It took a few years to get there, but Continental AG is now a “tires-only” business.

The process entailed the clearing of two major hurdles: the divestiture of Continental’s automotive business and the more recent spin-off of the company’s ContiTech division.

In late-2024, Continental’s executive board approved a plan to sell the automotive business by the end of 2025, stating that the division would become a fully independent company.

"We have set up our group sectors as strong, self-sufficient units with clear structures,” said then-Continental CEO Nikolai Setzer. “The group sectors are leading players in their product segments and markets. They have matured and are ready for greater independence.

"We remain fully focused on spinning off Automotive and achieving greater independence for our profitable Tires and ContiTech group sectors. Central to this is the gradual transfer of parts of the group-level services and functions to the group sectors. 

"The goal is to create a lean, focused holding structure by the end of 2025. Corporate responsibility will increasingly lie where it delivers the greatest value - in the group sectors, close to markets and customers."

Setzer added that the “new structure will let us respond more flexibly to customer and market developments, enabling us to maximize our opportunities.”

Continental’s tires unit had performed particularly well during the third quarter of 2024, posting $3.6 billion in sales. a 1.9% increase from the same period in 2023. Adjusted EBIT margin for the company’s tire business had climbed around 13% versus the third quarter of 2023. Tires proved to be an area of strength for Continental as a whole during 2024, generating $14.6 billion in revenue. 

Next Up: ContiTech

Continental then announced in April 2025 that it would seek a buyer for its ContiTech business.

The Hanover, Germany-based company "has already laid the groundwork for its realignment with the planned spin-off of its Automotive group sector and aims to position the three group sectors – Tires, ContiTech and Automotive – as strong, independent companies,” Continental officials noted at the time.  

"Today’s highly dynamic markets also call for focused, agile and decisive action,” Setzer said. “Now is therefore the right time to initiate the most far-reaching realignment in the company’s history. We are creating three strong, independent champions that will achieve their full growth and value creation potential as independent companies.”   

While Continental continued to look for buyers, its tires division continued to perform well and was the only business unit within Continental to report a sales increase during the first quarter of 2025, as both automotive and ContiTech experienced lagging numbers.

During the first three months of 2025, Continental’s tire sales totaled $3.69 billion, up from $3.55 billion in 2024, and EBIT margin within the tires group was “significantly higher” than the previous period - 13.4% compared to 11.7%. Continental officials attributed the increase “to a good start to the year in the replacement tire business across all regions,” including North America. 

Enter Aumovio

As Continental made plans to sell ContiTech, it moved forward with the spin-off of its automotive business and in April 2025, announced the formation of Aumovio, an independent global automotive technology company that would be headquartered in Frankfurt, Germany, and would serve as the landing spot for Continental's automotive division.

Two months later, Continental issued a statement saying that Aumovio “will strive for profitable growth and focus on technologies that create value," revealing that the business would target long-term annual sales of more than $27 billion euros and adjusted EBIT of 6% to 8%, with a starting cash reserve of $1.7 billion and credit facility of nearly $3 billion.

"To build this, the company will build on its global positioning in development and production (and) established customer relationships worldwide, as well as its clear focus on high-growth and value-accretive technologies for the software-defined vehicle and safe, exciting connected and autonomous mobility solutions.”

In September 2025, Aumovio, which employs around 82,000 people worldwide, debuted on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. (As of today, the company’s stock was trading at 36 euros per share, down from an apex of 46 euros per share in January 2026.) 

Lone Star steps in

Having supervised the successful detachment of Continental’s automotive business, Setzer stepped down from the top spot at the company after a five-year run. He was replaced by Christian Kolz, who became Continental AG's CEO on Jan. 1, 2026.

"This step comes as planned on the back of the significant progress made with Continental’s realignment and transformation into a pure-play tire company," said Continental officials, who added that the firm’s conversion to a tires-only supplier was “well underway” and that the “structured sales process” of ContiTech would start in January.

Seven months later, Continental announced the acquisition of ContiTech by Lone Star Funds, which it described as “a leading investment firm advising funds that invest globally in private equity and with a long track record in the industrials sector.” 

With offices in North America, Europe, the Middle East and Asia, Lone Star Funds paid around $4.5 billion for ContiTech and will assume "all of ContiTech’s business operations worldwide,” according to Continental officials.

"The sale of ContiTech marks the beginning of a new era as a pure-play tire manufacturer,” said Kolz.

At the time of the sale, which was announced publicly on July 7, ContiTech employed around 22,000 people globally, including some at its North American office in Fairlawn, Ohio, a suburb of Akron. 

ContiTech posted sales of around $5 billion in 2025, with its business showing “stable development in recent years, despite volatile markets."

All tires, all the time 

The sale of ContiTech was “the final step in Continental’s realignment,” making Continental “a pure-play tire manufacturer for the first time in its history,” according to company representatives.

North America remains one of the company's prime markets, with subsidiary Continental Tire the Americas LLC contining to make major investments in its operations.

In a June 2026 interview with MTD, Tansu Isik, CEO of Continental Tire the Americas, called North America “a key growth region” for the firm, where “we continue to invest not only in manufacturing but also supply chain capabilities.”

Major areas of investment include company-owned distribution in the form of a new warehouse that Continental will open in the Dallas, Texas, area later this year, and capital infusions at the company’s Mount Vernon, Ill., plant.

"In addition, we are having a mixing expansion this year, which is a major investment, as well as a new warehouse facility in the Mount Vernon location,” Isik added. 

In terms of capacity, Mount Vernon is Continental’s biggest plant in the U.S., with the ability to produce 30,000 passenger tires, around 10,000 medium truck tires and 4,000 light truck tires daily, according to MTD’s 2026 Facts Issue. The firm’s passenger tire plant in Sumter, S.C., can build 12,500 units per day when running at full bore. And Continental’s plant in Clinton, Miss., can produce around 2,800 medium truck tires each day.  

"We remain very committed to further investing in our Americas footprint. We will need to make sure we strengthen our technology, product portfolio and productivity, as well as our proximity to customers.”  

Isik also told MTD that Continental Tire the Americas will continue to strengthen “our premium position. We are expanding our product portfolio.”

The company recently rolled out the Continental TerrainContact A/T2, a premium all-season, all-terrain tire designed for today’s crossover, SUV and light truck drivers, and on the commercial truck tire side, unveiled what it calls Sensor Ready tires, "designed to make tire monitoring faster, simpler and more reliable for fleets of all sizes."

"We are investing in our brand,” Isik continued. “We are investing in innovation. We will continue to support our customers with reliable products and services and superior supply chain performance. Even in this low-growth, uncertain environment, we do see opportunities to outperform through our execution discipline, technology and most importantly, through our strong customer relationships.” 

Continental Tire the Americas' GOLD dealer program is marking its 20th anniversary this year.