Hanover, Germany — Continental AG's tires and its ContiTech non-tire rubber and plastics products sectors will be independent business units, effective Jan. 1, as part of its latest restructuring move.
The move comes in the wake of the spin-off of Vitesco Technologies in mid-September and the decision in March to create the Autonomous Mobility and Safety and Motion business areas.
"In the future, Continental will be supported by three strong, equally represented and independent group sectors," Wolfgang Reitzle, chairman of Continental's supervisory board, said in a statement.
"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."
The ContiTech business is more known for its rubber manufacturing but its holdings also include thermoplastic hoses, seals and other auto parts.
The tires and ContiTech businesses are consolidated in the rubber technologies group sector. Under the new alignment, they will continue to be led, respectively, by executive board members Christian Koetz and Philip Nelles.
Under the new structure, Conti will have three "group sectors," with "automotive" being the third leg.
Based on Continental's first half financials, the automotive, tire and ContiTech businesses represented roughly 48 percent, 34 percent and 18 percent of the newly configured company's global sales.
The new automotive group sector will comprise five business areas: safety and motion; autonomous mobility; smart mobility; user experience; and architecture and networking.
Separately, Continental said that Philipp von Hirschheydt, currently responsible for replacement tire business for the Europe, Middle East and Africa region, will be responsible for the automotive unit's user experience business area.