Continental’s tire plant in Hefei celebrates its 10 years success track

• First Asian Greenfield tire plant operates with most advanced manufacturing technology, producing premium tires for the Chinese market
• Total investments of more than EUR 500 million for production of passenger and light truck tires
• Environment friendly manufacturing site employs over 1,700

Hefei, China / Hanover, Germany, May 28, 2019. The leading technology company and premium tire manufacturer Continental celebrated the tenth anniversary of the passenger and light truck tires plant on May 28^th at its location in Hefei, China. A special event was hosted at the plant with the participation of management from the Tire Division and Continental China as well as the plant employees and their families who celebrated together the achievements of the plant.

Continental Tires entered the China market in 2006 and only three years later, a local manufacturing site was established in Hefei to meet the growing demand from the local market. “China is the strategic growth engine for Continental. As our core business, Continental Tires has been growing fast and steadily in the Chinese market. The accomplishments Hefei plant achieved in the past ten years contribute significantly to the sustained success of Continental in China. The continuous investment and expansion of Hefei plant has shown our strong commitment and full confidence in the Chinese market,” said Enno Tang, President and CEO of Continental China.

As the only tire manufacturing site in China, Continental Tires Hefei has grown significantly during the last 10 years. It has completed three phases of expansion with total investment of more than 500 million euro and total employment over 1,700. Equipped with the most advanced manufacturing technology and processes, together with the professional and committed Hefei team, the plant produces top quality tires recognized both internally by the Tire Division and externally by the end users and OE customers. It has won itself divisional quality awards three years in a row and its customers have covered both international and local major OEMs.

“Hefei is part of the new greenfield projects Continental has added during the Vision 2025 implementation to its manufacturing network. Even if ten years seem to be a short time, Hefei has built a very good reputation with all customers as well as amongst the 20 tire plants globally. Hefei stands today for top performance, top quality, agility and reliability,” said Bernhard Trilken, Senior Vice President Manufacturing and Logistics Tires of Continental’s Tire Division in a video message.

“With 10 years’ development, the Hefei plant has established a strong presence in China, and has been a significant contributor for Continental Tires’ growth in the region,” said Ferdinand Hoyos, Executive Vice President of BU Replacement APAC Passenger and Light Truck Tires. “The continuous development and success of Hefei tire plant have enhanced our leading position in our key APAC markets while we seek to grow aggressively in the rest of APAC. Looking ahead, we will continue to invest in the region to fully capitalize on growth opportunities,” he added. As part of its commitment to the China market, Continental Tires also launched a Research and Development Test Center in 2015 as well as its first training center in the APAC region in 2016 in Hefei with the ultimate goal to enhance its local competency, laying a solid foundation for the company’s ambitious growth plan in APAC.  

Looking back to the ten years development of Hefei plant, Jeff Wang, plant manager of the site, took pride in the plant’s achievements and delivered his appreciation to all who have contributed to the success of the plant. “The success achieved here is only possible with a fully dedicated and committed team, possessing professional skills and team spirit. With this, we are able to win trust from our customers by offering high quality products and services. I am looking forward to another successful ten years with our people,” he said.

Jeff Wang, Plant Manager Hefei

The plant is committed to its social responsibility, and by investing in advanced clean technology, it aims to build an environmentally friendly and leading technology tire plant. It has taken significant efforts to conserve the environment and become a role model in the region: its 70,000 square meters of solar panels on the production roof top generate 550MKW green electricity each year; its water treatment facility ensures zero waster waste discharge; it is the pioneering tire plant in industry to apply dry filter and RTO equipment to treat the air.