Continental Tyres (Thailand) Co Ltd is celebrating its 15th anniversary in the Kingdom as well as the fifth year since opening its production facility in Rayong province.
The company has invested over €276 million in its automobile and motorcycle tire production in Rayong and has a workforce of 900, according to a press release from Continental Tyres (Thailand) Co Ltd.
Managing director Karel Kucera said, “In this anniversary year for our tire business in Thailand we are looking back with pride at the 15 years journey behind us and with confidence at the path ahead of us. We are guided by our Vision 2030 strategy, and we are inspired every day to make mobility on our tires safer and more sustainable.”
“By establishing manufacturing operations 5 years ago in Thailand, we have come closer to our goal to be ‘in the market for the market’ and to be able to serve all our local, regional, and global customers with speed, top performance and safe premium tires,” he added.
At the Rayong plant, Continental produces newly-developed products such as the MaxContactMC7 tire which was just released into the Asian-Pacific markets beginning of April 2024. In addition, Continental is also gearing up to launch tires specifically tailored for electric vehicles, leveraging its expertise in EV tire technology.
In 2023, Continental started supplying the top five highest-volume manufacturers of electric vehicles in the Asia-Pacific region with original equipment tires which came with new technologies like ContiSeal, which seals punctures instantly, and ContiSilent, aimed at reducing tire noise for a serene driving experience.
Continental also supports the local community through various corporate citizenship initiatives focused on environment, safety, health and well-being, as well as education. For example, the tire plant is involved in projects like tree planting, renovating local school playgrounds, conducting awareness and educating sessions on safety, waste separation, and basic hygiene for local schools in Rayong.
According to Continental, its Rayong plant is a best practice of operational excellence, having grown swiftly from start of production to first tire shipment to its OE customers only two years after the groundbreaking ceremony in 2019. Gradually the plant has increased its production capacity to around 4 million tire passenger and light truck tires per year.
The former greenfield is built with the best-in-class energy efficiency standards of the global tire manufacturing network and machines are equipped with technology for sustainable production processes. Higher automation of logistics and handling processes ensure an ergonomic work environment for future employees, Continental stated.
Continental’s energy saving initiatives have also been implemented in Rayong. In 2023, the plant in Rayong has expanded its existing photovoltaic capacities of 4.2 megawatts on the facility grounds with additional photovoltaic capacities of approx. 2.5 megawatts peak. Currently, the installed solar panels supply a total of 13 percent of the electricity necessary in production.
