June 03, 2019 |
Continental Celebrates Ten Years of Hefei Plant
Continental has celebrated the tenth anniversary of its passenger and light truck tyres plant in Hefei, China.
A special event was hosted at the plant recently with the participation of management from the Tyre Division and Continental China as well as the plant employees and their families.
Continental Tyres entered the China market in 2006 and just three years later, established a local manufacturing site in Hefei to meet the growing demand from the local market.
“China is the strategic growth engine for Continental. As our core business, Continental Tyres has been growing fast and steadily in the Chinese market,” said Enno Tang, President and CEO of Continental China.
“The accomplishments Hefei plant achieved in the past ten years contribute significantly to the sustained success of Continental in China,” Enno Tang continued.
“The continuous investment and expansion of Hefei plant has shown our strong commitment and full confidence in the Chinese market.”
Continental Tyres Hefei has grown significantly during the last 10 years, completing three phases of expansion with a total investment of more than €500 million and total employment over 1,700.
Continental states that the plant is equipped with the most advanced manufacturing technology and processes, and together with the professional and committed Hefei team, the plant produces top quality tyres recognised both internally by the Tyre Division and externally by the end users and OE customers. The Hefei plant has won 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 tyre plants globally. Hefei stands today for top performance, top quality, agility and reliability,” Bernhard Trilken, Senior Vice President Manufacturing and Logistics Tyres of Continental’s Tyre Division said in a video message at the event.
“With 10 years’ development, the Hefei plant has established a strong presence in China, and has been a significant contributor for Continental Tyres’ growth in the region,” said Ferdinand Hoyos, Executive Vice President of BU Replacement APAC Passenger and Light Truck Tyres.
“The continuous development and success of Hefei tyre 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 capitalise on growth opportunities,” he added.
As part of its commitment to the China market, Continental Tyres also launched a Research and Development Test Centre in 2015 as well as its first training centre 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.
According to Continental, the Hefei plant is committed to its social responsibility, and by investing in advanced clean technology, it aims to build an environmentally friendly and leading technology tyre plant. It has taken significant efforts to conserve the environment and become a role model in the region: its 70,000 square metres of solar panels on the production rooftop generate 550MKW green electricity each year; its water treatment facility ensures zero waste water discharge and it is the pioneering tyre plant in industry to apply dry filter and RTO equipment to treat the air.
