German Continental Group Considers Splitting by Listing Core Automotive Division

TapTechNews August 12th news, according to the Financial Times of the UK, as one of the largest automotive industry suppliers in Europe, the German Continental Group is considering splitting the company by listing its core automotive business division.

The company said last week that the automotive business division could go public as early as the end of 2025, awaiting the results of the 'detailed review' scheduled to be completed by the end of this year. This department has an annual sales of 20.3 billion euros (TapTechNews note: currently about 158.997 billion yuan), and has about 100,000 employees, accounting for about half of the Continental Group's business.

The CEO of Continental Group, Nikolai Setzer, said that the slower growth of electric vehicle sales in Europe, combined with the increasing demand for in-vehicle software, means that the company's core department - manufacturing brakes, sensors and in-car comfort systems - needs to be more flexible and 'entrepreneurial spirit'. Setzer added: 'In this context, our goal is to split the Continental Group.'

If the company continues to advance the plan, the Continental Group will retain its tire business and the departments serving other industries such as agriculture, aerospace and construction.

In February this year, the Continental Group announced that it will implement global layoff measures to improve the R & D efficiency of the automotive department, affecting about 1,750 jobs worldwide. In addition, the Continental Group also analyzed the issue of location consolidation in the Rhine-Main region, and about 5,400 jobs were affected by administrative streamlining measures.