Wide range, deep customer understanding: Continental merges the special-purpose tire segment into a new business unit

Hanover, July 6, 2020. Technology company Continental is combining its global activities in the special-purpose tire segment. Effective July 1, the business areas of Commercial Specialty Tires, Two Wheel Tires and Hoosier Racing Tire are combined in a new “Specialty Tires” business unit.  As a result, from now on the entire Continental specialty tire business will be developed, manufactured and distributed worldwide under the umbrella of the new unit: From tires for material handling, the agricultural, port, and construction sectors, to bicycle and motorcycle tires and tires for racing.

Wolfgang Thomale, who has also been heading Commercial Specialty Tires since July 1, is responsible for the new business unit. The new unit also includes the Two-Wheel Tires area under the leadership of Thomas Falke, and Racing under the responsibility of Joerg Burfien. 

In the new role, Thomale reports directly to Christian Kötz, head of the Tires business area and member of the Executive Board of Continental AG. “With the new business unit, we are following the path we embarked on to consistently align all activities in the Tires business area with the customer,” says Kötz. “We are merging niche segments with highly-specialized requirements on the part of customers in order to develop solutions and services even more quickly and flexibly and to gradually expand our product range in the interests of our customers.”

Wolfgang Thomale has been working at Continental for almost 30 years. He has held various positions in this time, most recently as head of PLT Channel Management Retail & Region Central Europe.