Conti breaks off Qingdao Doublestar talks

Continental has broken off discussions with Qingdao Doublestar, the Chinese tyre maker. According to a Continental spokesman, Manfred Wennemer, chief executive with Continental, said the company believes there are some difficulties with the ownership structure that cannot be bridged, so the two companies are now in discussions about how to end the cooperation.

"We are withdrawing from that" said the spokesman.