German auto-parts and tire maker Continental AG (CON.XE) Monday said that Wolfgang Reitzle, the chief executive of gases and engineering company Linde AG (LIN.XE), has been named chairman of Continental's supervisory board.

Investors will hope that Reitzle, one of the country's most high-profile executives and with plenty of experience in the auto sector, 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.

Reitzle, 60, born near Neu-Ulm in Southern Germany, joined BMW AG (BMW.XE) 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. (F) as head of the Premier Automotive Group unit, assuming responsibility at the time for the Jaguar, Volvo, Aston Martin and Land-Rover nameplates. Reitzle joined Linde as executive board member in 2002 and took over as Chief Executive in 2003.

Unlisted German engineering company Schaeffler last year launched a hostile takeover offer for its much-larger German peer, triggering the departure of many top-level executives at Continental. However, the takeover attempt ran into trouble as the credit crunch and economic downturn left Schaeffler unable to fund the full takeover of Continental and the two companies saddled with debt just as industry sales were sliding.

Schaeffler currently holds a 49.9% stake in Continental and has parked another 40% with banks. Continental and Schaeffler combined are burdened by about EUR20 billion in debt following Schaeffler's stake-building in Continental, and Continental's prior acquisition of Siemens AG's (SI) automotive electronics division, VDO.

Continental Monday said Wolfgang Schaefer is set to take over as Chief Financial Officer and Jose Avila will join the company's executive board with responsibility for the powertrain division. Both appointments are effective as of Jan.1, 2010.

Schaefer is currently CFO at German automotive supplier Behr GmbH. Behr is based in Stuttgart and specializes in producing air conditioning and engine cooling systems.

Avila joins Continental from Delphi Corp. (DPH), where he's general manager of the U.S. supplier's Diesel Systems unit.

"With the personnel decisions made today, the executive board ... is now complete and well structured. This creates the basis for leading Continental on into a sustainable successful future," Reitzle said in a statement.

Company Web site: www.conti-online.com

-By Christoph Rauwald, Dow Jones Newswires; +49 69 29725 512; christoph.rauwald@dowjones.com