The success of a location, a division or the Corporation as a whole depends to a significant extent on the commitment of each individual employee. For this reason, Continental aims to encourage employees to perform at their best at all levels, and to enable them to participate in the Company’s success.

In line with our performance-related compensation policy, we again made a discretionary payment to our staff as a reward for the Company's performance in fiscal year 2007. The total volume of profits shared with employees rose to 37.9 million euros. This not only reflected our thanks and recognition for their achievements – it also enabled Continental to underline its principle of value creation, which forms part of the Company's culture of excellence.

Continental has three profit sharing models:

1. Individual: Middle and top management throughout the Corporation shares in the Company’s profits as part of an agreed annual target process.
2. Local: In a group work environment, employees share in the savings achieved when their specified targets are met. A reduction in the number of rejects or standstill hours, or the optimization of quality, are used as criteria here for example.
3. Corporate-wide profit-sharing: Depending on the Corporation’s financial results, the Executive Board decides each year on a portion of the consolidated profits to be shared among all employees. The amount is paid in relation to the purchasing power at each Continental location.