Continental Earns 2013 Toyota Supplier Diversity Award

Continental, a leading international automotive supplier,was recognized with the Supplier Diversity Award from Toyota Motor Engineering& Manufacturing North America, Inc. (TEMA) at its Annual Supplier BusinessMeeting (ABM) on March 11. Held at the Northern Kentucky Convention Center inCovington, ABM brings together approximately 1,000 Toyota and supplier representativesfrom across North America.

TEMA’s Supplier Diversity Awards are presented tocompanies who successfully implement diversity activities and exceed Toyota’sminority sourcing targets. Continental was recognized specifically with SpecialRecognition of MBE Development.

“At Continental, we remain proud of our continuedcommitment to diversity,” said Debra Martin, Director of Minority BusinessDevelopment for Continental North America. “This recognition from Toyotademonstrates both a shared commitment to diversity initiatives and a globalappreciation on how a diverse network of suppliers positively impactsresults.” This is the first time Continental has been recognized for MBEdevelopment. The company is a six time recipient of Toyota’s Excellent SupplierDiversity Award.

Currently celebrating 18 years, ABM allows TEMA todiscuss business objectives with direct and indirect suppliers in preparationfor its upcoming fiscal year. Each year, TEMA recognizes suppliers who exceededthe company’s expectations in several categories.

“Toyota works closely with each supplier partner tobuild our vehicles to the high-quality, safety and reliability standards ourcustomers expect,” said Robert Young, TEMA’s purchasing vice president.”We are pleased to award those in our supply base who go above-and-beyond.This event emphasizes our mutual commitment with supplier partners tocontinuously improve to build ‘always better cars’ in North America.”

In the U.S. alone, there are about 60,000 supplier jobsdedicated to Toyota across more than 30 states. In addition, Toyotacollectively spent more than $32 billion on parts, goods and services last yearin North America.

With sales of around EUR33.3 billion in 2013, Continentalis one of the world’s leading automotive suppliers. As a provider of brakesystems, systems and components for powertrains and chassis, instrumentation,infotainment solutions, vehicle electronics, tires, and technical elastomers,Continental contributes to enhanced driving safety and global climateprotection. Continental is also an expert partner in networked automobilecommunication. Continental currently employs around 178,000 people in 49countries.