Conti's Brazilian plant opens

Camaçari, Brazil -- Eighteen months after cornerstone laying ceremonies, Brazil's president Luis Inacio Lula da Silva and Manfred Wennemer, Executive Board chair­man of Continental AG, Hanover, today officially opened Continental's new tyre plant in Bra­zil. "Erection of this plant in Bahia marks a further step in our involvement in growth markets. At the same time, we are remaining true to our strategy of further expanding production at low-cost locations," declared Wennemer.

By the end of 2006, the new plant will be turning out 9000 car tyres a day; in the first half of 2007 daily output will be upped to 14 000 units. Production of commercial vehicle tyres will get under way in July, with an estimated daily output of 1000 tyres by the end of 2006 and as many as 1700 units a day by the end of the coming year. With a capacity of 6 million car and 700,000 commercial vehicle tyres, the plant in Camaçari will supply mainly the NAFTA region. "The new low-cost production capacities play a key role in our concept for the future passen­ger tyre business in the loss making NAFTA region. At the same time, the capacities allow for profitable growth," stressed Wennemer.

The new factory, with 500 000 m² in floor space, was built on an 800 000-m² site in the Camaçari industrial park near Salvador in the Brazilian state of Bahia. Total investment costs amount to US$260 million. The factory will generate a total of 1000

jobs directly and 4900 indirectly. By December the number of

employees will climb from 282 at present to 700; the workforce will expand to 900 in the course of 2007.

"The new plant has profited not only from the use of the latest technology but also from a training program for 189 employees at various locations outside of Brazil, primarily in Portu­gal and Germany as well as in the USA, the Czech Republic and Slovakia," said Dr. Christian Meinecke, manager of the tyre plant project.