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ContiTech site in Hanover: “Not up to the mark”
At Continental, the quality problems with hoses are increasing.
According to the Hanover-based company, the supplier found that the intended standards for testing processes for industrial hoses were not always complied with.
The Korbach site, which belongs to the ContiTech plastics division, is affected.
The hoses were not consistently checked with the specified frequency.
Since February, the company has been conducting expanded quality testing on all hose types after significant cleanliness problems were identified in air conditioning hoses.
Conti had confirmed this before the weekend after SPIEGEL reported on it.
According to Conti, there are currently "no signs that customers have encountered any abnormalities when using industrial hoses".
Among other things, it involves hoses for refueling, water and steam lines.
The customers come from mechanical engineering, the chemical industry and the beverage industry.
In 2021, hose production in Korbach contributed a mid double-digit million amount to group sales.
Sale of affected hoses is suspended
As a precautionary measure, Conti has now suspended the sale and delivery of affected hoses from Korbach until compliance with the test processes is ensured.
An independent auditing company is to accompany the measure, and the additional audits are to affect the entire ContiTech division.
Customers and the first responsible authorities have been informed.
In the meantime, CEO Nikolai Setzer has commented on the affair.
"In our ContiTech division, we did not meet the requirements in the production of hoses and lines," said Setzer in a statement.
It is now a question of regaining trust.
Manipulated Quality Tests
Before the weekend, Conti had confirmed internal investigations into hoses for air conditioning lines - in this case, personnel and technical consequences had already been drawn.
Conti had not complied with the cleanliness requirements agreed with customers for such hoses for a long time, apparently employees had systematically manipulated the internal quality tests.
Compliance - i.e. the supervision of the company's adherence to rules - has been the responsibility of CEO Setzer for some time.
Further internal investigations into the involvement in the diesel scandal are currently underway at Conti.
The public prosecutor's office is also investigating the possible involvement of Conti employees.
sh/dpa
