"As a result, the automotive group sector has positive momentum ahead of its spin-off in September." Continental's tire group had sales of $3.7 billion in the second quarter, down 2% from a year ago. Adjusted EBIT was $454 million, down 19.5%, with a margin of 12%. The company attributed the declines to U.S. tariff increases, currency exchange rates and other factors. Through the first half of the year, tire sales were up less than 1% to $7.6 billion and adjusted EBIT was down 3.1% to $971 million, with a margin of 12.7%. The company noted that its tires in June were voted "Quality Winner 2025" following a survey of some 45,000 German consumers by the German Institute for Service Quality (DISQ) in collaboration with news channel n-tv. Continental's ContiTech group had sales of $1.76 billion, down 6.4%, for the quarter due to decreased industrial activity, the company said. Adjusted EBIT was $102.9 million, reflecting a 22% decline; margin was 5.8%.