People & Careers

Continental Appoints Christian Kötz as Current CEO in Final Phase of Tyre Company Transformation

Published:

December 19, 2025

Author:

James Lockwood

Christian Kötz to Succeed Setzer as Continental CEO on 1 January 2026.

Continental AG has announced that Christian Kötz will become chief executive officer and chairman of the Executive Board from 1st January 2026, succeeding Nikolai Setzer who will step down by mutual agreement on 31st December 2025.

The leadership transition comes as Continental approaches the final stages of its transformation into a dedicated tyre company, following the spin-off of Aumovio and the agreement to sell its Original Equipment Solutions (OESL) business area.

Setzer, who has served 16 years on the Executive Board including five as CEO, described the timing as appropriate given the "significant progress made with Continental's realignment."

"I announced some time ago that I would hand over responsibility once we had made sufficient progress in our transformation into a pure-play tyre manufacturer.



This is now the case," Setzer explained. "We've successfully spun off Aumovio, and the sale of OESL is nearing completion."

ContiTech Sale to Begin in 2026

Internal preparations for the sale of ContiTech, scheduled for 2026, have been largely completed. The market outreach phase has concluded, with the structured sales process set to begin in January 2026.

Kötz, the incoming CEO, compared the handover to a relay race: "The handoff must happen at full speed. Niko has laid all the groundwork for the company's realignment. Parallel to the sale of ContiTech, we can now enter the phase where we make the final preparations for our future as a pure-play tyre manufacturer."

Regional Restructure to Drive Focus

From 2026, Continental's tyre business will be organised around three regional business areas – EMEA, Americas and APAC – alongside globally managed original equipment and speciality tyre segments. Kötz said this structure

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