ContiTech unveiled its new look, coupled with its new North American headquarters, on July 29 in Fairlawn, Ohio. At the event, ContiTech NAFTA CEO Jim Hill took the stage and spoke about how the new organization would focus on informing its customers and the public about the new name and new brands created by the acquisition of Veyance Technologies.
“We will continue to provide the same top-quality products and services to our existing customers and now, as a member of the Continental family, we will be able to provide world-class options in all the product lines and the industries we serve,” Hill said.
Continental completed its acquisition of Veyance Technologies (formerly Goodyear Engineered Products) in January 2015. Since then, the company has spent months making physical updates and, in many ways, the unveiling of the new logo and headquarters was the last item to make the transition complete.
However, according to Hill, the biggest hurdle will be meshing the cultures that exist within Continental and ContiTech, as there are nearly 180 associates in the headquarters, which features its human resources and marketing departments as well as its R&D centers. “They are two separate companies from different parts of the world, so there are cultural challenges. … What takes a little more time is getting [the two] culturally connected,” Hill commented. “However, everyone embraces it and welcomes the opportunity to be part of ContiTech.”
ContiTech itself made around $4.3 billion of the $37 billion total that Continental reported in 2014.
“Our new organization will enable us to strategically position ourselves to provide dynamic growth for all of the markets in which we compete in the NAFTA region,” said Hill. “We will continue to grow our customer network, and provide the seamless distribution of our products with our focus on the NAFTA region.”
ContiTech will begin to launch a series of advertising campaigns on the new brand names and supplement them with press releases and special communications efforts to its customer and distributor base. The primary of which is taking out the old branding and replacing it with “Continental Elite;” this new line replaces the Goodyear and Gatorback brands, a change which ContiTech will continue advertising to customers in the coming months.
Hill also noted that Continental Elite will be showcased at AAPEX in Las Vegas, in a specialty booth just for the brand, while Continental will have an additional booth for other products. This will be the first time that the brand makes a public appearance at a trade show.
On Continental and ContiTech’s similarities, Hill noted that both companies were intent on driving technology and taking products to the next level, and pushing the limits of what the products can do.
Editor’s note: The images below can be previewed by selecting them in the scroller, and viewed in full by clicking on the larger image on the top. All photos are credited to Babcox Media/Mel Sayre.
