Press Release
Machinery Installation Ceremony for Continental's
New Tire Plant in Hefei, China
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First phase of 185 million EUR investment project successfully accomplished
Chinese Government Officials of the Anhui Province and Lower Saxony State
Government Delegation participate at machinery installation celebration
Hefei, China, July 4th, 2010. Continental, one of the leading international automotive
suppliers and tire producers worldwide, celebrates on July 4th, 2010, the machinery
installation ceremony for its new passenger car tires plant in Hefei. The first project phase
has been successfully accomplished, the plant having around 70,000 square meters of
constructional area and state of the art machinery for tire production. The over EUR 185
million investment of Continental’s Passenger and Light Truck Tires (PLT) Division is the
first one in a manufacturing unit for tires in China and part of the expansion and growth
strategy of Continental in Asia; the investment is also the largest Foreign Direct Investment
project of Anhui Province so far. “We are looking forward to finally produce and sell
passenger car tires from local production in China. The positive project evolution makes us
confident that together with our highly motivated Hefei team also the ramp up of the
production capacity to four million tires per year will be according to our plan”, said Nikolai
Setzer who is a member of Continental's Executive Board and in charge of the Passenger
Car and Light Truck Tire Division.
According to plan, the first locally produced Continental tires will be delivered to the Chinese
market in early 2011. The Hefei plant is aiming for an annual production of four million PLT
tires in this first step. In the long run the capacity should be further extended, in order to cope
with the dynamic growing market volume, not only in China, but in Asia overall.
The ceremony in the plant Hefei will be joined by a Lower Saxony State Government
delegation from Germany at Anhui Province. The delegation is led by Jörg Bode, the Minister
for Economics, Labor and Transport and Deputy Prime Minister of Lower Saxony, Germany,
and participating with other distinguished guests, senior officials of the Anhui Province and
Hefei City government representatives. The global corporation Continental was founded in
1871, in the German town of Hanover, in the federal state of Lower Saxony, where it also
has its headquarters, being an integral part of the city of Hanover. The successful investment
of Continental in Anhui, the partner state of Lower Saxony, has boosted up government
confidence for further cooperation between the two states in the future.
Continental resumed the civil works for its new plant in September 2009, after one year
suspension due to the effects of the economic crisis. The construction now is ahead of
schedule and the work will be finished in July, 2010. To build a tire factory, from construction
to machinery installation, it normally takes fifteen months, Continental will however finish this
installation project within only ten months.
This new plant will be equipped with most modern tire production technology and apply
leading environmental-friendly processes and technique to manufacture premium mediumand high-end passenger car tires to satisfy the Chinese domestic and overseas demand. In
response to Hefei City’s overall city planning, Continental attributes great importance to
product and process environmental friendliness, sophisticated equipment and the latest
manufacturing processes being applied in this new manufacturing unit.
Continental Hefei plant has started to recruit and intensively train the new employees.
Continental has 139 years of experience in tire production and is currently the 4th biggest tire
manufacturer in the world.
With sales of approximately €20 billion in 2009 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 enhanced driving safety and global climate protection. Continental is also a competent
partner in networked automobile communication. Continental currently employs approximately
138,000 in 46 countries.
Continental is the European market leader for passenger and light truck tires. 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 South Africa™ and 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil™. For further
details, please go to www.contisoccerworld.com.
Media Contact:
Jane Yuan
Communications & Promotion Manager
Continental Tires (Shanghai) Co. Ltd
Phone: +86 21 6141 8392
Fax: +86 21 6141 8293
E-mail: jane.yuan@conti.cn
www.conti.cn