Continental Tyre Celebrates 75-Year Legacy in South Africa by Highlighting Automotive Icons

Continental Tyre SA turned 75 this year, founded in January 1947 as the General Tire and Rubber Company and subsequently acquired by Continental AG in 1998
Proud history as original equipment (OE) tyre supplier to most of the world’s leading vehicle manufacturers, Continental fitted to many legendary cars over the decades
Four significant cars featured in ‘Continental Icons’ videos series hosted by Cars.co.za, exclusively available on its YouTube channel

GQEBERHA, South Africa, 31 August 2022 – Continental Tyre South Africa is celebrating its 75th anniversary this year. To mark this proud legacy, Continental is sponsoring the Cars.co.za ‘Continental Icons’, a four-part video series that appears exclusively on the Cars.co.za YouTube channel, one of the largest branded channels in South Africa with more than 320 000 subscribers.

Continental has a rich heritage in South Africa, beginning in January 1947 with the founding of General Tire and Rubber Company South Africa. The local operation was acquired by Continental AG in 1998 and renamed Continental Tyre South Africa, helping cement its role as one of the country’s leading tyre manufacturers.

“We are extremely proud of achieving the 75-year milestone, and to have played a large supporting role in the local economy by producing some of the best tyres in the world, for some of the most significant cars of all time,” says Monica Ramsunder, Marketing Manager at Continental Tyre SA.

As the only Continental tyre plant in Africa, the local plant produces original equipment Continental and General Tire-branded tyres for six of the largest vehicle manufacturers in the country. It also has a large share of the aftermarket segment for passenger, light commercial, 4x4 and SUV tyres, and exports tyres around the world – thus making it an important part of South Africa’s rich automotive history, and key to its export-driven growth opportunities.

“We are delighted to be partnering with the creative team at Cars.co.za as part of our 75th anniversary celebrations, and linking this to the industry-defining legacy of four iconic, trend-setting cars,” Ramsunder says.

The first video in the series sets the scene by featuring a mint-condition, rare and valuable 1973 BMW 2002tii owned by Jaques Wessels. The 2002 is a legendary car that created the foundation for what later became BMW’s immensely successful compact executive sedan, the 3-Series, for which Continental remains an original equipment (OE) tyre supplier in Germany.

Notably, almost one in every three new cars in Europe is delivered from the factory with tyres from Continental, making it the leading original equipment provider in the European market. Globally Continental is an OE supplier to most of the leading manufacturers, including Audi, Mercedes-Benz, Jaguar/Land Rover, Peugeot/Citroën, Renault/Nissan, Fiat and Volkswagen, as well as sports car manufacturers such as Porsche and Maserati.

“Partnering with an iconic brand like Continental, which is so closely associated with some truly memorable cars, is a perfect fit for Cars.co.za's classic car lifestyle brand, SentiMETAL,” says Hannes Oosthuizen, Consumer Experience Manager at Cars.co.za. “This new video series represents a great opportunity to tell diverse and entertaining ownership stories, featuring passionate owners and special vehicles.”

The four cars that form part of the ‘Continental Icons’ are also featured in the 2020 collaboration between Continental AG and famous New York artist, Julian Montague. The ‘Original Equipment Heroes’ series of 11 artworks incorporated Montague’s unique style of art to celebrate some of the most iconic cars in the history of Continental globally. It also formed part of the build-up to the company’s 150th anniversary in 2021, and highlighted Continental’s status as the preferred tyre choice amongst the world’s leading vehicle manufacturers.

“Continental is trusted around the world for its German engineering, delivering exceptional performance and safety,” Ramsunder says. “The Cars.co.za ‘Continental Icons’ video series and the artwork by Julian Montague highlight the spirit of innovation that has shaped the cars we drive today.

“Many of the European cars incorporated in the ‘Original Equipment Heroes’ artwork are also celebrated as an iconic part of our South African heritage,” Ramsunder says. “Accordingly, we specifically chose four cars to be featured by the Cars.co.za team as ‘Continental Icons’ to showcase the diversity of vehicle types relative to our wide range of needs, and to highlight the extensive range of world-class tyres that we produce in South Africa.”

Look out for the four episodes of ‘Continental Icons’ on the Cars.co.za YouTube channel:

https://www.youtube.com/c/carscoza/

ENDS

Press contact

South Africa:

Jiminy Bosman

PR and Communications Manager

BU Replacement EMEA

Continental Tyre SA (Pty) Ltd

Phone: +27 41 406 5640

Mobile: +27 83 656 9172

Email: jiminyann.bosman@conti.co.za