Continental China recently celebrated the 10th anniversary of its Greenfield tyre plant in Hefei, Anhui Province. The German tyre manufacturer hosted a special event together with the management and employees at the plant, which was set up in 2009 to meet continuous demand from the Chinese market.
Hefei is home to Continental’s only tyre manufacturing site in China – an investment of about US$560 million has equipped Continental Tires Hefei with clean, advanced manufacturing technology and processes after three phases of expansion. The plant adopts a sustainable approach with its 70,000 sq-m of solar roofing that generates 550MKW green electricity each year; its water treatment facility for zero waste discharge; and its pioneering dry filter/RTO equipment to treat the air. A professional and committed team of 1,700 people further ensures production of high-quality tyres, which has thrice awarded its Tyre Division with divisional accolades and is recognised bycustomers/local OEMs.
Continental Tires Hefei was established along with the Vision 2025 implementation of Continental’s manufacturing network. The Hefei team has fostered a very good reputation with all customers and amongst its fellow 20 tyre plants globally. Bernhard Trilken, Senior Vice President of Continental Manufacturing and Logistics has said Hefei is synonymous with quality performance, agility and reliability.
Enno Tang, President and CEO of Continental China, has remarked that the Hefei plant’s accomplishments in the last decade was testament to Continental’s growth in China, and shows the company’s strong commitment and full confidence in the Chinese market, while the site’s manager, Jeff Wang, expects another ten successful years of high quality products and services from the plant, possible through a fully dedicated and committed team.
In addition, Continental Tires has launched a Research and Development Test Centre (2015) and its first training centre (2016) in Hefei itself, with the ultimate goal to enhance their local competency, thus laying a solid foundation for the company’s ambitious growth plan in APAC.
“The Hefei plant has been a significant contributor to Continental Tires’ growth in China,” according to Ferdinand Hoyos, Executive Vice President of BU Replacement APAC Passenger/Light Truck Tyres; “The continuous development and success of Hefei tyre plant in the past ten years have enhanced our leadership in key APAC markets – we will continue to invest in the region to fully capitalise on growth opportunities,” he added.