Continental expands production in Hefei Plant

German tire manufacturer Continental on Tuesday announced its Hefei Plant third-phase expansion project is officially put into production.

The project, with an investment of 250 million euros (or 1.86 billion yuan), will add staff number of Hefei Plant to 2,700 from 1,400 and increase total investments to 570 million euros (or 4.24 billion yuan).

By 2019, the Hefei Plant of Continental is expected to produce 14 million pieces of tires annually, compared to the present 8 million pieces.

“The Hefei Plant Phase III expansion project strengthens our position in China and the Asia Pacific market and will support Chinese consumers' growing demand for tire products,” said Feng Hefei, executive vice president of Continental’s replacing tire business unit in Asia Pacific.

Feng said Continental would continue to increase investments in the Asia-Pacific region to achieve full growth in this region.

The Hefei Plant Phase III expansion project will be the cornerstone for Continental’s rapid expansion in the Chinese market, said Wang Xiaoji, general manager of the Hefei Plant.

Nikolai Setzer, member of the executive board of Continental Corporation, said the expansion of Hefei Plant will help Continental Corporation further improve and balance its global production layout.

He also said that the Asia-Pacific region, especially the Chinese market, will drive the rapid growth momentum of Continental in the next few years. The expansion of the Hefei Plant, confirms Confinental’s confidence and commitment to the Chinese market.

The Hefei Plant, which launched production in 2011, is the first production base Continental built in China. It mainly produces replacing and original tires of passenger vehicles for the Chinese market.

Continental also set up a R&D test centre in Hefei province in 2015 and opened its first training centre in the Asia-Pacific region in Hefeiin 2016.

Hefei is a central Chinese province.