Automotive News Europe

2010 EUROSTARS – CAR DIVISION CEO

Rupert Stadler, Audi CEO

Stadler accelerated when rivals hit the brakes
It’s turning out to be another memorable year for Audi and CEO Rupert Stadler. Under Stadler’s guidance, Audi is on course to finish the year with global sales of more than 1 million vehicles, beating its previous record of 1,003,469 set in 2008. Audi is doing more than just selling a lot of cars: It is a money-making machine. In the first half, the Volkswagen Group premium brand’s operating profit rose more than 60 percent to 1.3 billion euros (about $1.7 billion) while revenue rose 21 percent to 17.6 billion during the same period. Surging demand for its products in China and the United States also has closed the sales gap between Audi and BMW in the race to be the world’s No. 1 selling premium brand. 2010 EUROSTAR – DESIGN Audi’s stated goal is to become the “most successful luxury automaker in the world by 2015,” at which point it aims to sell 1.5 million cars a year. Despite all the positive signs, Stadler, 47, stops short of saying Audi will reach its 2015 target ahead of schedule. “Maybe we can achieve one or another sub-target a little bit earlier, but the most important thing is the brand-building process – the recognition of the brand in the market,” he said in an interview with Automotive News Europe. “Our target is to become the leading premium brand in the world. It won’t happen in 2010. It won’t happen in 2011. But someday it will happen.” Martin Smith, Ford of Europe Executive Design Director

Ford styling boss Smith evolves ‘kinetic’ design
Privately, some of Ford’s competitors will admit that it has the best looking – and most visually coherent – product lineup in Europe. Incorporating dynamic, slashing lines, wide stances and an aggressive nose-down look, every element of Ford’s design in Europe is meant to convey one thing: A sense of motion even at rest. Called kinetic design, the concept has transformed Ford’s European lineup and won plaudits for its creator and executor, executive director of design Martin Smith, 61. Arriving at Ford of Europe from General Motors Co.’s German subsidiary Opel in 2004, Smith immediately set out to try to breathe some life into the moribund Ford brand. His answer: kinetics, the study of motion. 2010 EUROSTARS – SUPPLIER CEO “(Kinetic design) is composed of several key visual elements,” Smith said. “You have dynamic lines and full positive surfaces resulting in a muscular shape. The rising belt line is another strong element, as is a V-shaped rear window.” The first production Ford to incorporate elements of the new design language was the 2006 S-Max, which showed that a large minivan could be sexy as well as practical. But the new philosophy didn’t freeze in place with the S-Max. Every car that has followed has been penned within a continually evolving design framework. Said Smith: “Each new model will have a more compelling and dramatic exterior and interior.” Yann Delabriere, Faurecia CEO

Savvy Delabriere used crisis to make Faurecia stronger
Faurecia has emerged from the global financial crisis a bigger, stronger, more diverse supplier largely due to the swift and savvy moves it has made under the guidance of CEO Yann Delabriere. Since the start of the year, the frugal French partsmaker has spent less than 35 million euros in cash to acquire two companies with a combined 2.8 billion euros ($3.5 billion) in sales. In February, Faurecia paid in shares to take over Emcon Technologies. The no-cash deal, which was valued at 330 million euros, helped boost Faurecia’s presence in the fast-growing cleanemissions sector. A month later, Faurecia bought insolvent German plastic partsmaker Plastal GmbH’s industrial assets and customer contracts for 33 million euros. Prior to its collapse, Plastal Germany generated 408 million euros in sales to Audi, BMW, Daimler, Ford, Porsche and Volkswagen. Speaking about the Plastal Germany deal, Delabriere, 60, said it helped deepened Faurecia’s ties with German customers, which now account for 40 percent of the company’s sales up from 34 percent in 2000 and 36 percent in 2005. VW Group gave the French supplier an award for quickly taking control of Plastal’s operations, which ensured there would be little disruption in deliveries.

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