Pressemitteilung
Continental Celebrates 140-year Anniversary
 The tire and rubber specialist from Hanover has grown to be a leading international
automotive supplier.
 Today, Continental employs approximately 160,000 people at more
than 190 locations worldwide.
Hanover, October 2011. The international automotive supplier Continental celebrates its
140th anniversary on October 8. Over the past decade in particular, the Hanover-based
company, originally founded in 1871, has continued to grow from its beginnings as a specialist solely for tires and rubber products into a leading global automotive supplier. “We are
there to meet the demands of our customers and business partners around the globe as a
competent and reliable partner and, at the same time, help significantly shape the current
automotive megatrends of safety, information, the environment and affordable vehicles,” said
Continental Executive Board chairman Dr. Elmar Degenhart. “Our workforce totaling some
160,000 employees worldwide forms the basis on which we can successfully pursue our
strategy of profitable growth. Other contributing factors include our wealth of experience, innovative prowess, ongoing internationalization strategy and wide-ranging product portfolio in
diverse business areas.”
Nine Hanover-based bankers and industrialists founded Continental-Caoutchouc & GuttaPercha Compagnie as a joint stock company on October 8, 1871. The joint stock at the time
– around 300,000 thalers – corresponds to a present-day purchasing power of approximately
6.3 million euros. At the parent plant in Hanover, an initial workforce of around 200 employees manufactured, among other things, soft rubber products such as hot water bottles, toy
dolls and rubberized fabrics, as well as solid tires for carriages and bicycles. Sales in the
1880s amounted to roughly 3.3 million marks. That corresponds to a present-day purchasing
power of around 21.5 million euros. By way of comparison, the Continental Corporation reported worldwide sales of 26 billion euros in 2010. This year, the company is striving for
sales of at least 29.5 billion euros.
In the late 1920s, major companies in the German rubber industry merged to form Continental Gummi-Werke AG. The company first began to develop its international orientation in the
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early 1980s, when it acquired the European tire operations of the American company Uniroyal Inc., took over the North American tire manufacturer General Tire, and purchased majority holdings in the Portuguese company Mabor and the Czech tiremaker Barum. This enabled Continental to carry its international activities well beyond Europe’s borders.
At the end of the 1990s, the Continental Corporation revamped its strategy. The first step in
this direction was taken in 1998 with the purchase of the ITT Industries automotive brake &
chassis operations (Teves). In 2001, Continental acquired the international electronics specialist Temic from Daimler. In doing so, Continental, as a tire and rubber specialist, gave itself a second mainstay in the automotive supplies business. This made it better able to cushion the ups and downs in business. The acquisition of Motorola’s automotive electronics
business in 2006 expanded Continental’s activities in telematics, and elsewhere. “With the
biggest acquisition to date in the company’s history – the takeover of Siemens VDO Automotive AG – Continental advanced to the premier league of automotive suppliers worldwide. It
also enabled us to simultaneously strengthen our market position in Europe, North America
and Asia,” explained Dr. Degenhart.
Right from the very beginning, Continental has possessed outstanding expertise in the field
of technology. In 1904, it became the first company in the world to develop car tires with
tread patterns. It was also first with removable rims for touring cars in 1908 and the first
German company to make tubeless tires in 1943. Launched in 1932, Continental Schwingmetall, a range of special rubber-to-metal bonded products, provided engine mounts and
bearings that dampen vibrations and noise.
Up to the present day, Continental has continued to develop its key technologies and bring
them to production readiness. In 1998, Continental began standard production of electronic
stability control (ESC), a trend-setting, active safety system. This year, Continental is launching the fourth generation ESC, the MK 100®. Over 80% of all new registered vehicles in
Germany alone are now fitted with ESC systems made by various manufacturers. Hybrid
drive technology was already in the Continental portfolio as far back as 1997. In 2009, Continental was the first manufacturer worldwide to launch series production of lithium-ion batteries for use in vehicles with hybrid drives. This September, Continental began volume production of a highly efficient synchronous machine with components manufactured without using
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rare-earth materials for a fully electric vehicle. Continental received the “Idea of the Year
2011” award for its eco-friendly printing blankets. Manufacturing these blankets produces as
much as 70% fewer CO2emissions.
The host of initial patents filed each year also serves to document Continental’s innovative
prowess. In 2011, the company’s various groups and divisions are likely to file around 1,100
patent applications.
To mark the occasion of Continental’s anniversary, various individual celebrations have already been held throughout the year at many of the 190 Continental locations around the
world. In mid-September for example, for the “W/I/R – Family & Friends Employee Day”, the
company’s location in Regensburg was transformed into an amusement park and several
thousand employees brought their friends and family along to join in the fun. The lobby of the
corporate headquarters in Hanover is currently home to a small exhibition, featuring items
from Continental’s 140-year history.
With sales of €26 billion in 2010, Continental is among the leading automotive suppliers worldwide. As
a supplier of brake systems, systems and components for powertrains and chassis, instrumentation,
infotainment solutions, vehicle electronics, tires and technical elastomers, Continental contributes to
enhanced driving safety and global climate protection. Continental is also an expert partner in networked automobile communication. Continental currently has approximately 160,000 employees in 45
countries.
Hannes Boekhoff
Vice President of Media Relations
Continental AG
Vahrenwalder Strasse 9
30165 Hanover, Germany
Phone: 0511 938-1278
Fax: 0511 938-1055
corporate-media-relations@conti.de
Corporate Media Database: http://mediacenter.continental-corporation.com
Ihr Ansprechpartner:
Hannes Boekhoff, Telefon: +49 511 938-1278