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At its meeting today, the Supervisory Board of Continental AG appointed Roland Welzbacher (55) to the Executive Board effective August 1, 2025. Welzbacher will succeed Olaf Schick, who requested the early termination of his contract in December 2024.
Continental is set to undergo its most far-reaching transformation in over 150 years. Continental CEO Nikolai Setzer reiterated this sentiment in his speech at today’s Annual Shareholders’ Meeting in Hanover. “This is what we are laying the groundwork for.” He highlighted Continental’s courage to embrace change and its ability to tackle challenges head-on, as demonstrated time and again in the company’s history. “Change is part of our identity,” he said.
The Continental Executive Board has today decided to make the ContiTech group sector independent. The preparatory phase that now follows will involve analyzing and assessing the possible transaction forms for independence and drawing up a timetable for implementation. The Executive Board will decide on this in the next step.
Vincent Charles (41) will become head of Group Communications at Continental effective May 1, 2025. Charles, previously head of Media Relations and deputy head of communications, will succeed Birgit Hiller (49), who is leaving the company at her own request to take on a leadership role in another industry. The transition in communications leadership at the DAX40 company will thus proceed seamlessly.
At its meeting today, the Supervisory Board of Continental approved the planned spin-off of Automotive and is recommending that the 2025 Annual Shareholders’ Meeting also approve this step. Subject to this approval, the future independent company is to have cash funds of €1.5 billion by the time of the spin-off, according to the Supervisory Board’s resolution, with a clear business-related allocation of opportunities and risks to the two future companies. The financing of Automotive’s operating business is also to be strengthened by a revolving credit facility of €2.5 billion.
Continental continued to improve its earnings and achieved its corporate targets in the past fiscal year. Against the backdrop of a weak macroeconomic environment, especially in its core market of Europe, and a global downturn in automotive production, the company’s focused implementation of its value-creation strategy is proving effective. The Executive Board’s decision to spin off the Automotive group sector is another important step toward leveraging Continental’s full potential for creating value. Despite a global automotive market that is expected to continue to decline, the technology company is targeting an increase in earnings for 2025.
