Continental Tire North American Investing

</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[ Continental Tire North America announced today it will be spending an additional $60 million in the local facility, bringing the total amount of investments during the last three years in Mt. Vernon up to $220 million.

"Mt. Vernon has proved in the last years it's a great partner," CTNA Chief Executive Officer Matthias Schoenberg said. "We've invested $220 million over the last three years, which is huge."

The $60 million will be divided among the passenger and light truck tire operations and the commercial vehicle tire operations, with $40 million earmarked to PLT operations for machinery and tooling and $20 million for new and updated machinery and tooling for additional production which will be brought to the Mt. Vernon plant from Europe, Schoenberg said. The investments will result in 75 production jobs.

"The Mt. Vernon facility produces 90 percent of the truck tire production for the US and supports the Canada market," Schoenberg said. "Investing $220 million is an aggressive investment but that's what it takes in this economy to be successful."

Schoenberg said a portion of the CVT production will be transferred to Mt. Vernon from Europe, but at this time did not know the amounts of production that would be transferred. He emphasized there will be no reduction of capacity at any CTNA facility as a result of the production transfer. By moving production of some of the products to the U.S. CTNA will be closer to customers which will reduce the costs to get the products to the market.

The CEO did refer to the restructuring of the Mt. Vernon plant which happened two years ago, and to a recent two day shut down of the PLT production.

"Restructuring and the new (product) lines have been a large reason for the success," Schoenberg said. "Rubber is at a historic price and crude oil also affects the market. But we're doing what we can to counterbalance the influences. Obviously, we can't afford everything, especially what we're experiencing in the truck market. We had to curtail production at this plant a couple of days, but we will minimize the impact to the people here."

Schoenberg said although the auto industry is feeling the effects of a downturn in markets, tire production and sales aren't feeling the pinch to the same extent.

"We are not as affected as the entire industry," Schoenberg explained. "People may not be buying new vehicles, but they may be choosing to buy a new set of tires for replacement and keeping the vehicle instead."

CTNA Vice President of Manufacturing Hank Eisenga said the news is "extremely exciting for the plant."

"The $60 million in expansion of the facility ... is a reflection of Matthias" commitment to the passenger and light truck division in Mt. Vernon," Eisenga said. "No other facility in the U.S. has had the opportunity for this much in investments to a facility, much less a tire facility. ... This proves we can compete in a global economy. ... We will make it worth it for the added investments in this facility."

Mayor Mary Jane Chesley said she has had the opportunity to not only help make several of the expansion project announcements, but watch the facility grow.

"I've enjoyed the privilege of seeing this facility expand and grow and flourish," Chesley said. "There have been tough times, but you've never given up, not once. And we've not given up on you, not once."