Products & solutions customized to the Chinese market with continuous focus on Megatrends “Safety, Environment, Information and Affordable Cars"

Shanghai, China, April 21, 2009.  Despite of the global economic slowdown, the international automotive supplier Continental AG presents the company and a major product portfolio from the Automotive Group at Auto Shanghai 2009 in China. It showcases the products and solutions tailor-made for the Asian and Chinese market, and again underlines its commitment and confidence that Continental holds for China. As a worldwide leader in the four automotive megatrends namely: safety, environment, information and affordable cars, Continental displays its advanced technology for Chassis & Safety, Powertrain and Interior. Moreover, Continental unveils its brand new demo car called “Lu Wei”, which is packed with ideas and products customized for the Chinese market. It demonstrates strong system integration competence and the growth for local production and R&D footprint in China.

Here you can download the press release as a doc-file.

New Continental demo car was unveiled at Auto Shanghai 2009 in China. The "Lu Wei" is packed with ideas and products of Continental customized for the Chinese market.

With a comprehensive know-how and wide product portfolio throughout the car “Lu Wei”, it brings more mobility, safety, and driving pleasure while in care of the environment. Electronic Stability Control (ESC), presently the most important active safety system, ensures the stability and controllability of the car “Lu Wei” in situations where sudden and unexpected external influences appear. “Lu Wei” can achieve the reduction of CO₂ emissions by 15% while increasing engine power by 14% and the torque by 36%. Moreover, the tires of “Lu Wei” combine the best safety performance, especially in stopping power, with low rolling resistance values.

Continental offers a flexible and cost-optimized solution for vehicle integration of mobile devices and services. A Bluetooth or USB interface allows for a tie-in to numerous mobile devices.

The Chassis & Safety Division presents a complete portfolio of active and passive safety solutions to achieve the ambitious goal of “Vision Zero”. The scalability and flexibility of Continental products, with components like entry electronic brake systems, drum brakes, specifically adapted actuation units, airbag control units and market-specific calipers is geared to taking the highest safety standards to all parts of the world and bringing safety to everyone.

In line with Continental's long standing commitment to environment protection, Continental presents various Powertrain products with low CO₂ concepts as well as a complete portfolio of low cost internal combustion engine components. The central feature is the new "Easy-U" engine management system, which comes with a fully validated set of actuators, sensors plus special fuel pumps, and the new transmission control system based on the "EAST Platform" for automatic and double-clutch transmissions.

Continental's new demo car "Lu Wei" can achieve the reduction of CO2 emissions by 15% while increasing engine power by 14% and the torque by 36%.

The Interior Division is displaying affordable yet highly functional solutions in the areas of instrumentation and displays, body electronics and multimedia devices which have been developed specifically for the booming low-cost car segment. Currently, the so-called Basic Function Controller, an affordable but highly flexible and scalable body control unit, is already in development for four major car manufacturers in the Asian region for series application. With the new “Connected Radio Navigation“, Continental offers a flexible and cost-optimized solution for vehicle integration of mobile devices and services.

Mr. Jay K. Kunkel, President Asia and Member of the Automotive Management Board of Continental AG said “The automotive trade is expecting a strong growth in the low-cost vehicle market in the coming decade, particularly in the emerging markets of Asia. From 2012 onwards nearly one out of two cars worldwide will be manufactured in Asia and much of the growth in Asian auto market will come from China. China is definitely playing an increasingly important role in the future development of the global automotive industry. We will thus continue our investment and technology innovations and intensify our R&D localization strategy to develop tailor-made products for the Chinese market while providing excellent support and global expertise to our local customers. Wherever our customers are, we are always nearby. Our participation in Auto Shanghai 2009 provides an opportunity to showcase the strength of Continental.”  

With sales exceeding €24 billion in 2008, the Continental Corporation is one of the top automotive suppliers worldwide. As a supplier of brake systems, systems and components for the powertrain and chassis, instrumentation, infotainment solutions, vehicle electronics, tires and technical elastomers, the corporation contributes towards enhanced driving safety and protection of the global climate. Continental is also a competent partner in networked automobile communication. The corporation employs nearly 140,000 at approximately 190 locations in 35 countries. 

The Automotive Group of Continental AG is one of the leading global automotive suppliers. With its three Divisions – Chassis & Safety, Powertrain and Interior – it achieved sales of approximately 15 billion € in 2008. The Automotive Group employs more than 80,000 people in more than 130 locations worldwide. As a partner of the automotive industry, the Automotive Group develops and produces innovative products and systems for a modern automotive future, in which a car accommodates individual mobility and driving pleasure to driving safety, environmental responsibility and cost-efficiency.