The Supervisory Board of Continental AG is adjusting the structure of the Continental Group with a focus on market developments and customer requirements. This includes separating its Rubber Technologies group into two independent group sectors, Tires and ContiTech, by January 1, 2022, Continental said.
Continental’s executive board decided on the organizational changes last month with an eye on the ever-transforming mobility industry, the company said. The announcement follows the spin-off of Continental’s Vitesco Technologies in mid-September 2021 and its decision to create Autonomous Mobility and Safety and Motion business areas. According to the company, this is the next logical step in accelerating the strategic realignment of the company.
“In the future, Continental will be supported by three strong, equally represented and independent group sectors. This will accelerate its strategic realignment and position the company in an agile, market-oriented and future-oriented manner with respect to the transformation of the mobility industry,” said Supervisory Board chairman Professor Wolfgang Reitzle.”
The separated Tires and ContiTech sectors will continue to be led by Executive Board members Christian Kötz and Philip Nelles.
At the same time, Continental announced it will comprehensively realign its Automotive Technologies group sector and create five business areas that will be geared to the strategic action fields and market development of automotive technologies. Nikolai Setzer, Continental CEO, will continue to be responsible for this group sector on the Executive Board, the company said. Those business areas include:
- Safety and Motion
- Autonomous Mobility
- Smart Mobility
- User Experience
- Architecture and Networking
“In our anniversary year, we have set the strategic course for the next successful chapter in our company’s history. We see the profound structural transformation in the mobility industry as an opportunity and are well positioned for this with our new structure. By reducing complexity and increasing our speed and transparency, we are once again demonstrating our ability to adapt,” Setzer said, explaining the reasons for the structural changes and adding: “We are pooling our expertise, particularly when it comes to software. This will benefit our customers. As a result, I firmly believe we will emerge as winners from the transformation of the mobility industry.”
The realignment of Automotive Technologies involves the dissolution of the two business areas Vehicle Networking and Information as well as Autonomous Mobility and Safety.
When the new structure comes into effect, Helmut Matschi and Frank Jourdan will step down from Continental’s Executive Board earlier than planned (both appointed until March 2024). As a result of their departure and the spin-off of Vitesco Technologies, the Executive Board of Continental AG will consist of five members starting January 1, 2022.
