Continental is undergoing a strategic transformation to become a pure-play tire manufacturer.
In 2025, Continental continued its most profound transformation to date on its path to increased value creation. The former Automotive and Contract Manufacturing group sectors were spun off and the remaining Tires and ContiTech group sectors were prepared for independence as part of the implementation of the company’s strategic goals. Going forward, they will be able to assert themselves as strong companies in their respective markets, chart new paths and create sustainable value.
This strategic development is based on Continental’s vision:
CREATING VALUE FOR A BETTER TOMORROW. OUR TECHNOLOGIES. YOUR SOLUTIONS. POWERED BY THE PASSION OF OUR PEOPLE.
“CREATING VALUE”: Continental aims to create value in everything it does. This can be financial value for its shareholders as well as value for its customers, its employees and the social environment in which it operates.
“A BETTER TOMORROW”: With its products and services, Continental contributes to making the world a little better. It develops and produces the mobility of tomorrow in a way that is more convenient and comfortable, safer and more sustainable. At the same time, “a better tomorrow” means acting now and not in the distant future.
“OUR TECHNOLOGIES. YOUR SOLUTIONS”: Continental is a technology company and believes that it will only be able to tackle the challenges of our time by rapidly developing the right technologies. Continental’s technology should help its customers make their products even better and even more useful. Because Continental is customer-focused in everything it does.
“POWERED BY THE PASSION OF OUR PEOPLE”: Continental stands for a certain culture. A culture of mutual respect. A culture of togetherness. And a culture of passion.
Fundamental to the independence of the group sectors and further progress toward this goal in the reporting year were the three pillars of Continental’s corporate strategy:
- Strengthening operational performance
By strengthening its operational performance, Continental can ensure its future viability and competitiveness. The company is aligning its cost structure to global market conditions. - Differentiating the portfolio
Continental continues to pursue the targeted differentiation of its product portfolio with a focus on growth and value. - Turning change into opportunity
The focus of Continental’s organizational structure helps it to seize market opportunities and translate them into profit even more quickly. Transparent structures and a high level of autonomy make the company more flexible in an increasingly complex market environment.
In September 2025, Continental reached the most significant milestone to date in implementing its strategic goals with the successful spin-off of the Automotive and Contract Manufacturing group sectors – now Aumovio.
Another milestone in the realignment is the sale of ContiTech’s Original Equipment Solutions (OESL) business area, comprising the automotive business of ContiTech, with the exception of surface solutions for vehicle interiors and drive belts for passenger cars. The sale was completed in February 2026.
Following completion of this transaction, Continental intends to sell the ContiTech group sector – which will now focus on the industrial business – in 2026. The Tires group sector – and therefore the future Continental Group – will subsequently emerge from the separation of the four strong independent company units as a pure-play tire manufacturer.
Tires: a leading tire manufacturer and pioneer with a resilient and strong market position
The Tires group sector describes its strategy and its path toward an even greater focus on customers in the tire business in its “Vision 2030”:
Tires are our passion. We outperform the industry with our customer-centric solutions and operational excellence.
Our customers’ ambitions are our driving force.
In the Tires group sector, Continental continues to focus on stable earnings from customer-centric solutions as well as operational excellence. More sustainable products and solutions, the transformation toward electric mobility and digital tire services will also create various opportunities for further profitable growth and exceptional value creation. The group sector aims to achieve this through four strategic focus areas:
- Focus on high-value business: We concentrate on value-creating business – across markets, products, customers and channels.
- Driving operational excellence: We continuously enhance our operational setup and optimize our production and supply chain network.
- Active portfolio management: We proactively improve our entire business portfolio by systematically expanding our presence in growth regions and attractive business areas and by continuously optimizing and critically reviewing our existing activities.
- Creating a lean and agile organization: We are creating an organization that is capable of making fast, data-driven business decisions and optimizing processes and resources across all functions to allow for efficient management.
The Tires group sector continually adapts its capacity and production technologies to changing market requirements. This enables it to benefit from major economies of scale and scope, with around 80% of its global production capacity consolidated in megafactories. Continental already offers passenger-car tires with a high share of renewable and recycled materials as well as high performance in terms of safety, efficiency (rolling resistance), durability and rolling noise. Growth is being driven by ultra-high-performance tires (UHP tires, 18 inches and above) and data-based tire services. In total, 17 of the world’s 20 highest-volume manufacturers of electric vehicles put their trust in tires from Continental.
The Tires group sector continues to see growth potential particularly in the Asia-Pacific region as well as in North and South America. Production capacities in these regions are being optimized and expanded accordingly. The foundation for expected increases in sales and margins includes portfolio optimization, the global trend toward larger and higher-performance tires, ongoing efficiency gains and strict cost discipline.
ContiTech: group sector places strategic focus on industrial business
The ContiTech group sector is focused on reliable profitability thanks to material solutions made from rubber and plastics. This will be supported in 2026 by measures to adapt the cost structure to the persistently weak market environment.
In 2025, the group sector further strengthened its strategic focus on the industrial business. With the sale of the OESL business area, the share of sales generated by the industrial business will increase to around 80%. This development is being driven by greater penetration of existing and new markets, systematic expansion of the replacement market business and innovative product portfolio expansions.
ContiTech’s industrial growth areas are primarily in energy, mining, agriculture and construction, as well as exterior and interior design. These industries place high demands on the materials and products used. Here, the group sector benefits from its high level of materials and technological production expertise, in combination with its broad product portfolio, which includes high-performance solutions for hoses, drive belts, conveyor belts and surfaces.
