Continental's New Shanghai Tire Distribution Center Goes into Operation

10/10/2007 (Hanover / Shanghai, October 2007) -- Continental, the leading German tiremaker and chassis specialist, and the logistics cooperation Penske / Honold, Shanghai, have set the Shanghai Regional Distribution Center (RDC) into operation on October 1, 2007. With the opening of the newly erected center, the temporary RDC opened in March of this year will be closed.

"For Continental, this represents a logical next step in the development of Asian distribution. Following the large-scale restructuring of logistics in Malaysia, China is the next challenge to be tackled," reports Carsten Sziegoleit, head of warehousing and tire distribution worldwide at Continental. The launching of logistics operations in China is based essentially on the introduction of the corporation's established logistic processes and systems. In the interim, lean processes with a minimum of interfaces were successfully tested. The new distribution center thus promises to get off to a good start.

With Penske as partner in China, Continental is relying on a well-established service provider, backed up by the experience of Honold Reifenlogistik, a company specialized in the tire area. Honold already serves Continental with over 100,000 sq. meters of warehousing. Penske will make use of some of its distribution partners' existing truck fleets to effect deliveries. At the Shanghai RDC, Continental will have 6,000 sq. meters of storage space at its disposal for passenger and truck tires. The new RDC can accommodate up to 80,000 tires. The tires will all be stored on Continental pallets. Annual tire turnover will amount to around 400,000 tires.

Penske / Honold has created 25 new jobs for warehouse operations and has specially trained employees to ensure that the high quality demands are met.

The new RDC guarantees distribution of tires to all of China's provinces. This step will further strengthen Continental AG's influence in the growing Chinese market.

With the opening of its Asian headquarters in Shanghai in 2006, Continental has set up a local sales organization capable of optimally serving the Chinese clientele right at home.

The Continental Corporation is a leading automotive supplier of tires, brake systems, chassis components, vehicle electronics and technical elastomers. In 2006 the corporation realized sales of EUR14.9 billion. It currently has a worldwide workforce of around 89,000.

Continental’s tire divisions are official sponsors of UEFA EURO 2008™, which will take place in Austria and Switzerland in June 2008. Detailed information on this is available at www.ContiSoccerWorld.de, www.contifanworld.com and www.conti-online.com.

Source: Continental AG

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