Continental drops General from North American name

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (Jan. 25)—Continental A.G. has dropped "General" from the corporate name of its North American subsidiary, renaming the unit Continental Tire North America Inc. The change became effective at the beginning of the year but the company couldn´t elaborate on the reasons for the change, according to a Continental Tire North America spokeswoman. She said the firm would put out more information later when a new corporate logo is developed. The firm will retain the General name as a tire brand. General Tire & Rubber Co. was founded in 1915 by William Francis O´Neil. The name was changed to GenCorp Inc. in 1984 and Continental bought the General Tire operations of GenCorp in 1986.