Continental Plans to Sell the Fuel Supply Business Segment

Active portfolio strategy - not a core business for the Powertrain Division

The purchaser can build on an excellent market position

REGENSBURG, Germany, April 23 -- International automotive supplier Continental plans to sell its activities in the area of fuel supply (FS). The business segment, which is part of the Powertrain Division, involves fuel transport and tank bleeding systems. The Fuel Supply department is profitable and a market leader. "As this business is not among the core activities of the division, which focuses on components for motors and powertrains, we have decided to sell it after an in-depth analysis," explained Dr. Karl-Thomas Neumann, the Continental Board Member responsible for the Powertrain Division.

Dr. Neumann mentioned that active portfolio policy is a key element of Continental's strategy: "This means that we always continually assess both the possible acquisition of companies as well as options for selling company units. We take into consideration the market position and size of a business, its sustainable profitability, its strategic positioning and how much the current unit counts towards the core business of the company," he explained. "We are now looking for a purchaser who can give the business and the employees new perspectives via a focused strategy, while simultaneously expanding their competence. We assume that we will have found a suitable purchaser by the end of the year," emphasized Dr. Neumann.

The Fuel Supply business segment currently employs a staff of 3,500 worldwide. It develops and manufactures at more than ten locations. The business unit posted a turnover of approximately 450 million euros last year.

With targeted annual sales of more than 26.4 billion euros for 2008, the Continental Corporation is one of the top automotive suppliers worldwide. As a supplier of brake systems, systems and components for the powertrain and chassis, instrumentation, infotainment solutions, vehicle electronics, tires and technical elastomers, the corporation contributes towards enhanced driving safety and protection of the global climate. Continental is also a competent partner in networked automobile communication. Today, the corporation employs approximately 150,000 people at nearly 200 locations in 36 countries.

Within automotive supplier Continental AG, the Powertrain division integrates innovative and efficient powertrain system solutions into vehicles. This boosts performance and enhances ride comfort while reducing consumption and emissions. As partner to the automotive industry, the division develops and produces a wide-ranging product portfolio at over sixty locations worldwide, beginning with gas and diesel injection systems and engine and transmission controls and extending through to components and systems for hybrid drives. The Division currently achieves annual sales exceeding EUR 5 billion (based on figures for 2006) with a workforce of more than 26,000 employees.

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