In its meeting today, the Supervisory Board of
As things stand, all of the comparable structural measures in the Transformation 2019-2029 program that require Supervisory Board approval for Continental's locations in
Prof.
Continental CEO Dr.
He added: 'If we now head into our growth fields at full speed, we will have the opportunity to again significantly expand our workforce in our future fields in the next ten years, like we are currently having to adjust it due to the structural transformation and weak economic environment. We are going to make the most of this opportunity.'
Continental's key growth areas include functional solutions for assisted, automated, connected and zero-emission driving; integrated software-based system solutions such as services for mobility customers; as well as the tire, industrial and end-customer businesses. Continental is also gearing its Vitesco Technologies business area to achieve profitable growth with electrified drive solutions. Continental will provide details about the company's strategy and profitable growth opportunities at its capital market days in
Resolutions regarding Aachen, Karben, and Regensburg, as well as the joint venture with
In its first resolution, the Supervisory Board approved the decision of the Executive Board to discontinue production in the tire plant in Aachen at the end of 2021. This affects about 1,800 of the 2,000 jobs in production, development and administration at the location. The reason for discontinuing tire production in Aachen is the capacity utilization which has been falling for several years in all of the company's European tire plants in a market that will not grow in the short term.
For this reason, Continental is adjusting its excess capacity to market demand while at the same time lowering the cost pressure on all European plants. The aim is to sustainably ensure the competitiveness and thus the long-term success of the European tire production network. Further information can be found in a separate press release.
In its second resolution, the Supervisory Board approved the decision of the Executive Board to discontinue the production of automotive electronics in Karben by the end of 2023 and close the location by the end of 2024. About 900 jobs will be affected by the decision. The reasons behind closing the plant are the impact of digitalization of vehicle technology and the global sales crisis for passenger cars and light commercial vehicles together with the expected slow recovery of the market.
In a further resolution, the Supervisory Board approved the transformation of the Regensburg location, thus strengthening the clear commitment to its future. Development, innovation and production units are to be located in Regensburg in the future, as has been the case to date. It is also to serve as the base for the management team. For its future prospects, it is necessary to realign the location, which will affect about 2,100 jobs (total location workforce: about 7,600) in production, development and administration. These jobs are to be either modified, relocated or made redundant by 2024. Continental is thus responding to the change in requirements with the increase in electrification and digitalization, as well as to the historic crisis in the automotive industry. At the same time, the company feels the advancing digitalization and the associated proliferation of software in the car provides the potential to assign new tasks to the site and to develop and produce competitive solutions. For that reason, a plan in particular for the future of competitive production in Regensburg is being drafted together with the employee representatives. Key elements here are the training and retraining of employees, provision of greater work flexibility and increasing digitalization of the production process.
In a fourth resolution, the Supervisory Board approved the termination of the joint venture with
Structural program: All central functions and business units worldwide to contribute to structural program
As part of the structural program, all central functions and business units are contributing to the targeted savings and optimizations at all locations in
Overall, Continental expects that the planned changes from the ongoing structural program will likely affect about 30,000 jobs directly worldwide. These will be modified, relocated, or made redundant. About 13,000 of those jobs are located in
The Transformation 2019-2029 program aims to strengthen the company's long-term global competitiveness to ensure its viability in the future. The gross annual savings targeted with the program from 2023 onwards total more than
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