By Shahrzad Pourriahi, Crain News Service
HANNOVER, Germany (Feb. 2, 2016) — Continental A.G. is looking to move its headquarters to a new location because the current site — where the firm has been since 1995 — has no room for expansion.
Conti is evaluating five locations in or near to Hannover, according to Alexander Bahlmann, head of public relations, passenger tire business, including Garbsen which has been identified in local media as the leading site.
The move is to coincide with Conti's 150th anniversary in 2021 and will accommodate 1,250 of the firm's corporate staff.
“We have 750 employees right now and as we are setting out to grow, we are looking for a new HQ that can accommodate up to 1,250 members in the corporate function,” according to Hannes Boekhoff, vice president, media relations.
“For now, the aim is to find a site, come up with the concept of what the new HQ would look like, build it and then define a new purpose for the current site,” he added.
Continental's ContiTech engineered products business, which has a plant adjacent to the current site, will not be part of the move.
Garbsen, a suburb of Hannover with about 60,000 inhabitants, is close to Conti's Stoecken tire factory, where 3,500 of the firm's 8,000 staff in and around Hanover are based.
This story appeared on the website of European Rubber Journal, a United Kingdom-based sister publication of Tire Business.