Continental Lauds U.S. Federal Requirement that Mandates Electronic Stability Control

Crucial driving safety enhancement in Passenger Cars and Light Trucks will help to save many lives

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. and FRANKFURT AM MAIN, Germany, April 5 ;Continental's Automotive Systems division, a leader in the development and manufacture of Electronic Stability Control (ESC), praised the safety regulators at the National Highway and Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) in Washington, for the announcement today that ESC will be required equipment on new cars and light trucks sold in the U.S. by September 1, 2011.

"Electronic Stability Control is a crucial safety enhancement that may prove to be the most important of this generation," said Dr. Karl-Thomas Neumann, president Continental Automotive Systems and member of the Executive Board Continental AG. "ESC not only can save thousands of lives, but it has blazed a path for other active safety technologies now coming to market, opening the possibility of even further reductions in auto-related injuries and crashes. "It is truly a safety advance with stunning effectiveness that will bring about global improvements in traffic safety," Neumann added. "It joins the list of must-have safety equipment."

Continental has made significant investments in its plants in Europe, Asia and America to meet the increase in demand for ESC. Its sales of ESC have grown in recent years as automakers have taken steps to increase installation rates. Sales are expected to continue to grow in the future. Today more than 150 light vehicle models in the U.S.A. make ESC standard or available. Approximately 50% of 2007 vehicles built in the U.S. have ESC, of which Continental Automotive Systems is a major supplier. "We see opportunities for increasing applications of ESC in Asia, Europe and America, especially in pick-up trucks and small cars," said Neumann.

  Key findings about ESC from multiple studies in Asia, Europe and the U.S.:
  -- Vehicles equipped with ESC have in the range of 35 percent fewer
     crashes.
  -- Vehicles equipped with ESC have a 30 percent reduction in head-on
     crashes. (Japan)
  -- NHTSA studies conducted in the U.S. concluded that passenger cars
     equipped with ESC experienced a 30 percent reduction in fatal single
     vehicle crashes.  The same study concluded that SUV's equipped with ESC
     experienced a 63 percent reduction in fatal single-vehicle crashes.
     The NHTSA research saw a reduction in such crashes that also involve a
     rollover by more than 70 percent.
  -- NHTSA predicts that ESC could save 10,500 lives in the U.S. and prevent
     between 168,000 and 252,000 injuries every year.  That equates to more
     than $40 billion savings in economic losses in the U.S. alone.
  -- An independent 2006 study conducted by the prestigious Insurance
     Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) concluded that ESC could prevent
     nearly one-third of all fatal crashes and reduce the risk of rolling
     over by as much as 80 percent.

"These are astounding safety and societal benefits," said William L. Kozyra, president and CEO of Continental Automotive Systems, North America. "Credit goes to the innovation in automotive technology in recent years and to NHTSA for finding a way to quantify and test for active safety technologies that work to help drivers avoid a crash," Kozyra said.

The Continental Corporation is a leading automotive supplier of brake systems, chassis components, vehicle electronics, tires and technical elastomers. In 2006 the corporation realized sales of euro 14.9 billion. At present it has a worldwide workforce of around 85,000.

As a worldwide leading technology partner to the automotive industry, the Automotive Systems Division of Continental AG integrates extensive know-how and uncompromising quality in the fields of driving safety, embedded telematics and hands-free communication systems, powertrain and comfort. In 2006 the Division achieved sales of approx. euro 6 billion with a workforce of more than 30,000. Continental Automotive Systems develops and produces electronic and hydraulic brake, stability and chassis control systems, electronic air suspension systems, sensors, engine management and transmission control systems, hybrid drives, cooling fan modules, body and security electronics and also is the industry leader of embedded telematics and communication systems in vehicles.