Where Are Continental Tires Made?
The Continental tire company was founded back in 1871 and is the oldest premium tire manufacturer in the world. The company is headquartered in Hanover Germany but has large global manufacturing and business presence on 5 different continents. So, where are Continental tires made?
Where Are Continental Tires Made
Continental has many different factories all around the world. Two of those are located in Germany, two in the USA, one in Mexico, one in Russia, one in France, one in Ecuador, one in Brazil, one in Portugal, one in South Africa, one in Sri Lanka, one in Malaysia, one in India, one in China, one in Slovakia, one in the Czech Republic.
This enables Continental to be firmly in the top 5 largest tire manufacturers in the world as they can produce more than 142 million tires every year.
Which Types Of Tires Does Continental Offer?
Continental does not only make tires for cars you can find Continental tires for motorcycles, tractors, bicycles, trucks, buses, earthmoving, port, and industrial vehicles. In this section, we are only going to focus on Continental tires for passenger vehicles and trucks.
- Summer Tires
- Ultra-Performance Tires
- All Season Tires
- Winter Tires
- Racing Tires
- All-terrain Tires
- Ice Tires
What Are The Best Continental Summer Tires?
A good summer tire needs to excel in high temperatures and dry traction while still being more than capable when it comes to rain. The Continental SportContact 7 is exactly that type of tire as it offers unparalleled dry performance with great steering feedback and response that is going to make your car feel a lot more agile and engaging to drive.
Aquaplaning is not on par with some of its competitors, but wet traction in general should be more than enough for everything besides torrential rain. Ride quality is a bit firm, but the SportContact 7 is relatively quiet and docile at highway speeds.
What Are The Best Continental Ultra Performance Tires?
An ultra-performance tire is similar to a regular performance tire when it comes to traction in the dry but when an ultra-performance tire reaches optimum temperature, it outperforms a normal performance summer tire at all times. The Continental ExtremeContact DWS06 is known for its short braking distances and incredible performance in the snow for an ultra-performance tire.
Most ultra-performance tires are summer tires while the ExtremeContact DWS06 is an all-season tire. With such a wide breadth of ability, it simply had to be included in this list. However, ultra-performance tires are known to last less than most summer tires out there.
What Are The Best Continental Winter Tires?
Continental has a relatively wide range of impressive winter tires, so it is not as easy to choose which one is the best. However, the Continental VikingContact 7 is making all the noise lately as it is one of the best-performing snow tires on the market. Moreover, the VikingContact 7 is also a tire that can do performance driving really well, something most winter tires aren’t able to do.
Excellent aquaplaning resistance and equally impressive wet traction earn this tire the title of the best winter tire Continental currently has to offer.
What Are The Best Continental All-Season Tires?
An all-season tire is intended to be a jack of all trades, a tire that can deliver in most environments, and one that does not need to be swapped every season. Understandably, this is a really difficult task to achieve which is why most all-season tires can’t compare to purpose-made summer tires in the summer or with purpose-made snow tires in the winter.
Be that as it may, the Continental PureContact LS is a tire that manages to offer outstanding performance in all areas except heavy snow. Traction is more than enough in both wet and dry while feedback and steering responsiveness is equally as impressive.
What Is The Best Continental Racing Tire?
If you want a tire that is designed specifically for track purposes, the Continental ContiForceContact is the one to get. Continental says that this tire is completely developed at the Nurburgring which means that it aims to achieve the highest levels of performance possible, even if that shortens the lifespan of the tire significantly.
These tires are amazing when at temperature, but they also fall apart when they are cold. As such, you should only buy these tires if you are serious about track driving as daily driving semi-slick tires is not a good idea at all.
What Are The Best Continental All-Terrain Tires?
All-terrain tires are designed to perform both on the road and off the road. Even though many people prefer outstanding off-roading performance over great on-road performance, a really good all-terrain tire is one that is able to do both. The Continental TerrainContact A/T is one of the most comfortable all-terrain tires money can buy but is also really good off-road.
It is also a really durable and tough tire that is able to withstand serious abuse associated with off-road trails. Extreme off-roading is not for what tire is designed, as extreme off-roading tires are always subpar on paved roads.
What Are The Best Continental Ice Tires?
Ice tires differ from regular winter tires because they are designed for people who spend most of their driving time cruising on icy highways. Snow tires come with fewer incisions as maintaining traction on snow and ice is completely different. The Continental IceContact series of tires is the one to go for, especially if you want studded ice tires.
What Are The Pros Of Buying Continental Tires?
- Quality – Continental is one of those brands that are synonymous with quality which is why so many owners of premium cars are willing to buy them. Continental spends a huge portion of its money on research & development which enables them to always stay on top when it comes to quality compounds and advanced means of production.
- Performance – When it comes to performance, Continental is also at the very top of the tire game as they make purpose-made tires that excel in a wide range of extreme environments such as the track, ice courses, and heavy snow. Moreover, even Continental all-season tires are on par with certain ultra-performance tires from other manufacturers.
- Diversity – Diversity is also an area in which Continental excels because they offer tires for literally everything. You can buy Continental tires in all shapes and sizes which means that they can fit on anything between supercars and bicycles.
- Warranty – A premium tire needs to be able to last a long time, otherwise it makes no sense to buy one. Thankfully, Continental makes tires such as the Continental TrueContact Tour tire which comes with an industry-leading 80,000 warranty.
What Are The Cons Of Buying Continental Tires?
- Cost – Likely the biggest disadvantage of Continental tires is that they end to cost a lot more money than most tires out there. Continental truly does offer industry-leading products in many segments, but not everyone is able to afford Continental tires.
- Competition – Even though Continental is one of the best tire brands in the world, there are many other premium tire brands out there that compete with Continental in every possible segment. This means that for every amazing Continental tire there is an equally amazing if not even more amazing tire from another premium tire brand.
How To Tell Where My Continental Tire Was Made?
All Continental tires sold in the US need to be approved by the Department of Transportation which means that they need to have a DOT alphanumerical symbol stamped directly on the tire sidewall. If you want to know where your Continental tire was made, be sure to look at the first two/three symbols after the DOT mark as these will tell you where your Conti’s were made.
Here are the Continental DOT symbols for US-made Continental Tires:
- 02P – Continental Tire Plant in Bolton, Mississippi
- VY/1VY – Continental Tire Plant in South Sumpter, NC
However, you can use this method for Continental tires that were manufactured abroad, just be sure to look for the associated plant code IC here.
Which Company Owns Continental Tires?
The Continental Tires company is owned by Continental AG, a Continental parent company that is also situated in Hanover, Germany. Continental AG deals in many other realms of the automotive industry such as manufacturing spare parts or various systems for automakers all across the world. For example, Continental makes various car chassis components, components for car brakes, and many safety-related systems.
Conclusion
At the end of our “Where are Continental tires made” article, we can confidently state that Continental has a bunch of factories spammed across the entire globe. Continental has production facilities in Germany, the USA, France, Russia, Malaysia, India, China, Ecuador, Brazil, Portugal, South Africa, Slovakia, Sri Lanka, and the Czech Republic.
With such a huge global presence, the Continental Tire company is one of the largest tire companies to ever exist. As many of these factories also produce various other pieces of the automotive industry, we can wholeheartedly conclude that Continental is as big, if not even bigger than some of the world’s most prominent carmakers.