Monday. The production facility will not be reopening in the new year. The end of production was a bittersweet occasion for workers who discovered that the Continental will keep on 200 workers after initially saying it would only re-employ 130.

16th December 2004/by Tyrepress Editors

“Mr. General” Uwe K. Wischeropp Retires

Uwe K. Wischeropp has been in the tyre business for nearly 50 years, 35 of which have been spent with General Tire (part of the Continental group since 1987). Now “Mr. General” – highly regarded as an expert in the off-road tyre segment – has retired. His place is taken by Wolfgang Thomale (35) who becomes 4×4 Sales Development Manager.

7th May 2004/by Tyrepress Editors

Continental Tire: Break even will be reached in 2005

So far the acquisition of General Tire in 1987 has not been a success story. During this year the loss will amount to 100 million Euro at least. This has to be changed, according to Conti’s chairman Manfred Wennemer and Martin de Louw who is responsible for Continental’s passenger tyre division and works in the North American headquarters in Charlotte, North Carolina. The two set out the goal: during the last quarter of 2005 the break-even point has to be reached. Wennemer puts his hope in de Louw as a new member of the board. De Louw in his strategy focuses on new products, the extension of low cost production sites such as Mexico, and the persuasion of a multi-brand strategy that in turn is borne by the brands Continental and General Tire. For the replacement market Continental hopes for good business with the car dealers because the tyres with the prancing horse have been widely sold on the OE market during the last couple of years – there will be a pull-through effect. Wennemer states clearly that Continental will continue its business with truck tyres in North America because this division has always been very profitable.

6th November 2003/by Tyrepress Editors

Continental is still bleeding in its North American tyre business

According to unofficial statements the Continental corporate group will pile up a three digit million loss with its North American tyre business this year. This heats up the speculation about the future of Continental’s problem-child, General Tire. A year ago, the German board is said to have even considered the sale of its truck tyre business. This plan had to be put aside because of a lack of potential buyers. Under the leadership of Manfred Wennemer Continental has positively strengthened its earning capacity, has reduced dept quickly and massively and is now capable for new acquisitions if there should be an attractive opportunity.

22nd September 2003/by Tyrepress Editors

Tyre Chiefs Talk At Paris Motor Show

Michelin’s Edouard Michelin and Continental’s CEO Manfred Wennemer have both spoken to analysts at the Paris Motor Show regarding the prospects for their companies. Michelin says that raw material increases (15 per cent in the first months of the year) will have an adverse effect on 2nd half business. Michelin’s strategy is “to get more value out of the tyre”, which Edouard Michelin says should not be regarded as a commodity. The company will also add production in low labour-cost countries.Continental’s European restructuring is bearing fruit with good economies of scale from concentrating truck tyre production at Puchov. However, the US market “remains difficult”. The current brand mix in the US aftermarket is 80 per cent General Tire, 20 per cent Conti. The aim is to make this nearer 50/50. Wennemer said that the forthcoming “tread act” in the US has great potential for the company in the field of tyre deflation sensors.

27th September 2002/by Tyrepress Editors

Dr. Wellen Takes Over From Bernd Frangenberg

Dr. Ulrich Wellen, the designated successor to Bernd Frangenberg, has taken over responsibility for Continental General Tire (CGT). Frangenberg will remain a member of the Executive Board until the Supervisory Board meets in April, when he will leave the company.

9th January 2002/by Tyrepress Editors

Corporate Sales of Continental Grow to Over 10 Billion Euro

The Continental Corporation boosted its sales in 2000 by 10.8 per cent to 10.1 billion Euro (prior year: 9,1 billion Euro). All corporate Groups contributed to this result. Because of nonrecurring effects totalling 60 million Euro, the operating result (EBIT) was reduced to 432 million Euro (prior year: 511 million Euro). The result after tax amounts to 205 million Euro (prior year: 235 million Euro).

30th November 2001/by Tyrepress Editors