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.”
After a four-year absence, The Tire Cologne is preparing to make a comeback in May. Continental, Falken, Hankook, Michelin and Pirelli have already signed up as exhibitors. Show organiser Koelnmesse and conceptual sponsor the German Tyre Retail and Vulcanisation Trade Association (BRV) discussed their plans at a digital press conference this morning.
In addition to his existing remit as regional head of the Central Asia PLT replacement business within Continental’s Tires division, Samir Gupta has taken on the role of managing director of Continental Tyres India. He began in this capacity this month after relinquishing leadership of Continental Tyres Malaysia, which he’d headed since December 2019.
David Smith plans to retire as managing director of Continental Tyre Group at the end of March 2022. Continental has announced that his successor will be Tarik Görgün, who is currently head of OE Tyres Japan and global key account manager for Honda and Subaru. Görgün will take over the role of managing director for the UK and Ireland from 1 March 2022.
TecAlliance’s TecDoc Catalogue contains standardised data from more than 900 spare parts brands, with millions of product descriptions and product images. From the end of January 2022, tyre data will also be available – in the TecDoc Catalogue, via Web Service and in the data packages. This update brings size- or vehicle model-based information about summer, winter and all-season tyres to the catalogue, and Continental is the first tyre manufacturer to present its brands.
Continental is supplying two tyre models as original equipment for the Kia EV6, with customers able to choose between the PremiumContact 6 and CrossContact RX. UK customers preferring to equip their electric crossover with all-season or winter tyres can also do so, as dealers will offer a Kia-approved Continental AllSeasonContact and WinterContact TS 850.
A pilot project that Continental began with Share Now in late 2020 is progressing into a broader partnership that will see the car sharing firm’s Danish vehicle fleet fitted with Continental AllSeasonContact tyres and monitored under a Conti360° Solutions contract. The partnership includes new innovations, including algorithm-based, real-time tread depth monitoring.
Continental Tyre South Africa has sold the manufacturing assets it used to make industrial and agricultural tyres in Port Elizabeth, South Africa. Prior to the sale, Continental manufactured bias-ply and radial agricultural tyres at the Port Elizabeth location. Continental’s ongoing production operations, such as its passenger car and light truck lines, are not affected by the news.
Continental will launch its new summer car tyre for 14-20” applications in 100 sizes in spring 2022. The new UltraContact will address the latest trends in mobility with a new compound and tread designed to increase mileage potential, while delivering safe handling characteristics and low rolling resistance. The carcass of the tyre is designed to promote durability too. The Conti UltraContact is designed to offer increased sustainability in motoring and has been engineered to be suitable for fitment on electric vehicles. Conti sites global sales of EVs to hit 14 million annual sales by 2025. Estimates shared with Tyrepress by leading tyre business analyst Astutus Research suggest European demand for plug-in electric vehicle tyres could reach around 40 million tyres by 2025, with roughly half in the replacement market.
Continental is consolidating its public affairs and external affairs activities under its Group Public Affairs department. Dr Thorsten Burger (43), previously head of external affairs, has become the new department’s head, also overseeing Conti’s Berlin political office.
The German Agricultural Society (DLG) has awarded Continental a silver medal in its Agritechnica innovation awards 2022. It bestowed this honour upon the tyre maker for its Agro ContiSeal technology, a patented polymer applied to the inside of an agricultural tyre that can prevent punctures by immediately sealing any foreign object penetration.
Arriving at Bovington Camp, a military base in Dorset, for the finale of the inaugural season of electric off-road series Extreme E, the lack of noise is the first indication that this is international motorsport done differently. When the nine fully electric 550bhp Odyssey 21 SUVs enter the arena, it is in large part to the sound of wet mud displaced by exclusive tyre supplier Continental’s Extreme E tyre, which is based on the German manufacturer’s CrossContact range. Primarily targeting a broadcast and internet audience, the teams, event staff, and small number of attendees on-site mingle under canvas, watching most of the action from the circuit unfold on big screens. During the races, teams complete the switch between the male and female drivers – another indicator of how Extreme E approaches motorsport differently – in front of this area.
From November 2021, Continental is supplying its TractorMaster and Tractor85 agricultural tyre ranges to John Deere’s factory in Iowa, USA for original equipment fitment on the John Deere 7R and 8R tractor lines. These sizable machines require tyres with external diameters of up to 2.05 metres and rim diameters up to 50-inches. This arrangement builds upon Continental’s supply to John Deere in Europe, where its tyres have been fitted to tractors produced at the Mannheim factory in Germany since 2019.
The Polestar 2 can be ordered with factory-fitted Continental PremiumContact 6 and SportContact 6 tyres in size 245/40 R20. Both original equipment tyres are V-rated and thus approved for speeds up to 149 mph (240 km/h) and have an XL mark for a higher maximum load. For those seeking winter surefootedness, Polestar has also approved the Continental WinterContact TS 850 P in size 245/45R19 102V XL.
With immediate effect, tyre maker Continental will handle a portion of its natural rubber purchasing through HeveaConnect, a digital trading platform designed to ensure greater transparency and sustainability in the natural rubber supply chain. Reporting this new arrangement, Continental’s Dr Andrea Appel explains that the goal is to procure all materials from “responsible sources,” and that the key to achieving this “lies in innovative technologies and digitalisation, which can make a decisive contribution to transparency in complex supply chains.”
Continental
Continental AG
Extreme E