The previous chief executive of Volkswagen, Bernd Pischetsrieder, is favourite to head the supervisory board of German car parts maker Continental AG, magazine Der Spiegel reported, without saying where it obtained its information.

The head of Commerzbank, Martin Blessing, helped find the candidate as the German bank is one of the largest lenders to Continental and Schaeffler Group, which controls some 90 percent of Continental, Der Spiegel said.

Pischetsrieder was a member of the supervisory board of Dresdner Bank, which was taken over by Commerzbank, the German magazine reported.

The current head of Continental's supervisory board, Rolf Koerfer, had agreed to step down from his post as soon as a new finance chief for Continental was found so a candidate more acceptable to Continental's unions could take the helm.

(Reporting by Peter Dinkloh; Editing by Victoria Main)

Volkswagen Germany Commerzbank