Continental Tires Celebrates 140 Years

Continental Tires is celebrating its 141st birthday. Continental was founded in 1871 by nine bankers and industrialists in Hannover, Germany and originally made rubber fabrics and other rubber products. In 1904 it made the first patterned tire and developed removable rims for cars. 

It expanded its tire operations in the 80s by buying American tire companies Uniroyal and General Tire and taking majority shares in Portuguese tire company Mabor and Czech tire company Barum. 

Continental is not just a tire company. It also developed an electronic stability control system that was used by several manufacturers. It also supplies lithium-ion batteries for hybrid systems. 

"Continental may have started small but today the company is a substantial player in the automotive world. We are largely known for our tyres as that is the main consumer facing business and not many people know about our expertise in other automotive areas. As a manufacturer of brake systems, powertrain and chassis components and systems, vehicle instrumentation, infotainment solutions and vehicle electronics, we work extremely closely with the car manufacturers before a new vehicle comes onto the market, said UK Managing Director David Smith.