As a leading international automotive supplier and tyre manufacturer, we want to permanently improve safety and comfort on the road with our products. Not surprisingly, therefore, our motto and our aim in the development of Continental premium brand tyres is: Get there safely and in comfort!

An important aspect of this approach is to always lead the field in tyre development know-how. Our position as European market leader in Original Equipment for cars, in winter tyres for cars and in the tuning sector(status: 2004) demonstrates quite clearly that this robust claim is something we back up with facts. Whereas in the Original Equipment sector (i.e. summer tyres), the main aim is to work together with the car industry to develop tyres that are ideally suited to the specific focus of individual makes and vehicles, in winter tyre development the fundamental objective is to achieve the highest level possible for all safety-relevant tyre characteristics. However, as certain characteristics always conflict with one another - e.g. braking on wet and dry roads/aquaplaning, wear/tyre service life and road holding during braking/grip - in the development of a tyre, in general compromises invariably have to be made. The positive evaluations of Continental tyres found in numerous trade magazines emphasise the fact that what makes our products stand out is the very high levels they achieve in all criteria and that by implication they have no significant weaknesses. This also explains our major success in the Original Equipment sector - in 2003 we replaced Michelin, the world's No. 1 for tyres, for the first time as the market leader for car tyres in the Original Equipment business. We want to reinforce our leading position in the market and also make the high quality of our products available to our brand ambassadors and football partners. So that they get there safely and in comfort.

Read on for an overview of the most important tyre basics!