Conti: Piston Engine Development in Germany Will Stop in 6 Years

Continental AG predicts that carmakers in Germany will stop developing new piston engines in about 2023 and refocus their efforts on electric powertrains instead.

Wolfgang Schaefer, Conti’s chief financial officer, says the industry’s next round of internal combustion engine designs will likely be its last.

Further work on piston engines “will no longer be economically justifiable” because of regulatory pressures to reduce pollution and hike fuel efficiency, Schaefer says. Last month France and the U.K. announced plans to ban the sale of internal combustion engines by 2040.

Schaefer made the comments while reporting that Conti’s revenue in the second quarter grew 8% to €11 billion ($13.1 billion). But the company’s pretax earnings fell 9% to €1.1 billion ($1.3 billion, and net income plunged 18% to €745 million ($885 million).

Still, Conti says growing demand for components used in electric powertrains has prompted it to raise its full-year sales forecast by €500 million to more than €44 billion.