Chris Bryant:

Maybe not. A profit warning from Continental serves as a reminder that the “triumph of the automotive suppliers” — a popular idea among investors — isn’t certain.Of course, most of the approximately 480 million euros ($530 million) hit that the German manufacturer anticipates to this year’s operating profit — about 10 percent of the Bloomberg consensus — comes from one-offs such as antitrust cases and earthquake-related production problems.Yet Conti said R&D spending on infotainment and eco-friendly drive systems will also be about 60 million euros higher than anticipated. Not huge, but potentially significant.