Continental Teves Expands Aftermarket Operations in North America

--Select ATE premium brake products will soon be available for ALL vehicle makes and models--

AUBURN HILLS, Mich., Nov. 1 -- Continental Teves, a global leader in brake technology, today announced that it has expanded its aftermarket operations in North America to provide installers with more comprehensive coverage of its ATE-branded brake products. Over the next few months, ATE will provide its line of PremiumOne(TM) disc brake rotors for European model vehicles to customers in North America, followed by the addition of premium brake rotors and pads for domestic and Asian vehicles in early 2006. ATE is featuring its products at the Automotive Aftermarket Products Expo (AAPEX), booth 874 in Las Vegas this week.

ATE brake products, introduced in Europe a century ago, debuted in North America in the mid-70's for European import vehicles. Known for its reputation of high quality and OE-engineered standards, the brand has enjoyed success in the replacement market with its European product offerings. Teves' latest coverage options promise the same quality and high standards technicians trust and have grown accustomed to with the ATE brand name.

David M. Mestdagh will oversee Teves' North American aftermarket operations. Mestdagh is responsible for the overall business strategy, product quality and performance; as well as the development of effective sales and marketing activities in North America for the ATE brand.

"Our expansion of the ATE brand in North America represents an important milestone in the depth and quality of our product line," said Mestdagh. "The ATE name has a proven reputation for offering high quality products to improve performance, safety and comfort in driving. These attributes, combined with our strong heritage in brake systems technology will help to position us as a leader in the replacement brake product market."

ATE's North American aftermarket business will be located in the Continental Automotive Systems headquarters and engineering center in Auburn Hills, Michigan. The new Aftermarket business unit will be joining some 600 OE engineers, sales, marketing, purchasing and finance professionals that support Continental's North American business. Also, as part of the expansion, ATE has established a distribution facility in Louisville, Ky. that houses the entire line of ATE brake products, ships customer orders and processes returns. There is also a quality inspection lab onsite, to ensure high product quality.

ATE PremiumOne(TM) rotors and pads for domestic and Asian vehicles will be available to installers beginning early 2006.

For more information about the ATE brand of products, go to http://www.ate-na.com/ .

The Continental Corporation is a leading supplier of brake systems, chassis components, vehicle electronics, tires and technical elastomers. In 2004 the corporation realized sales of $15.6 billion. At present it has a worldwide workforce of more than 81,000.

ATE is a brand of the Automotive Systems Division of Continental AG, a worldwide leading technology partner to the automotive industry, integrating extensive know-how in the fields of driving safety, powertrain and comfort. In 2004 the division achieved sales of approximately $6 billion with a workforce of more than 22,500. ATE serves the needs of the worldwide aftermarket with innovative systems and a comprehensive program for brake products with OEM quality as well as a customized range of special services.