Five years after production commenced, the Continental tyre factory in Kaluga, Russia has celebrated the production of its 10 millionth tyre. Plant output officially went into eight-digit figures on 11 April and the team in Kaluga marked the occasion with invited guests, including government officials, customers and representatives from the Continental Executive Board.
It’s only been four months since the foundation stone for Continental’s new tyre factory in Rayong, Thailand was laid, yet good progress has already been made. On 15 March the first machine was installed within the plant, an occasion celebrated by some 180 guests, Thai officials, as well as Continental management and representatives from the local project team, suppliers and dealers.
A partnership between Continental and the German Corporation for International Cooperation (the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit, or GIZ) aims to improve the sustainability of the natural rubber supply chain in Indonesia, the world’s second largest producer of natural rubber. The goals of the collaboration are to develop a criteria catalogue for the sustainable production of natural rubber, to train farmers in sustainable production in accordance with these criteria and to track the rubber from smallholders all the way to production at Continental. By doing so, the partners expect that this optimisation of the supply chain, paired with increases in rubber quality and yield, will generate higher incomes for rubber tree cultivators.
Continental has extended its relationship with German Bundesliga football club Hannover 96 through the signing of a new sponsorship agreement. The new contract covers a five-year period, beginning in the 2018/19 season, and includes television and in-stadium advertising slots. A further aspect of the new contract is Continental Reifen Deutschland GmbH’s support of the new Hannover 96 junior academy that opened in summer and serves as a training facility and home ground for the club’s U11 to U23 clubs.
A further milestone in Continental’s return to the agricultural tyre business was reached last week with the official opening of its production site in Lousado, Portugal. To begin with, the plant is manufacturing two ranges – the Tractor70 and Tractor85 – in 13 sizes.
The initial two products in the reborn Continental agricultural tyre portfolio will debut at the Agritechnica show this November. The radial Tractor70 and Tractor85 ranges share the same design; Continental comments that both are “characterised by their robustness and durability” and “ensure a high degree of ride comfort and tractive force.”
At the start of this month, Burkhardt Köller enjoyed his first day as a retiree after a career at Continental that spanned 47 years. His position as executive vice-president Finance and Controlling within Continental’s Tire division has been taken over, as of 1 June, by Dr Heinrich Exeler.
It’s now 20 years since the ‘Vision Zero’ concept started to gain traction around the world, and Continental is seeking to raise awareness of and interest in the road safety project amongst tyre and car dealers, the media and motorists. It will do this in its home market of Germany through a new cooperative agreement with motoring organisation ADAC.
Continental is to realise a substantial increase in production capacity at its tyre plant in Lousado, Portugal. The company’s Tire division intends to invest a total of some €150 million by the end of 2018. The aim is not only to further expand annual passenger car tyre production capacity from its current level of approximately 18 million units, but also to set up a production facility for agricultural tyres in Lousado. At present, production at the site mainly focuses on standard car van and light commercial vehicle tyres.
The 27-member judging panel for this year’s Tire Technology International awards has named Continental its Tire Manufacturer of the Year. The German tyre maker is said to have been propelled to a “narrow victory” ahead of Hankook Tire thanks to the sizable investments in R&D and production it realised or announced during 2016.
When Continental began its engagement with the UEFA Champions League in 1995, the notion of a tyre maker sponsoring a football championship rather than a motorsport series was considered novel. Not so today – established and aspiring manufacturers alike have snapped up an abundance of club and series affiliations, and promote these with varying degrees of success. Football sponsorship has become ubiquitous within the tyre industry, and perhaps for this reason, Continental has decided to call it a day. The company has blown the fulltime whistle on its involvement with football, and as of this month begins a new global campaign that ties in with its ‘Vision Zero’ aspirations.
Thailand has been selected as the location for the new passenger car and light truck tyre factory that Continental AG has planned for the Asia Pacific (APAC) region. Groundbreaking at the 750,000 square metre site in Rayong Province later this year will mark the start of work on phase one of a project that will require an investment of approximately €250 million by 2022 and give the factory a planned production of around 4 million tyres per annum within the same timeframe. Operations are expected to begin in 2019.
An official groundbreaking ceremony was held yesterday for the new Continental tyre factory in the USA. The ceremony, attended by federal, state and local governmental officials, marked the beginning of the construction process, which is expected to be completed in 2019.
Germany’s Continental AG has acquired US-based tyre specialist Hoosier Racing Tire for an undisclosed sum. The deal to purchase the formerly privately-owned company was completed on 3 October. The acquisition of Hoosier Racing Tire follows seven years of collaboration with Continental, during which time the two companies worked together on various development and motorsport projects.
Experience with truck fleets in Germany has shown Continental that while both fleet owners and drivers appreciate the value of tyre pressure monitoring systems, more than two-thirds of all fleets don’t yet realise the full potential that digitalisation offers. The tyre maker and automotive systems provider aims to change this, and has introduced a digital product that extends the benefits delivered by ContiPressureCheck, the TPMS first introduced by Continental in 2013 and now offered in 27 markets around the world.
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