Nabil: First of all welcome back to the Middle East.

Jose: Thank you very much

Nabil: How long has it been since you were here?

Jose: I left here 5 years ago to go to Mexico, a different part of the world, a different market and now I am back here since last month.

Nabil: What has changed?

Jose: So, I can say, a lot of EVs are coming to the market, that will change a lot of things, and I can see a lot of activity in the retail area, e-commerce growing, a lot of exciting things are happening in the market at the moment, I have been here for only one month and I can see the new Era.

Nabil: I want to talk a little bit about sustainability, since continental is a global leader in the world of sustainability, conferences, products, 2050 vision, and all of that stuff, how are you going to translate that into our region? What are you doing to elevate the level of awareness about sustainability in the region and also to abide by the global strategy of continental when it comes to sustainability?

Jose: You are right when you said we are leaders in this area, all dealers are working with us, and we are proud of all of them, the question is more about communication, how to communicate the sustainability with the markets that we are present in. The strategy of continental is well developed and we are doing a great job in Germany or Europe, but also we need to explain to the market how everyone can help in this area.

From our side, We are producing fantastic products and sustainable products, but again it’s a question of how we communicate having these products and how these products can support our common goal.

Nabil: What are the plans?

Jose: We have a product that we launched a few weeks ago, that is 65% from recycled materials. It’s amazing really because we have been thinking for a few years about having 5%, 10%, or 15% of these recycled materials but we reached 65% so our target in 2050 is everything will become from recycled materials as the technology is developing rapidly, I look forward for the things to be happening in the middle east.

Nabil: Since we are talking about the Middle East market, now you are here and you’re seeing the new changes will this be reflected in terms of the image of continental? How do you plan to position the tire and all of that stuff for the Middle East market?

Jose: We have too many areas, not only for the Gulf, we have also the Egypt, Lebanon which are also part of our region plus countries in Africa, so we have different kinds of approaches for each area. But the focus is on the Middle East, as well as some countries of the Levant. I believe we are good players, and we know how to be present in the high-performance part of the market where we are more relevant and have good products, so here will be our main focus at the moment—being a good partner for our importers in this area.

Nabil: You are going to be working on making more dedicated continental facilities in the region or this isn’t something you would like to invest in?

Jose: there is one important part in how to support our importers to be more present in each country. This is very important; the image of our products is part of our responsibility. So yes retail will be one part and commerce will be another part, we want to be more present in the market.

Nabil: Eventually you have different markets in the Middle East, which market is the biggest? Which country has the biggest market share? Which country do you consider has the highest potential?

Jose: in this case, UAE no doubt it’s our main market and best market, and we have Egypt as a superb market as well. These two countries will continue to be our focus for the coming years.

Nabil: When we talk about this region, especially in the Gulf, UAE in particular, it’s one of the countries that has the highest humidity, and temperature in the summertime, and we know that continental takes some feedback from the market and develops special tires for the region, what can you tell us about that?

Jose: We did it in the past, and it is something we do often, working with other departments to get the best product for this region.

In the past, we launched generation six, continental generation six which was a special product with special compounds for this region. It was a success and now we want to continue in this direction not only for passengers but also for the trucks, we know that there are special conditions in this region different from other markets especially Europe, so we want to continue focusing on developing different materials, different tools, and different compounds, also because there is different certification model which is helping us to have a constant view of the market needs.

Nabil: You are doing that on the tires available in the market? So these are special tires made for the region?

Jose: Yes these special tires are made for the region with special compounds also we are choosing in the portfolio of continental which are performing better in the Middle East.

Nabil: Last question about the Sport Contact 7, what are your expectations from that tire since today we are in the event of the Sport Contact 7 for its exclusivity for the UAE market and the GCC region?

Jose: It’s a very highly developed set of tires, the sport contact 7 is focused on these super-fast cars that we have today in the event, where these tires can perform best. We made this product two years ago in Europe and only one and a half years in the Middle East and it's growing fast. There is room to do many things and this kind of event is very important to explain the characteristics of the product, especially for the Gulf countries.

Nabil: Anything you would like to add?

Jose: Thank you very much for coming here and for your interest in what we are doing, and we hope to see you soon.