Jochen Etzel Named Continental CEO

Continental Tire the Americas (CTA) recently announced that it has appointed Jochen Etzel as CEO, with the move becoming effective July 1. The executive replaces Matthias Schoenberg, who has previously received the position of Global Head of ContiTech's Fluid Technology.

Etzel, who has been serving Continental for almost two decades, entered the company as a lawyer in the law department. A few years after that, Etzel received the Financial Manager position of the business unit “International”, supervising Continental’s tire operations on markets outside Europe and NAFTA. Starting from 2003, the executive headed the corporate Mergers and Acquisitions, as well as Corporate Real Estate departments.

"We are excited to welcome Jochen as head of CTA and are confident in his leadership and diverse experience from previous roles," said Nikolai Setzer, Executive Board Member and head of Passenger and Light Truck Tires (PLT) for Continental, AG.  "His deep knowledge of the international tire business and outstanding accomplishment in successfully developing our company, make him an ideal choice to lead the CTA team."

Etzel will relocate from the company’s Headquarters in Hanover, Germany, to the South Carolina area, in order to fill in his new position.

"This is an excellent opportunity and I am excited to take this next step with the CTA team," Etzel said. "Matthias Schoenberg guided CTA to a strong and successful business model in manufacturing, product and sales. I look forward to the challenge of continuing to lead CTA to further volume growth, as well as significant new product launches."