10/08/2004

• Preliminary rounds in the series run from January to March 2005 - the ultimate round with the 32 best teams will be held in summer 2005 and spring 2006. The semi-finals and the final will be in May 2006 in Hanover

• Winning team to get a car for their company, with each player receiving two tickets for the 2006 FIFA World Cup^TM

• For more information about the championship and for online registration up to 30th October 2004, visit the website www.ContiCup2006.de.

Hanover, October 2004. Continental AG in Hanover is getting its customers from the tyre trade and car dealerships involved in its sponsoring activities for the 2006 FIFA World Cup Germany^TM by inviting them to the biggest indoor football championship ever held for the tyre industry in Germany.

The company has written to over 12,000 tyre dealers and car dealerships, inviting them to participate in the ContiCup 2006. A maximum of 512 teams with 10 players at most (four field players, plus a goalkeeper and max. five substitutes) will be playing in two preliminary rounds on selected weekends in twelve different regions, with the 32 winning teams competing in the ultimate round to select the contestants for the finals. Explaining the motivation for the ContiCup 2006, Bernhard Bamberger says: "As an Official Partner of the 2006 FIFA World Cup Germany^TM, we have been gripped by football fever ever since the contract was signed with FIFA in early 2003. We want to share this enthusiasm with our business partners and look forward with them to the most exciting sporting event in Germany for many years to come. And we want to enjoy football."

Winning team to get a car for their company, with each player receiving two tickets for the 2006 FIFA World CupWinning team to get a car for their company, with each player receiving two tickets for the 2006 FIFA World Cup^TM.

The two preliminary rounds will be held between January and March 2005, whilst the main round with the 32 best teams will take place between June and August 2005. The last sixteen teams will then play to qualify for the quarter-finals and these events will be held from January to March 2006. All matches will be played in specially-equipped soccer parks right across Germany. The semi-finals and the final in May 2006 will take place in Hanover, where the Continental Corporation has its headquarters. The first 256 teams registering via the dedicated website www.ContiCup2006.de will automatically take part in the championship. The remaining 256 places will be decided by a draw. The registration fee is 10 euros per player. The winners of the ContiCup 2006 will get a new car for their company and each player will also receive two tickets for the 2006 FIFA World Cup^TM. Teams can only register via the championship website and the closing date is 30th October 2004.

As brand ambassador for Continental's premium tyres, Timo Hildebrand will be supporting the company up until summer 2006.

"Naturally we are very keen to see how many customers will actively take part. One way or another, though, together with our brand ambassador and national goalkeeper Timo Hildebrand from VfB Stuttgart, the second team in the German Federal League, we want to make the ContiCup 2006 an unforgettable experience" explains Timo Röbbel from the Marketing department of the Car Tyres Replacement Business at Continental, who is responsible for the organisation and running of the championship. Timo Hildebrand is a popular figure and will not only run a regular column on the internet, he will also be present at the draws for the interim rounds and the groups participating in the final rounds, as well as attending the final in May 2006 in Hanover. It looks as though the tyre trade and car dealerships were just waiting for the ContiCup 2006, because when the championship opened, in the first week alone over 130 teams registered.

Continental uses football as a communications platform.

Since January 2003, Continental's tyre division has focused consistently on football as a communications platform. In addition to German Federal League club Hannover 96, Continental currently also supports Second Division team Eintracht Frankfurt as a marketing fund partner. ContiTrainingCamps for youngsters and teenagers are organised regularly, in conjunction with record-holding German Federal League player Charly Körbel and his Eintracht Frankfurt Football School. Continental is using its six-language website www.ContiFanWorld.com to help all football enthusiasts on the internet to bridge the time until June 2006 - offering players taking part in the regularly changing online games the chance to win tickets for one of the 2006 FIFA World Cup^TM matches.

The Continental Group is a leading supplier of tyres, braking systems, suspension components and technical elastomers. In 2003 the company achieved a turnover of 11.5 billion euros and currently employs some 73,000 staff worldwide.

The tyre business unit is an Official Partner of the 2006 FIFA World Cup Germany^TM. For further information visit the websites www.conti-online.com and www.contifanworld.com.