By the end of next year, ContiTech will be an independent company, and Continental will once again be primarily a tyre maker. At a meeting today, the Continental Executive Board decided in favour of the group sector’s autonomy, thereby setting in motion a preparatory phase that will involve analysing and assessing the potential forms of transaction for the business’s independence and drawing up a specific timetable for implementation.
Continental has opened its 13th training centre in Germany for employees in Gifhorn, between Hanover and Wolfsburg. The opening ceremony on 25 September, 2023, was attended by labour minister Hubertus Heil and the second chairperson of IG Metall, Christiane Benner. The company launched CITT (Continental Institute for Technology and Transformation) in 2019. The institute focuses on retraining and refocusing employees in a transitional economy – or in Conti’s words, “to strengthen the employability of individual employees.” CITT had trained 8,500 participants by the end of 2022, and Conti expects this number to reach 9,500 by the end of 2023.
Tyre maker and automotive systems manufacturer Continental has called upon the government of its homeland to adopt immigration policy that is more beneficial to German businesses and the population as a whole. In a statement published today, the company opines that the country’s social systems are “threatening to collapse” and living standards endangered if Germany’s government doesn’t change course.
Continental has appointed Katja Dürrfeld (49) as its new chief financial officer, effective from 14 December 2021. Dürrfeld assumes responsibility for group finance and controlling as well as group information technology immediately, taking over from interim CFO Nikolai Setzer. Setzer had added the role to his existing duties following the departure of Wolfgang Schäfer on 17 November, while Dürrfeld had held the provisional management of these areas below the executive board level. Currently head of Finance, Controlling and Information Technology for the ContiTech business area, she will also take charge of finance and controlling in the future automotive group sector from 1 January, 2022, as was previously announced at the end of September. The supervisory board has also extended the appointment of Dr Ariane Reinhart (52) as executive board member for human relations and sustainability and director of labour relations.
Continental is calling for politicians in its homeland to develop a more targeted concept for achieving carbon neutrality, and warns that now is the time to identify new employment opportunities brought about by climate transformation. Without a targeted concept and greater momentum, the company fears the German government’s determination to reach self-imposed climate targets by 2045 will result in serious disruption.
Happy birthday, Continental. The German tyre maker and technology company is 150 years old today, making it one of the oldest companies both in Germany and within the automotive business. One and a half centuries after starting out as a maker of rubber products for horse-drawn vehicles, the firm still specialises in the latest modes of transport and is positioning itself to meet future challenges.
Continental has initiated a restructure of its management following a meeting of its Supervisory Board on Thursday. Board members Helmut Matschi and Frank Jourdan will leave the company prematurely. Matschi (58) and Jourdan (61) were originally to stay in position until 2024. As of January 1, 2022, the company will retain only five board members. The group will also integrate its activities into three corporate divisions: Automotive, Tires and ContiTech.
Tyre production at the Continental plant in Aachen, Germany will cease at the end of next year, if not earlier. This is one of the outcomes of talks between the company and representatives of Aachen plant employees. Continental has also published details of upcoming retraining programmes.
As of the 2020 fiscal year, Continental is procuring all of the electricity for its production sites around the world from renewable energy sources. Confirmation of this milestone comes via a reasonable assurance report by auditor KPMG.
Confronting one’s past can be a taxing experience, all the more so when this past includes one of history’s darkest hours. But this is exactly what tyre maker and automotive systems company Continental is doing in the run-up to its 150th anniversary – it is looking back more than three-quarters of a century to examine the firm’s role within the Nazi system and in Hitler’s war. Continental’s review of its involvement with the National Socialist government in Germany is being supported by the findings of an independent academic study, which was presented this morning.
First, analysts warned in mid-May that Conti’s R&D budgets and European tyre factories could face cuts. Then the Hannover-based tyremaker responded by saying it is “intensively” monitoring European tyre demand and production. By June the CEO was warning staff of job cuts. Nevertheless, despite such clear challenges facing the wider automotive industry and beyond, the company is still advancing innovative solutions to the very complex problem. Colleagues at our German sister-publication, Neue Reifenzeitung, which can be found online at reifenpresse.de, found that the so-called “Corona bridge” concept is at the forefront of Conti’s work to address the adverse conditions and save jobs.
The entire automotive industry has been impacted by the coronavirus pandemic, and companies are taking steps to ensure their survival. Continental has provided an update on the latest measures being implemented, including reduced working hours and displays of executive solidarity. It has also buried its outlook for 2020.
The foundation stone for Continental’s new headquarters in Hannover, Germany is now in place, and the company says its construction project is on schedule. Chief executive officer Dr Elmar Degenhart and Executive Board members Dr Ariane Reinhart and Wolfgang Schäfer hosted a ceremony to mark the occasion at the construction site last Wednesday.
At its meeting on 13 December, the Continental AG Supervisory Board approved a five-year contract extension for Dr Ariane Reinhart, the company’s head of human resources and labour relations. Her tenure in the role is now secure up to September 2022.
Starting in September, Continental will introduce a new programme that will train “young people who are passionate about IT” to become automotive software developers. According to Ariane Reinhart, the tyre and automotive systems manufacturer’s Executive Board member in charge of human resources, the training programme will be based in Germany and involve close collaboration between Continental’s various divisions.
If you would like the latest news from the Chinese tyre industry in Chinese, visit our partner site TyrepressChina.com. Or click below to continue on Tyrepress.
Continental
Tyrepress/Stephen Goodchild
Continental AG