Continental Appoints New CFO Ahead of Parts Maker’s Overhaul
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Continental AG appointed company veteran Roland Welzbacher to succeed Olaf Schick as chief financial officer as the German manufacturer sheds units to focus on its more profitable tires business.
Welzbacher, 55, will take over as finance chief on Oct. 1 after a joint transition period with Schick, who’ll join Mercedes-Benz Group AG, Continental said April 25 ahead of its annual shareholder meeting.
One of Germany’s best-known automotive suppliers, Continental is in the midst of an extensive overhaul to focus on tires. It’s spinning off its struggling car-parts unit and plans to offload its ContiTech industrial division that makes products such as conveyor belts and agricultural hoses.
Since emerging from the pandemic, Europe’s car industry has grappled with weak consumer confidence, soaring inflation and now faces a fresh setback from U.S. tariffs. Suppliers are also being challenged by cheaper, more sophisticated products developed by tech giants, startups and carmakers themselves.
Signage at Hannover, Germany. (Continental)
“Supply chains are shifting dramatically, and geopolitical challenges are on the rise,” CEO Nikolai Setzer said at the shareholders meeting in Hanover. “In an environment like this, history has shown that flexible, focused companies can capitalize on opportunities better than complex organizations.”
Continental and its peers ZF Friedrichshafen AG and Robert Bosch GmbH have invested large sums in innovation, but rising energy, raw material and labor costs have forced them to take drastic measures, including cutting thousands of jobs.
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Welzbacher, a 22-year company veteran who currently serves as finance chief of Continental’s tire unit, will oversee the final phases of its transition to a single-product company. The spinoff of the automotive unit, which will operate under the name Aumovio, is expected to take place in September, while the company is targeting a sale of ContiTech next year.
Continental plans to provide further details on strategy for the three independent companies at two capital markets days in June.
Schick, who will step down after the auto spinoff is completed, will join Mercedes’ management board in October.
