German Chancellor Olaf Scholz visits Continental’s Hannover campus

Hanover, Germany – Chancellor Olaf Scholz visited Continental’s location in Hanover-Stöcken. Since the tire plant was founded in 1938, the site has evolved into an innovative industrial campus that is home to, among other things, Continental’s largest tire research and development center and the company’s own manufacturing hub for tire-building machinery. Accompanied by Dr. Ariane Reinhart, Executive Board member for Human Relations and Sustainability, and Christian Kötz, Executive Board member for the Tires group sector, Scholz visited the ContiLifeCycle plant, which retreads truck and bus tires. During his visit, Scholz tried his hand at manual tire carving, which is still a key part of the process of manufacturing precision tire prototypes. Afterward, he talked with employees and the chairman of the Corporate Works Council, Hasan Allak.

“We are in the midst of a profound transformation toward carbon neutrality,” said Scholz. “This is placing extremely high demands on all industries, yet at the same time presents new and exciting opportunities. Prosperity and climate change go hand in hand. Tackling the latter will ultimately benefit us all. Continental is impressively demonstrating how to manage change responsibly and successfully at its Hanover-Stöcken site.”

“Stöcken is one of Continental’s most diverse locations. It has grown steadily over the years and today employs people from over 60 countries,” said Reinhart. “We’ve shown that we can do change, especially in Stöcken. This is the driver of our success.”

Hasan Allak, chairman of the Stöcken Works Council and the Continental Corporate Works Council, added: “Change is best shaped through social partnership. In recent years, Stöcken has been a good example of how well this can work.”

“Since as far back as 2013, we’ve been setting standards at our ContiLifeCycle plant in Hanover-Stöcken in retreading truck and bus tires with a view to reducing CO2 emissions, conserving resources and recycling valuable natural raw materials several times over. Our goal is to increase the use of sustainable materials in our tire products to 100 percent by 2050,” said Kötz.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz taking a tour of Continental’s truck- and bus-tire retreading plant in Hannover-Stöcken, Germany.
The Stöcken site currently has around 3,300 employees. It is home to Continental’s largest research and development center for tires worldwide and over 20 different organizational units from three group sectors. Continental has always been a trailblazer in innovative tire technologies. When it comes to developing its premium tires, the company aims for perfection across all performance criteria to unite driving comfort, safety and sustainability. With its retreading plant for truck and bus tires, the company is a sustainability pioneer in the tire industry.