HANOVER, Germany -- Similar to its performance in preceding quarters, Continental Corp. says it was able to again benefit from the momentum in the rebounding auto industry in the fourth quarter of 2010.

"On the wings of better-than-expected business in the last three months of the year, we realized sales of over EUR 25.5 billion ($33 billion USD) in 2010. And despite an additional year-on-year cost burden in the Rubber Group of approximately EUR 480 million ($622 million) due to the fact that raw material prices were at a record high in 2010, the adjusted EBIT margin of the corporation for the whole year 2010 will work out to around 9.5 percent," said Dr. Elmar Degenhart, chairman of Continental’s Executive Board.

He pointed out that the adjusted EBIT of the Powertrain division was above the break-even point both in the fourth quarter and for the entire fiscal year. This means that a key intermediate goal of this division has been met a year earlier than planned. With more than 20 million units sold, the Passenger and Light Truck Tires division set a new record for winter tire unit sales in 2010, the company said.

Continental will announce final figures for the fourth quarter as well as for all of fiscal 2010 on March 3 at the company's annual financial press conference in Frankfurt.