Press Release
Marathon trip promotes environmental protection:
Natural gas eco-tour uses tires and a navigation system
made by Continental
Hanover, January 2009. Record-breaking driver Rainer Zietlow's natural gas eco-tour is
supported by tires and a navigation system developed by Continental. In the course of
Zietlow’s 80-day tour, he will visit each of Germany's 800 natural gas filling stations to
promote environmentally-friendly natural gas as a fuel. The tour will also demonstrate
Germany’s extensive network of natural gas filling stations. Zietlow chose Continental’s
safe winter tires with their low rolling resistance and the VW RNS 510 navigation
system developed by Continental’s Interior Division, which is equipped with NAVTEQ
card information to show the best possible route.
Between January 7 and March 22, Zietlow will be visiting Germany’s 800 natural gas filling
stations in his natural gas-fueled VW Passat 1.4 TSI EcoFuel to show that environmental
protection and inexpensive travel are not mutually exclusive concepts: on average he hopes
his fuel consumption to cost €4.35 per 100 km. To achieve this target, he chose to rely on
tires from the ContiWinterContactContact range, whose rolling resistance is almost as low as
that of summer tires. Continental’s navigation system will help to further reduce fuel
consumption. The VW RNS 510 radio navigation system developed by Continental and
which can be fitted in the factory, simply calculates the shortest distances between each gas
filling station and therefore shortens the distances traveled. The 20,000 km trip started on
January 7 in Irschenberg, Bavaria. Zietlow is aiming to cross the finish line in Westerland Sylt
on March 22.
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With targeted annual sales of €25 billion for 2008, the Continental Corporation is one of the top
automotive suppliers worldwide. As a supplier of tires, brake systems, systems and components for
the powertrain and chassis, instrumentation, infotainment solutions, vehicle electronics and technical
elastomers, the corporation contributes towards enhanced driving safety and protection of the global
climate. Furthermore, Continental is an expert partner for networked automobile communication.
Today, the corporation employs approximately 146,500 at nearly 200 locations in 36 countries. For
further details, visit conti-online.com.
A quarter of all tires in Europe are manufactured by Continental, the market leader. More than 30
percent of all new European cars leave the factory fitted with Continental tires. The tire divisions are
an official sponsor of the 2010 FIFA World Cup™ in South Africa. For further details, please go to
www.ContiSoccerWorld.com.
Rubber Group / Passenger and Light Truck Tires:
Alexander Lührs
Head of Public Relations
Passenger and Light Truck Tires Division
Continental AG I Rubber Group
Büttnerstrasse 25 I 30165 Hanover
Phone: +49 (0) 511 938 2615
Fax:
+49 (0) 511 938 2455
E-mail: alexander.luehrs@conti.de
www.continental-corporation.com
Klaus Engelhart
Press Officer
Passenger and Light Truck Tires Division
Continental AG I Rubber Group
Büttnerstrasse 25 I 30165 Hanover
Phone: +49 (0) 511 938 2285
Fax:
+49 (0) 511 938 2455
E-mail: klaus.engelhart@conti.de
Interior Division
Enno Pflug
External Communication
Continental AG I Interior Division
Sodener Strasse 9, 65824 Schwalbach
Phone: +49 6196 87-2515
Fax:
+49 6196 8779-2515
E-mail: enno.pflug@continental-corporation.com
Media database at www.mediacenter.continental-corporation.com
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