“This is an important step towards our goal of forging a stronger link to our extremely successful joint-venture partner,” stated Continental’s executive board chairman Manfred Wennemer. “At the same time, it enables us to expand our production and operations base in Eastern Europe.”

tefan Rosina, CEO of the Matador Group, also expressed his satisfaction: “For us, it opens up possibilities to develop further our automotive business in line with our strategy regarding new projects with automotive suppliers.“

The Matador Rubber Group employs 4,770 staff and posted sales of approximately 450 million euros in 2006. Since 1998, Matador and Continental have held a 24% and 76% respective share in a joint venture in Puchov, Slovakia, for the production of truck tyres. Continental intends, by combining its own strength and experience with Matador, to maximise its market position in Central and Eastern Europe and create supplementary sales possibilities in Russia, as well as in Ukraine and the ‘Stan’ countries.