October 20, 2009

German auto-parts and tire maker Continental AG Monday said that Wolfgang Reitzle, the chief executive of gases and engineering company Linde AG, has been named chairman of Continental's supervisory board.Investors will hope that Mr. Reitzle, one of the country's most high-profile executives, can help steer the firm through the worst downturn in the industry since World War II and mediate talks with its largest shareholder, Schaeffler Group.

Mr. Reitzle, 60, born near Neu-Ulm in Southern Germany, joined BMW AG in 1976 and worked his way up from being a specialist for manufacturing to becoming a member of the German luxury car maker's executive board. He left BMW in 1999 and joined Ford Motor Co. as head of the Premier Automotive Group unit, assuming responsibility at the time for the Jaguar, Volvo, Aston Martin and Land-Rover nameplates. Mr. Reitzle joined Linde as executive board member in 2002 and took over as Chief Executive in 2003.