Following Continental AG’s acquisition of Siemens VDO the company’s Australian wings will now amalgamate into a new office complex in Melbourne’s northern suburb of Bundoora, Supply Chain Review reports. According to the magazine, Continental Tyres has significantly increased its commitment to the Australian market with the appointment of key marketing, sales and technical positions, all based locally.
"By the establishment of local offices and appointment of an Australian team Continental has shown its high level of commitment to the Australian market," General Manager Sales and Marketing, Peter Miglic is quoted as saying. "One thing that keeps Continental at the forefront of the global tyre industry is our significant commitment to research and development. Last year we spent the equivalent of $72 million on developing and making better tyres, this equates to around 3% of our total sales. Conti is at the fore front of global tyre development."
Acknowledging the variability and severity of Australian operating conditions, Continental has reportedly undertaken extensive local testing and tuning programs to ensure its products deliver optimum performance in Australia’s notoriously difficult road conditions.
Roy Norris, national sales manager for commercial tyres, explained: "Armed with this data, our own Continental engineers and designers have been undertaking a development process of the product range for local conditions. It’s fair to say that we are committed to the Australian market and we intend to make tyres that perform reliably and with durability to suit Australian conditions."
When Tyres & Accessories met with Continental’s truck tyre department executives in the middle of April, they announced that the truck product offering is to be completely overhauled in the next two years. In addition to offering tyres with “best in class” rolling resistance characteristics, company representatives spoke of designing the new range of tyres with “non-standard” markets in mind.
Continental reportedly has a “strong distribution network” in Australia, working through Tyres4U. (Tyres & Accessories/Staffordshire, U.K.)
