Over 1000 Workers Teetering on the Edge of Layoffs as Continental AG (OTCBB: CTTAY) Hits Hard Times

  More than 1,000 workers are identified to go through optional schooling to refine their interview skills, ‘courtesy’ of their employer, Continental AG  (CTTAY.ob, or OTCBB: CTTAY, CTTAY message board), pointing to the impression that the firm’s recently announced extensive restructuring plan is no hoax and alternative employment should thus be considered in earnest.

  The German company, which makes tires, brakes and interior auto parts, on Tuesday said that it is mulling over shutting down its plant in Huntsville, Alabama which bears the brunt of its manufacturing costs in the Americas, with approximately 1,200 salaried and hourly workers. This latest round of cost reduction exercises pencilled to take place in phases until December 31, 2010, is a sure sign that Continental AG is a sinking ship on compact margins since the break down of the automotive market across the world.

  Continental said it took the negative slant following a stalemate with the United Automobile Union (UAW) on a number of concessions to match the overall degeneration of the auto industry. To this end the company had failed to hold its own using more than a thousand other methods to cut back its expenses.

   In further confirming its plight, the company clandestinely held talks with ball bearings maker, Schaeffler-Gruppe, centred on the possibility of a $15 billion dollar take-over early last month. Barely yesterday, the company revealed that it has agreed to sell its Transit (PT) Solutions business to Canada-based Constellation Software Inc. (TSX: CSU), driving its stock to a low-key close of $38.41, from the previous $41.37.

  In the fiscal quarter spanning from April to June, Continental AG lost $270 million on modest demand of its products due to recession, reversing its year ago profit of $276.5 million. Total sales for the quarter came to a lukewarm $7 million, from $9.4 billion posted in the fiscal second quarter of 2008. At the close of June, the company held a debt of $14 billion, for the most part resulting from the $15.7 billion buyout of a Siemens facility which is now subject to a devastating closedown.

  Production from Huntsville plant will be shifted to other automotive parts facilities in Texas and Mexico, while product development operations will be relocated to Auburn Hills, Michigan and Deer Park lll, Mexico.

  Reference:
http://www.conti-online.com/generator/www/start/com/en/index_en.html