The massive auto parts conglomerate Continental was founded in 1871, the same year that the modern country of Germany formed. It is more than coincidental that the success and misfortunes of both the nation and the company have had many parallels in the past 140 years.
Nearly 15 years before Karl Benz received the patent on his three-wheeled automobile, Continental-Caoutchouc- und Gutta-Percha Compagnie was the long-winded named given the company, which roughly translated to the Continental Rubber and Latex Company. They made solid bicycle tires and industrial rubber products. In 1882, the "rampant" horse became the logo for the company. About 20 years later, they became the first German company to develop a pneumatic bicycle tire. As the motor industry grew, Continental began producing automobile tires in 1898. The year 1904 marked two significant developments for the company when they started producing the first automobile tire with a patterned tread and their first motorcycle tire.
During this time, they also saw their first significant race victory when the very first Daimler-Mercedes 35 HP scored a sensational victory in the Nice-Salon-Nice road race on Continental tires. As makers of rubber and latex products for other industries, Continental became a supplier to the aviation industry, making the rubber-coated cloth gas bags used on the first Zeppelin, the hydrogen-filled LZ1 of 1900. Continental-made fabrics were used on the wings of early airplanes. The company also invented the detachable rim in 1908, helping motorists and mechanics save a ton of time in changing tires and probably helping to sell a few more spares as well.
The growth of Continental led to a merger with other German rubber manufacturers to form Continental Gummi-werke AG in 1929. In the 1930s, as the Nazi-funded Mercedes-Benz and Auto Union teams dominated European motorsports, they did so on Continental tires. The German war machine needed lots of rubber and, as supplies of natural rubber derived from tropical sources became more difficult to get to Europe, synthetic rubber became the order of the day. Like many industrial operations in Germany at the time, Continental used Jewish slave labor supplied by the Nazis and their plants became the targets of Allied bombers, which severely damaged the Continental works.
But, with British permission, Continental resumed production in June 1945, just weeks after the war's end. In the 1950s, as the German motor industry tasted racing success with increasing frequency, Continental went along for the ride again. On the consumer front, tubeless and radial tires followed and Continental's commercial tire business enjoyed robust growth as well. Like so many other German companies, Continental's fortunes were buoyed by the German economic miracle that followed World War II, prosperity rapidly returning to a once-shattered Germany.
Continental's growth coincided with that of the German automobile industry, an export-driven machine in its own right that found not only customers around the world but companies to acquire as they grew. Uniroyal's European operations were acquired in the late 1970s and the entirety of the American company General Tire was consumed in 1987. Even as they added factories in Germany (and the massive Contidrom test track facility), they began setting up factories in other countries, the first in France in 1964. That was just the tip of the iceberg.
Continental formed an Automotive Systems division in 1995, absorbed the Alfred Teves (ATE) brake company into it in 1998 and substantially altered the company in 2007 when they acquired VDO, the automotive systems division of Siemens for $16.7 billion, which virtually doubled the company's revenues overnight, turning Continental AG into the fifth largest auto parts supplier in the world.
Today, Continental has factories or joint ventures throughout Europe (including Eastern Europe), Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, South Africa, India, China and Korea. Their presence is also felt throughout automotive systems and includes not just tires and brakes, but also fuel systems, electronics and even hybrid powertrains and batteries.
They may have greatly expanded their horizons, but they are still the fourth largest tire manufacturer in the world after Bridgestone, Michelin and Goodyear, their treads offered as both OEM equipment and with a strong aftermarket presence.
This article originally appeared in the October, 2012 issue of Hemmings Sports & Exotic Car.
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