On October 8, 2021, Continental will celebrate its 150th anniversary. Since its foundation in Hanover, Germany in 1871, Continental has developed pioneering technologies and services for mobility.
From a small factory in Hanover the company has developed into one of the global players in the automotive industry, which is now operating in 58 countries and markets. Continental is the oldest independent and also one of the largest tyre manufacturers in the world. Over the past 150 years, the company has set standards in the tire industry with its pioneering spirit and innovative strength.
Continental’s engineers with their ground-breaking inventions, ensured that tyres became safer, more efficient, and sustainable. Milestones in Continental’s tire development include the first treaded tyre, the first tyre with a detachable rim, the patent for the world’s first tubeless tyre and, with its “all-terrain” model, the first dedicated winter tyre.
The first pneumatic tractor tyre came from Continental. Later came the first rolling resistance-optimized tyre and the first production tyre to feature a tread made of dandelion rubber. Continental is also one of the pioneers in the field of digitalization. As early as 1999 the tyre manufacturer demonstrated that the data required for advanced driver assistance systems can be determined even more accurately and quickly if the tyre is used as a data source. This was the birth of the intelligent tire. Meanwhile Continental is connecting its tyres and their sensors to the cloud and offering its customers completely new, smart and digital tyre solutions and services.
According to Christian Kötz, Head of the Tires business area and member of the executive board, Continental, tyres are their passion. Their technological excellence has ensured safety, reliability, and sustainability for 150 years. He added that many of today’s technology standards in tyres come from Continental and the company repeatedly push the boundaries of what is possible. Their goal is to produce the entire product portfolio exclusively from sustainable materials in a climate-neutral way by 2050 at the latest.
On October 8th, 1871, the “Continental-Caoutchouc- & Gutta-Percha-Compagnie” was incorporated. The product range initially included a variety of rubber products, such as toy balls, rubber mats, roller coverings, rubberized fabrics or balloons and solid tyres for carriages and bicycles. When the bicycle began its worldwide career in 1892 with freewheel and coaster brake, Continental was the first German company to produce pneumatic bicycle tyres and hence “pneumatics” soon became a household word.
Today, Continental is using the direct connection of its tires and sensors to the cloud to offer completely new business models. Fed by a large number of data points, Continental's fleet customers can check the condition of their tyres at any time using algorithms developed in-house.
In 2020, Continental set new standards with the presentation of its successful pilot project for significantly accurate tread depth monitoring using algorithms and vehicle telemetry data. In its new strategy program presented in 2020, Continental describes its path into the new decade. The focus of the Vision 2030 strategy program is the consistently customer-centric orientation of the organization and all business activities.
In addition, the tyre sector aims to continue to grow profitably and differentiate itself from its competitors in a rapidly changing market environment in the areas of sustainability and digital solutions. Through continuous investment in research and development, Continental makes a major contribution to safe, cost-effective and ecologically efficient mobility. The portfolio of the Tyres business unit includes services for the tyre trade and fleet applications as well as digital tire management systems.
Image Source: Continental Press Release
Source: Continental Press Release
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