Conti, Autobytel.com to launch consumer tire shopping service

FRANKFURT, Germany (Nov. 29)—Continental A.G. and Autobytel.com, a leading automotive e-commerce company, have agreed to work together to create a consumer tire shopping service on various Autobytel sites. The agreement calls for Continental to invest up to $15 million in Autobytel companies in Europe and in the "tire module" concept, as the companies call it. "We did not want to simply step into the so-called `new economy´ for the sake of it but, instead, wanted to find the right partners to fulfill our vision of the `true economy,´ " Stephan Kessel, president and CEO of Continental, said in a prepared statement. The tire module will include information on tire specifications, prices and dealers and will be available to all tire brands, the new partners said. Slated to be operational by the third quarter of 2001, Conti said it expects the project to generate additional revenues for it and its subsidiary companies.