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49-500: Continental AG , commonly known as Continental and colloquially as Conti , is a German multinational automotive parts manufacturing company. Headquartered in Hanover, Lower Saxony , it is the world's third- largest automotive supplier and the fourth-largest tire manufacturer. Continental specializes in tires , brake systems , vehicle electronics , automotive safety , powertrain , chassis components , tachographs , and other parts for

98-526: A Commercial Tire plant in Clinton, Mississippi , with an investment totaling approximately $ 1.4 billion and employing 2,500 people when the plant reaches full capacity in the next decade. In October 2016, CTA purchased Hoosier Racing Tire . Continental was one of the companies bidding to work with General Motors to provide the battery pack for the Chevrolet Volt extended-range electric vehicle (E-REV). It

147-469: A PACE (Premier Automotive Suppliers' Contribution to Excellence) Award for its Digital Micromirror Head-Up Display technology. Along with Audi , Continental also received an Innovation Partnership Award for their Safety Domain Control Unit (SDCU). In 2020, Continental won an inaugural PACEpilot award for its Virtual A-Pillar technology that helps to eliminate forward blind spots. PACEpilot is an offshoot of

196-430: A car, and prefer other modes of transport. Other potentially powerful automotive markets are Iran and Indonesia . Emerging automobile markets already buy more cars than established markets. According to a J.D. Power study, emerging markets accounted for 51 percent of the global light-vehicle sales in 2010. The study, performed in 2010 expected this trend to accelerate. However, more recent reports (2012) confirmed

245-544: A group of major car manufacturers including GM , Ford , Volvo , BYD Auto , Jaguar Land Rover and Mercedes-Benz committed to "work towards all sales of new cars and vans being zero emission globally by 2040, and by no later than 2035 in leading markets". Major car manufacturing nations like the United States, Germany, China, Japan and South Korea, as well as Volkswagen , Toyota , Peugeot , Honda , Nissan and Hyundai , did not pledge. The global automotive industry

294-676: A new chip architecture for object recognition in real time based on artificial intelligence . In December 2021, as a result of a diplomatic spat between Lithuania and China over Taiwan and human rights , China pressured Continental AG to stop doing business with Lithuania. In April 2022, Continental resumed production of tires in Russia despite International sanctions during the Russo-Ukrainian War due to 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine . In February 2024, Continental AG cut around 7,150 positions in its auto unit. The Interior Division

343-502: A partnership to be the Tour de France official tire sponsor till 2027. On 13 November 2020, it was announced that Nikolai Setzer would take over as CEO following the short-notice resignation of Elmar Degenhart. In February 2021, Continental announced that it acquired a minority stake in Recogni, a German-U.S. start-up , to advance its autonomous driving technology . The start-up is working on

392-458: A press release on the 30th, from the company. The total transition was $ 1.6 billion. The company will divest Veyance's NAFTA air springs business in Mexico and its Brazilian steel-cord belting business in response to some of the concerns raised by antitrust authorities, the release said, employing about 600 people work in those operations. Automotive industry The word automotive comes from

441-518: A protracted standoff , Continental agreed to be taken over by the Schaeffler Group in a deal that valued the company at approximately €12 billion. Schaeffler in return agreed to limit its position to less than 50% for a period of four years and support Continental's ongoing strategy. This arrangement was overseen by former German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder . Continental's CEO Manfred Wennemer , who had opposed Schaeffler's offer, resigned and

490-523: A research and development arm in the tech-heavy Silicon Valley, where, among other things, the company focuses on developing technologies supporting autonomous driving vehicles. From 2002 through 2005, the subsidiary sponsored a new college football bowl game in Charlotte, North Carolina , known for three playings as the Continental Tire Bowl at Bank of America Stadium . At the time, Continental

539-610: A single standard coin cell, and an innovative vehicle-mounted RF transceiver , was developed together by Honda and Continental, and was debuted on the Acura MDX in 2013 and was quickly followed by the Acura TLX and Acura RLX in 2014. In 2015, Continental AG was honored with two PACE Awards for its Bare Die High-Density-Interconnect (BD-HDI) Printed Circuit Board Substrate Technology for Transmission Electronics and its Multi-application Unified Sensor Element (MUSE). In 2018, Continental won

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588-485: A stationary car, to a conveyor belt system where the car passed through multiple stations of more specialized engineers. Starting in the 1960s, robotic equipment was introduced to the process, and most cars are now mainly assembled by automated machinery. For many decades, the United States led the world in total automobile production, with the U.S. Big Three General Motors , Ford Motor Company , and Chrysler being

637-493: A top producer 1950s : United Kingdom, Germany, and France restarted production. 1960s : Japan started production and increased volume through the 1980s. United States, Japan, Germany, France, and the United Kingdom produced about 80% of motor vehicles through the 1980s. 1990s : South Korea became a volume producer. In 2004, Korea became No. 5 passing France. 2000s : China increased its production drastically, and became

686-456: A year, after reaching 29 million for the first time in 2017 and 28 million the year before. From 1970 (140 models) over 1998 (260 models) to 2012 (684 models), the number of automobile models in the U.S. has grown exponentially. Safety is a state that implies being protected from any risk, danger, damage, or cause of injury. In the automotive industry, safety means that users, operators, or manufacturers do not face any risk or danger coming from

735-643: Is a major consumer of water. Some estimates surpass 180,000 L (39,000 imp gal) of water per car manufactured, depending on whether tyre production is included. Production processes that use a significant volume of water include surface treatment, painting, coating, washing, cooling, air-conditioning, and boilers, not counting component manufacturing. Paintshop operations consume especially large amounts of water because equipment running on water-based products must also be cleaned with water. In 2022, Tesla's Gigafactory Berlin-Brandenburg ran into legal challenges due to droughts and falling groundwater levels in

784-463: Is a primary mode of transportation for many developed economies. The Detroit branch of Boston Consulting Group predicted that, by 2014, one-third of world demand would be in the four BRIC markets (Brazil, Russia, India, and China). Meanwhile, in developed countries, the automotive industry has slowed. It is also expected that this trend will continue, especially as the younger generations of people (in highly urbanized countries) no longer want to own

833-558: Is an international company headquartered in Hamburg in Germany which specialises in products made of rubber, including sound and vibration insulation, conveyor-belt systems, and specialist industrial hose systems. The company has a turnover in excess of €1 billion, and over 9,000 employees across 50 different operating sites. The company was founded in 1856 and was acquired by Continental AG in 2004. This German corporation or company article

882-507: Is considered one of the best practice frameworks for achieving automotive functional safety . In case of safety issues, danger, product defect , or faulty procedure during the manufacturing of the motor vehicle, the maker can request to return either a batch or the entire production run. This procedure is called product recall . Product recalls happen in every industry and can be production-related or stem from raw materials. Product and operation tests and inspections at different stages of

931-496: Is organised under the following five business units: Body & Security is leading the development of vehicle electronics and cabin control systems, with R&D locations in Germany, United States, China, Singapore, Mexico, India, and many other locations around the world, allowing a global reach to nearly every market region. When Continental decided to purchase ITT Industries ' brake and chassis business for $ 1.93 billion in 1998,

980-403: Is the primary contractor for a system using lithium-ion batteries from A123 Systems . General Motors instead signed a contract to assemble packs with cells purchased from Compact Power . Continental continues to look at developments and innovation in the field of Automotive electrical-energy storage systems. These include developing solutions for gasoline and diesel driven engines as well as

1029-495: The Greek autos (self), and Latin motivus (of motion ), referring to any form of self-powered vehicle. This term, as proposed by Elmer Sperry (1860–1930), first came into use to describe automobiles in 1898. The automotive industry began in the 1860s with hundreds of manufacturers pioneering the horseless carriage . Early car manufacturing involved manual assembly by a human worker. The process evolved from engineers working on

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1078-495: The Nazis came to power in Germany in 1933, all members of the board of management as well as the authorized signatories and directors of the second management level were obliged to join the Nazi party , the works council was purged of "opponents of the regime," and all Jewish members of the supervisory board were forced to resign. As early as the end of 1933, the executive board said Continental

1127-462: The PSA Group had been in the top 8 1999 to 2012, and 2007 to 2012 one of the eight largest along with the seven largest as of 2017) and the five largest in the top 5 positions since 2007, according to OICA, which, however, stopped publishing statistics of motor vehicle production by manufacturer after 2017. All ten remained as the ten largest automakers by sales until the merger between Fiat-Chrysler and

1176-485: The value chain are made to avoid these product recalls by ensuring end-user security and safety and compliance with the automotive industry requirements. However, the automotive industry is still particularly concerned about product recalls, which cause considerable financial consequences. In 2007, there were about 806 million cars and light trucks on the road, consuming over 980 billion litres (980,000,000 m ) of gasoline and diesel fuel yearly. The automobile

1225-596: The Bidirectional Long Range Communications (BLRC) System, developed by the Body and Security Team in the Interior Division. The Radio Frequency Device , helps the car user to operate a remote control key fob from more than half a kilometer away, to start the engine and climate control function, while receiving feedback from the vehicle (such as locked/unlocked). The Radio Frequency System , powered by

1274-645: The PSA Group in early 2021 ; only Renault was degraded to 11th place, in 2022, when being surpassed by both BMW (which became the 10th largest in 2021) and Chang'an . These were the twenty largest manufacturers by production volume in 2012 and 2013, or the 21 largest in 2011 (before the Fiat-Chrysler merger ), of which the fourteen largest as of 2011 were in the top 14 in 2010, 2008 and 2007 (but not 2009, when Changan and Mazda temporarily degraded Chrysler to 16th place). The eighteen largest as of 2013 have remained in

1323-569: The San Fernando plant's production to the rest of South America. In 2001, Continental acquired a controlling interest in Temic, DaimlerChrysler 's automotive-electronics business, which is now part of Continental Automotive Systems. The company also purchased German automotive rubber and plastics company Phoenix AG in 2004, and the automotive electronics unit of Motorola in 2006. Continental acquired Siemens VDO from Siemens AG in 2007. Also in 2007,

1372-423: The U.S. was overtaken by Japan and then became a world leader again in 1994. Japan narrowly passed the U.S. in production during 2006 and 2007, and in 2008 also China , which in 2009 took the top spot (from Japan) with 13.8 million units, although the U.S. surpassed Japan in 2011, to become the second-largest automobile industry. In 2023, China had for the first time in history more than 30 million produced vehicles

1421-1055: The automotive and transportation industries. The company is structured into six divisions named Chassis and Safety , Powertrain , Interior , Tires , ContiTech , and Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS). It sells tires for automobiles, motorcycles , and bicycles worldwide under the Continental brand. It also produces and sells other brands with more select distribution, such as Viking (limited global presence), General Tire (U.S./Canada), Gislaved Tires (Canada, Spain, Nordic Markets), Semperit Tyres, Barum to serve EU and Russia. Other brands are Uniroyal (Europe), Sportiva, Mabor and Matador and formerly Sime/Simex tyres (now Dunlop Tyres Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei). Continental's customers include all major automobile, truck and bus producers, such as Volkswagen , Daimler AG , BharatBenz , Ford , Volvo , Iveco , Schmitz , Koegel , Freightliner Trucks , BMW , General Motors , Toyota , Honda , Renault , PSA and Porsche . Continental

1470-501: The company began to construct a plant in Costa Rica to produce powertrain components for North America. The plant was to open in two phases and ultimately employ 550 workers. In 2008, Continental appeared overextended with its integration of VDO and had since lost almost half of its market capitalisation when it found itself to be the hostile takeover target of the family-owned Schaeffler AG . By 2009, Schaeffler successfully installed

1519-692: The country. After a class-action lawsuit, the company and United Steelworkers union, representing the retirees, agreed to a settlement whereby the company would continue to fund benefits. Later that year, it announced it would cease tire production in Charlotte and would close its tire production plant in Mayfield, Kentucky . In 2011, CTA announced that it would build a plant in Sumter, South Carolina . The plant will cost about $ 500 million and employ 1,600 workers by 2020. In February 2016, CTA announced that it would build

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1568-605: The head of ITT's brake division, Juergen M. Geissinger , was hired as the CEO of the family-owned bearing and auto parts manufacturer Schaeffler Group . Ten years later, Geissinger returned to Continental with mother-and-son owners Maria-Elisabeth and Georg Schaeffler and a consortium of banks, to buy control of the company. Continental appeared to have overextended itself with the acquisition of Siemens' VDO automotive unit in 2007 for €11.4 billion and had lost almost half of its market capitalisation since. In August 2008 and after

1617-734: The head of its motor division at the helm of Continental. Continental was ranked third in global OEM automotive parts sales in 2012 according to a study sponsored by PricewaterhouseCoopers . On 6 September 2012, Continental returned to the benchmark DAX index of 30 selected German blue chip stocks after a 45-month absence. IHO Group (investment holding of the Schaeffler family) is the controlling shareholder and currently owns 46% of Continental shares. In November 2018, Continental purchased Kmart Tyre & Auto Service in Australia from Wesfarmers for A$ 350   million . In 2017 Continental signed

1666-470: The investment agreement is understandable from the vantage point of Schaeffler, our anchor shareholder. We are confident that the two companies will continue their very good and goal-oriented cooperation on into the future." Continental Tire entered the North American tire industry with its 1987 purchase of General Tire from GenCorp, Inc. , forming Continental General Tire Corp. At the time, Continental

1715-479: The list below) currently possess the capability to design original production automobiles from the ground up, and 17 countries (listed below) have at least one million produced vehicles a year (as of 2023). These were the ten largest manufacturers by production volume as of 2017, of which the eight largest were in the top 8 positions since Fiat's 2013 acquisition of the Chrysler Corporation (although

1764-729: The long-standing PACE awards, and the programmes seeks to recognise innovations in automative technology that have moved to the working model phase of testing. '*' Denotes labor representative Continental AG has acquired the American rubber company Veyance Technologies, Inc. based in Fairlawn, Ohio . Veyance will be integrated into the company's ContiTech division, and will serve as the regional home office for ContiTech in North America. The Brazilian antitrust authority Council for Economic Defence (CADE) made it official on 29 January 2015, described in

1813-401: The motor vehicle or its spare parts. Safety for the automobiles themselves implies that there is no risk of damage. Safety in the automotive industry is particularly important and therefore highly regulated. Automobiles and other motor vehicles have to comply with a certain number of regulations, whether local or international, in order to be accepted on the market. The standard ISO 26262 ,

1862-625: The opposite; namely that the automotive industry was slowing down even in BRIC countries. In the United States, vehicle sales peaked in 2000, at 17.8 million units. In July 2021, the European Commission released its " Fit for 55 " legislation package, which contains important guidelines for the future of the automotive industry; all new cars on the European market must be zero-emission vehicles from 2035. The governments of 24 developed countries and

1911-430: The rapidly-developing area of electrified systems. By offering a comprehensive technology toolkit to auto manufacturers, they enable these manufacturers to develop customised electrification in their vehicles, resulting in more efficient systems that produce lower emissions. In April 2016, Continental AG together with Honda 's U.S. subsidiary, were honored with the 2016 Automotive News PACE Innovation Partnership Award for

1960-770: The region. Brandenburg's Economy Minister Joerg Steinbach said that while water supply was sufficient during the first stage, more would be needed once Tesla expands the site. The factory would nearly double the water consumption in the Gruenheide area, with 1.4 million cubic meters being contracted from local authorities per year — enough for a city of around 40,000 people. Steinbach said that the authorities would like to drill for more water there and outsource any additional supply if necessary. 1960s : Post-war increase 1970s : Oil crisis and tighter safety and emission regulation 1990s : Production started in NICs . 2000s : Rise of China as

2009-407: The top 20 as of 2017, except Mitsubishi which fell out of top 20 in 2016, while Geely fell out of the top 20 in 2014 and 2015 but re-entered it in 2016. It is common for automobile manufacturers to hold stakes in other automobile manufacturers. These ownerships can be explored under the detail for the individual companies. Notable current relationships include: Phoenix AG Phoenix AG

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2058-457: The world's largest-producing country in 2009. 2010s : India overtakes Korea, Canada, Spain to become 5th largest automobile producer. 2013 : The share of China (25.4%), India, Korea, Brazil, and Mexico rose to 43%, while the share of United States (12.7%), Japan, Germany, France, and United Kingdom fell to 34%. The OICA counts over 50 countries that assemble, manufacture, or disseminate automobiles. Of those, only 15 countries ( boldfaced in

2107-476: The world's three largest auto manufacturers for a time, and G.M. and Ford remaining the two largest until the mid-2000s. In 1929, before the Great Depression , the world had 32,028,500 automobiles in use, of which the U.S. automobile enterprises produced more than 90%. At that time, the U.S. had one car per 4.87 persons. After 1945, the U.S. produced around three-quarters of the world's auto production. In 1980,

2156-452: Was a major employer in Charlotte. However, as financial woes set in at the division Meineke Car Care Center took over sponsorship of the Charlotte bowl game from Continental. The first two Continental Tire Bowls were both won by Virginia ; the third and final (by that name) edition of the bowl was won by Boston College . The subsidiary announced that effective 1 January 2006, it would implement massive cuts on health care for retirees across

2205-600: Was following other tire manufacturers, such as Bridgestone and Michelin , into the American tire market. The headquarters for North and South American tire divisions is located in the Charlotte metropolitan area at Fort Mill, South Carolina , United States . The North American headquarters of the CAS division is located in Auburn Hills, Michigan , directly east of the Great Lakes Crossing Mall. Continental also has

2254-411: Was founded in 1871 as a rubber manufacturer, Continental- Caoutchouc und Gutta-Percha Compagnie . In 1898, Continental began development and production of the vehicle tires with plain tread, which was a major success for the brand. In 1904, Continental became the first company in the world to manufacture grooved vehicle tires. Another major product Continental invented was a detachable wheel tire that

2303-415: Was made for touring vehicles (1905). From about 1910, synthetic rubber started to play a major role in car tire production, and one of its earliest proponents was chemist Albert Gerlach (1858–1918), member of the executive board. In the late 1920s, Continental merged with several other major rubber industry companies to form the largest rubber company in Germany called Continental Gummi-Werke AG . When

2352-607: Was now "a Christian and purely German company". As with many other German companies during World War II , Continental used slave labor provided by the Nazi Party in their factories in the 1940s at Hannover-Stöcken, Hannover-Limmer, Hannover-Ahlem, and others, all offshoots of the Neuengamme concentration camp . Continental teamed up with FATE in 1999 for the production of tires for cars, trucks, and buses in Argentina and exportation of

2401-640: Was succeeded by Karl-Thomas Neumann on 1 September 2008. Less than one year later, Schaeffler's CEO Juergen Geissinger succeeded in installing his longtime confidant (and former leader and later head of ITT Teves/Continental Brake and Chassis Division) Elmar Degenhart , the head of his automotive division, as the new chief executive of Continental, ousting Neumann. At Continental's 2013 annual shareholder meeting Schaeffler gave notice that it will terminate its mutual investment agreement with Continental in May 2014, on which Elmar Degenhart commented, "Notice of termination of

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