Alfred Teves, the company's founder, witnessed the automobiles rise and realised that by pursuing technical innovations his company could play an important role in the young industry. From hydraulic brakes to ABS, ATE was a pioneer, repeatedly setting milestones in vehicle control systems. ATE sees itself as a partner of the automotive industry and stays constantly focused on the needs of final customers. It also supplies brake systems for car racing. The performance improvements achieved in this area are incorporated into series production, ensuring that driving fun and safety always go hand in hand.
|  |  | 1898 Alfred Teves, born in 1868, begins working at the Adler bicycle plant in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. He witnesses the rise of the automobile, and in 1902 he becomes the company's first car salesman. |
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|  |  | 1906 Founding of the Alfred Teves company, an authorised dealer for automotive accessories. A few days later, Teves has a stand at the IAA in Frankfurt. |
|  |  | 1909 Together with the engineer Matthäus Braun, Teves founds the Mitteldeutsche Kühlerfabrik, a radiator manufacturing company. Teves now has a business to complement his dealerships, and he is able to supply the automotive industry directly. His customers include Audi, Wanderer and Hansa. |
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|  |  | 1911 Founding of the Alfred Teves Maschinen- und Armaturenfabrik. By 1919, after the First World War, production of parts is of greater importance to Teves than the agencies. The company gains a name for itself among automotive suppliers as a manufacturer of high-quality piston rings and brake systems. |
|  |  | 1921 The brand name ATE replaces the previous logo consisting of a piston ring, fist and hammer. ATE’s blue packages become a symbol of top quality in more and more workshops and companies. |
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|  |  | 1926 Teves is a pioneer in the introduction of hydraulic brakes in Europe. The Adler Standard, fitted with ATE Lockheed brakes, is the first car in Europe with a hydraulic brake system. ATE solidifies its market position by introducing innovative technological developments and new casting processes.
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|  |  | 1934 Auto-Union and Daimler-Benz use ATE brake systems, optimised by Teves for motor sports, in their 750 kg formula racing cars. |
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|  |  | 1937 Introduction of the ATE tandem master cylinder for passenger cars, lorries and buses. |
|  |  | 1948 After World War II, ATE resumes production at all of its plants. A new plant is opened in Gifhorn, underscoring the company's continued commitment to the development of hydraulic brake systems. |
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|  |  | 1954 ATE pump circulation brake boosters, installed in the legendary Mercedes Benz Silver Arrow, are the first hydraulic brake boosters to be used in car racing. |
|  |  | 1958 ATE patents the negative scrub radius design principle for better directional stability in braking. In the same year ATE starts volume production of disk brakes in Germany. |
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|  |  | 1960 ATE starts production of disk brakes under licence from Dunlop at its Frankfurt plant. |
|  |  | 1979 ATE fist-calliper disk brakes arrive on the scene in high-performance touring car racing. They are used in the Group 4 version of the BMW M1. |
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|  |  | 1984 Series launch of the world's first integrated ABS. The ATE ABS MK II is used by Ford USA and Ford Europe. In the next two years 250,000 systems are produced.. |
|  |  | 1996 ATE presents the PowerDisc at AutoMechanika. Because this brake disk wears evenly and is free of scoring, it minimises fading and has a longer service life. Another innovation is DuoTec, a two-component wiper blade element. |
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|  |  | 1998 Sale of the Brake and Chassis Group of ITT Industries to Continental AG. Founding of Continental Teves AG & Co. oHG. |
|  |  | 2002 Presentation of ESC® II: the first ESC® with active steering intervention opens up new dimensions of driving dynamics and stability. The next EBS generation MK 60 E / MK 25 E with an even higher level of integration of functions and components also is ready. |
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|  |  | 2003 General Motors equips a special series of the GMC Sierra with the ISAD Integrated Starter Alternator Damper from Continental Automotive Systems. Development of the mild-hybrid system had commenced ten years earlier. |
|  |  | 2005 The APIA concept is on the way to production standard and is continuously being improved: with advanced camera technology in the exterior mirrors APIA now also detects hazards alongside and behind the vehicle and warns the driver if moving out of his lane would be dangerous. |
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|  |  | 2006 The acquisition of the automotive electronics unit of Motorola further extends the division's product portfolio - in particular with promising telematics technology, for which a separate business unit is set up. Incorporation of telematics in APIA opens up fantastic opportunities, including even life-saving automatic emergency calls pinpointing location and analyzing the damage.. |
|  |  | 2007 Continental extends its product portfolio by acquiring the automotive supplier Siemens VDO Automotive AG and takes the next logical step in its development as a supplier of integrated systems. |