"This (need to raise spending on electric-car software) should not lead to a situation in which our results are burdened," finance chief Wolfgang Schaefer told Reuters on Thursday.

Third-quarter adjusted earnings before interest and tax plunged 40 percent to 645.2 million euros (566 million pounds) because of special effects including a short-term rise in development costs for electric-car components, Continental said earlier on Thursday.

The auto parts and tyre maker expects more currency fluctuations in the wake of Donald Trump's victory in the U.S. presidential elections, but expects no major negative impact on its U.S. operations, the CFO said.

(Reporting by Andreas Cremer and Jan Schwartz; Editing by Victoria Bryan)