Continental increases tyre production by 8%

Continental Automotive Products, which owns a tyre plant in Timisoara, will increase the production of its Timisoara-based plant by around 8%, to over 13.5 million tyres, compared with the capacity available in 2006 of 12.5 million units. In order to develop this project, the company has an investment budget of 15 million-euros. The plant in Timisoara has produced 50 million tyres over the last seven years, with the production development rate standing at 1,000,000 tyres a year. “Less than seven years after production started in Timisoara, in the wake of over 170 million-euro investments, we now produce up to 40,000 tyres a day,” stated Martin Kleinbrod, general manager of Continental Automotive Products. Representatives of the Continental AG group announced an international turnover worth 14.9 billion euros in 2006, an 8% increase against 2005. The management of the group could not provide details on the value of its business in Romania. In 2005, Timisoara-based Continental Automotive Products posted a turnover over 218.5 million-euros, a net profit worth around 32.2 million euros, and 1,186 employees.