HAMBURG/HANNOVER/MUNICH (dpa-AFX) - According to a press report, automotive supplier Continental is having problems with its customer BMW. The car manufacturer has excluded the Hanover-based company from all new orders due to a recall of brake systems, "Manager Magazin" ("MM") reported on Thursday. According to participants, the head of the supplier division, Philipp von Hirschheydt, confirmed this at an internal management conference. He is also said to have signaled that Conti would get to grips with the problem. Conti and BMW did not wish to comment on the information.

Conti shares were down 1.2 percent at the end of the DAX this morning. In an industry study, the major Swiss bank UBS also described Conti and Schaeffler as the least attractive automotive supplier stocks in its view. BMW shares fell 0.4 percent. The car manufacturer presented its outlook for the new year on Thursday.

The background to the problem is a recall by BMW due to a brake from Conti. The MK-C2 system is partly affected by a possible malfunction of an electronic component, Conti admitted. In February, BMW initiated a recall of up to almost 80,000 cars in the USA as a result. Since then, it has also been known that it is a brake from the German supplier. According to "MM", BMW could recall up to around 370,000 cars worldwide. At present, only the Bavarian car manufacturer installs the brake in cars.

The companies calculated replacement costs of around 1000 euros per car, according to the magazine's report. It is estimated that up to 400 million euros could be incurred by the supplier. Conti announced that it is currently working with BMW to identify affected brake systems and their scope via remote diagnostics. "Based on current knowledge, we currently assume that only a small proportion of the brake systems delivered in the vehicles potentially affected by the issue will actually need to be replaced," it said in a statement.

Conti emphasized that brakes are manufactured according to high safety standards and are developed in such a way that they are equipped with a fallback level. This ensures that the braking function and thus the roadworthiness of the vehicle are guaranteed at all times./men/jsl/stk