The CEO of the automotive supplier Continental, Elmar Degenhart, is resigning prematurely. As the Dax group from Hanover announced surprisingly on Thursday evening, the 61 – year-old informed the supervisory board of his decision. Accordingly, Degenhart gives up the mandate at the top of the company “for reasons of immediate health care” at the end of November.

Conti has not yet announced a successor The top manager had led what is currently the world’s second largest automotive supplier after Bosch for more than eleven years. Degenhart asked Conti chief controller Wolfgang Reitzle to agree to the cancellation of his contract, which actually ran until August 2024, it said. Reitzle now wants to “decide on the successor at short notice”. At first there was no information about the exact time or a possible successor. A company spokesman confirmed that there were health reasons.

In the past few weeks there had been reports of the alleged search for a replacement for Degenhart. According to this, individual members of the group of owners and supervisors are said to have wished for stronger action and more determination in the difficult corporate restructuring at Continental. The company, headquartered in Hanover, is converting its core business from classic mechanics and hydraulics to more and more e-mobility, sensors and software. For some, this is not going fast enough – while on the other hand there has recently been clear criticism of the austerity measures, especially among the workforce and the unions.

Controversial job “Changes” Overall, in the course of the renovation, at least 30. 000 Positions in the group are “changed”, of which 13. 000 in Germany. In addition to relocations and new qualification models, this also includes job cancellations. The headwind from the workforce had recently become particularly strong when it became clear that the tire plant in Aachen – an important production location in a basically profitable division – should be closed. However, the supervisory board also agreed. The main owner of the Conti Group is the Schaeffler family, which also controls the Franconian industrial and automotive supplier of the same name.

(fpi)