Conti board names top executives

ERJ staff report (TB)

HANOVER, Germany (Oct. 19, 2009) - Continental A.G.'s supervisory board has confirmed former BMW A.G. executive Wolfgang Reitzle as chairman and hired Wolfgang Schäfer as its top financial officer.

Mr. Reitzle, 60, was nominated in early September for the chairman's position by Schaeffler K.G., Conti's largest shareholder. He will continue as CEO of Linde A.G., an industrial gases supplier.

Mr. Schäfer, 50, will move to Conti from Behr GmbH & Co. K.G., a Stuttgart, Germany-based producer of automotive air conditioning and engine cooling systems, where he has been on the board of management since 2001 and serves as the firm's chief financial officer. He will be responsible for finance, controlling, information technologies and law. His appointment is effective Jan. 1.

The board also appointed José Avila to the executive board, responsible for Conti's Powertrain Division. He joins the company from the U.S. automotive supplier Delphi, where he's general manager of Delphi Diesel Systems.

These personnel moves create the “basis for leading Continental on into a sustainably successful future,” Mr. Reitzle said at the conclusion of the firm's Oct. 19 board meeting.

From Tire Business (A Crain publication)