Continental stand at the IAA
Conti wrestles with its drive division and checks for a spin-off.
(Photo: Continental AG)
Frankfurt, Munich Klaus Rosenfeld makes it clear even before the beginning of a discussion at the International Club of Frankfurt Business Journalists on Tuesday evening what he does not want to talk about: Continental, The boss of the Franconian supplier Schaefflerwho also sits on the board of Continental sitting, will not participate in speculation about the Dax Group.
The ratio of Schaeffler and Continental is difficult. Once the Schaefflers had almost reluctant to take over the larger competitor Continental. Today, the family holding manages the investments in both companies.
Even though the direct connections between the two companies are manageable, they are currently experiencing common problems. The automotive industry’s crisis affects both Schaeffler and Continental – and thus the family, which owns a majority stake in Schaeffler AG and a 46 percent stake in Conti.
Some speculated that the Schaeffler Holding could – possibly driven by financial constraints – be behind the plans for a complete spin-off of Continental’s propulsion division, rather than the originally planned partial stock market flotation. In the environment of both companies this was rejected. We are looking for the best solution for Continental.
Rosenfeld just wanted to talk about his company. He sees the Franconian supplier well prepared for change in the industry despite a series of profit warnings.
Transformation is more chance than risk
“Both me and our shareholders see this change and transformation in the automotive industry as an opportunity rather than a risk,” he said. Although the group is a precision mechanics specialist and still depends more than half of the internal combustion engine. But in this orientation Rosenfeld sees the great opportunity for the future. “Our core competence is precision mechanics. That is a competence that is not going through Waymo replaced, “the Schaeffler boss is sure. The Chinese, too, could not do that. Waymo is the autonomous driving sister of the Internet company Google,
In Herzogenaurach, they are confident that both companies are on the right track overall. Georg Schaeffler, meanwhile, has the say, even if, according to industrial circles, he often takes the advice of the mother Maria-Elisabeth Schaeffler examined. The majority of the shares in Schaeffler AG has been in his hands for some time, and he also leads the supervisory board. He had grown into the task, says another inspector. Mother Maria-Elisabeth has withdrawn a bit, she recently celebrated her 78th birthday in Kitzbühel. In turn, Rosenfeld had come to Schaeffler from the creditor banks and had as
Chief Financial Officer restructures and reduces the debts of the company and the family. The family is indebted to him. When he took the lead interim, he prevailed in a power struggle against the designated CEO Klaus Deller and became a permanent CEO.
Since then, he has tried to make the company fit for the coming conditions with a series of efficiency programs. In the first half of the year, Schaeffler sales fell slightly to 7.2 billion euros. At 7.7 percent, the operating return on sales before special items remained on a par with the industry average, but was well below the previous year’s level of 11 percent.