Continental Shifts Brand Strategy for Drive Systems Aftermarket Business

Continental Ag is carrying out a brand shift in its North American drive system automotive aftermarket business by aligning its product line with the company’s global technologies and expertise.

Using the Continental OE Technology Series (OETS) Multi V-Belt as the centerpiece of the initiative, Continental also will promote its expertise on all of its belts, hoses, tensioners and timing kits.

“The automotive innovations of today are the future of the aftermarket business tomorrow,” explains Rolf Sudmann, who is responsible for the aftermarket business for drive systems at Continental. “Thanks to our corporation-wide synergies, our customers can have confidence in our ability to promptly adapt current OE trends to the special needs of the aftermarket. That means we can offer demand-driven solutions that will prove a hit for distributors and professional repair technicians.”

“The transition is part of our strategy to continuously energize and associate our North American products and services with our global automotive expertise,” said Dave Wenger, marketing manager for Continental aftermarket programs for North America. “Continental has a global reputation as the ultimate in technology, quality and reliable service, and the evolution to a uniform product image worldwide will strengthen our Continental brand even further and create a high level of acceptance along the distribution chain.”

Leading the transition will be the straight-ribbed belt from the helicog, staggered profile belt. The belt has been reconstructed to align with Continental’s original equipment belt.

“One of the many advantages of the strong Continental brand is the ability to expedite well-defined solutions faster,” said Wenger. “Being under the umbrella of ‘One Continental’ allows us to share and communicate resources and knowledge among all businesses, increase focus on product development, and expedite innovative products to the automotive aftermarket, faster.”

In addition, Continental aftermarket products will follow a new, consistent packaging design and appearance that will be the same for all regions worldwide. Distributors will benefit from the new design, Continental says, because they can now distribute all aftermarket parts for automotive drive components from Continental under the same brand.

A new North American advertising campaign is being launched as part of the concurrent initiatives to promote Continental’s expertise, technologies and synergies worldwide, the company said.

The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company has named Ryan Waldron as president of the company's Americas business unit, reporting to Chief Executive Officer and President Mark Stewart. He succeeds Steven R. McClellan, who retired on April 1.

"At Goodyear, our customers are at the center of everything we do, and in Ryan Waldron, we have a customer-centric, execution-focused business leader with a deep understanding of both the marketplace and all aspects of our business, as well as a proven track record of delivering results," Stewart said. "I am thrilled to announce him as president of Goodyear's Americas business and have enormous confidence that under his leadership, both the company and our customers will reach even greater levels of success."