traded as fwb con otc pink cttay industry automotive founded 1871 145 years ago headquarters hanover germany key people elmar degenhart ceo wolfgang reitzle chairman products tyres brake systems powertrain and chassis components automotive safety vehicle electronics 1 revenue 39.2 billion 2015 2 32.7 billion 2012 3 operating income 3.073 billion 2012 3 profit c. 1.9 billion 2012 3 total assets 36.71 billion 2016 4 total equity 7.543 billion end 2011 3 number of employees c. 212 000 q1 2016 5 website conti online.com continental ag commonly known as continental is a leading german automotive manufacturing company specialising in tyres brake systems interior electronics automotive safety powertrain and chassis components tachographs and other parts for the automotive and transportation industries . continental is based in hanover lower saxony germany . continental is the world s fourth largest tyre manufacturer . 6 continental was founded in 1871 as a rubber manufacturer continental caoutchouc und gutta percha compagnie . 7 after acquiring siemens ag s vdo automotive unit in 2007 8 continental was ranked third in global oem automotive parts sales in 2012 according to a study sponsored by pricewaterhousecoopers . 9 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 takeover target of the family owned schaeffler ag . 10 by 2009 schaeffler successfully installed the head of its motor division at the helm of continental . 11 on 6 september 2012 continental returned to the benchmark dax index of 30 selected german blue chip stocks after a 45 month absence . 12 schaeffler ag is the controlling shareholder and currently owns 46 % of continental shares . 13 contents 1 overview 2 interior division 3 schaeffler takeover offer 4 continental tire of north america llc 5 automotive electrical energy storage systems 6 automotive pace awards 7 executive management 7.1 chief executive officers 7.2 chairmen of the board 7.3 supervisory board 8 acquisition of veyance technologies inc. 9 see also 10 references 11 external links overview edit continental ag global locations . continental tyres on a mercedes benz sls amg continental is structured in five divisions chassis and safety powertrain interior tyres contitech one of continental s main areas of expertise and technological leadership is fuel consumption reduction achieved through more efficient fuel injection systems reduced rolling resistance tyres and hybrid propulsion systems . continental sells tyres for automobiles motorcycles and bicycles worldwide under the continental brand . it also produces and commercialises other brands on a regional level such as general us canada gislaved canada nordic markets semperit industrial applications euzkadi mexico latin america and barum to serve eu & russia . continental s customers include all major automobile truck and bus producers such as volkswagen daimler ag ford volvo iveco schmitz koegel freightliner trucks bmw general motors toyota honda renault psa and porsche . 14 15 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 . 16 continental acquired siemens vdo from siemens ag in 2007 . 17 in argentina teamed up with fate in 1999 for the production of tyres for cars trucks and buses 18 and exports the production of the san fernando plant to the rest of south america . 19 in 2007 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 . 15 interior division edit the interior division is organised under the following 5 business units 20 body & security bs commercial vehicles & aftermarket cvam infotainment & connectivity ic intelligent transportation systems its instrumentation & driver hmi id the business unit body and security is leading the development of vehicle electronics and cabin control systems 21 with research and development locations in germany singapore india us and china as well as in many other locations around the world allowing a global reach to nearly every market region . 22 schaeffler takeover offer edit continental bicycle tire ad france circa 1900 when continental decided to purchase itt industries brake and chassis business for 1.93 billion in 1998 23 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 . 24 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 . 25 continental appeared to have overextended itself with the acquisition of siemens vdo automotive unit in 2007 for 11.4 billion 8 and had lost almost half of its market capitalisation since . 10 in august 2008 and after a protracted standoff continental agreed to be taken over by the schaeffler group in a deal that valued the company at approximately 12 billion . 26 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 27 at continental s 2013 annual shareholder meeting schaeffler gave notice that it will terminate its mutual investment agreement with continental in may 2014 . 28 continental s ceo elmar degenhart commented notice of termination of 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 . 28 continental s ceo manfred wennemer who had opposed schaeffler s offer resigned and was succeeded by karl thomas neumann on 1 september 2008 . 29 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 . 11 continental tire of north america llc edit continental tire entered the north american tire industry with its 1987 purchase of general tire forming continental tire of north america ctna . 30 at the time continental was following other tire manufacturers such as bridgestone and michelin into the american tire market . the north american headquarters of the tire divisions are located in lancaster county south carolina . the north american headquarters of the cas division are located in auburn hills michigan directly east of the great lakes crossing mall . the company announced that effective 1 january 2006 it would implement massive cuts on health care for retirees across 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 . 31 later that year it announced it would cease tire production in charlotte north carolina . 32 and would close its tire production plant in mayfield kentucky . 33 in 2011 ctna 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 . 34 automotive electrical energy storage systems edit continental was one of the companies bidding to work with gm to provide the battery pack for the chevrolet volt extended range electric vehicle e rev . 35 it is the primary contractor for a system using lithium ion batteries from a123systems . gm instead signed a contract to assemble packs with cells purchased from compact power . 36 this section needs expansion . you can help by adding to it . january 2009 automotive pace awards edit in april 2016 continental ag together with honda corporation of america were honored with the 2016 automotive news pace innovation partnership award 37 for the bidirectional long range communications blrc system . developed by the body and security team in the interior division . 38 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 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 39 and its multi application unified sensor element muse 40 executive management edit chief executive officers edit 1973 1982 carl hahn 1991 1999 hubertus von gr nberg 2001 2008 manfred wennemer 2008 2009 karl thomas neumann 2009 present elmar degenhart chairmen of the board edit unknown 1989 alfred herrhausen 1999 2009 hubertus von gr nberg 2009 2009 rolf koerfer 6 march 28 september 2009 present wolfgang reitzle supervisory board edit werner bischoff michael deister gunter dunkel hans fischl juergen m. geissinger hans olaf henkel michael iglhaut j rg k hlinger klaus mangold hartmut meine dirk nordmann artur otto wolfgang reitzle chairman klaus rosenfeld georg f. w. schaeffler maria elisabeth schaeffler j rg sch nfelder bernd w. voss siegfried wolf erwin w rle denotes labor representative 41 acquisition of veyance technologies inc. edit the german branch of continental ag has acquired the fairlawn based rubber company veyance technologies inc. 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 or cade made it official on january 29 2015 described in 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 . 42 see also edit germany portal companies portal continental automotive systems one of six divisions references edit continental automotive the automotive group of continental ag innovations for a mobile automotive future . conti online.com . annual report 2015 . a b c d continental official website . continental on the forbes global 2000 list . forbes.com . retrieved 8 october 2016 . pressemitteilung . conti media . retrieved 1 january 2013 . the history of general tire from 1915 up to now . general tire . 27 january 2005 . retrieved 2012 05 02 . history 1871 1926 . continental corporation . retrieved 2012 05 02 . a b dougherty carter 28 august 2007 . continental sets about integrating siemens vdo . the new york times . retrieved 3 january 2013 . top suppliers pdf . automotive news . crain communications . 17 june 2013 . retrieved 30 march 2016 . a b christoph hammerschmidt 14 july 2008 . hunter continental ag now becomes the hunted . ee times . ubm tech . retrieved 6 january 2013 . a b schaeffler wins battle on continental chief . the financial times . the financial times ltd. 12 august 2009 . retrieved 6 january 2013 . tschampa dorothee 6 september 2012 . continental back in german dax after schaeffler recovery . bloomberg news . bloomberg l.p. retrieved 3 january 2013 . continental corporation shareholder breakdown notification of voting rights . continental ag . retrieved 7 july 2015 . continental general tire corp. . funding universe . retrieved 2012 05 02 . a b german autoparts company begins investment in costa rica . inside