top of page
Profil1GK.jpg

Consulting and interim executive management in line, projects, and programs 
More than 30 years of international experience in the automotive industry

​Since 2022, Automotive Business Consultant & Interim Executive with mandates from OEM, suppliers and equipment manufacturers

​

Before that, 30 years in international general leadership positions in different companies in the automotive industry, including as President & CEO, Managing Director, Head of Business Units and Joint Ventures, Head of a Production Plant, Head of a Retail Branch, Head of Industrial Projects and Programs.

​

As a Business Consultant & Interim Executive, I support your strategy and operations with an approach that is customized to your individual needs. With a focus on people, processes, performance and profitability, I work with my clients as equal partners and help them achieve success by relying on field tested and sustainable solutions.

​

More than 30 years of international management and consulting experience in the automotive industry 

Since 2022

Automotive Business Consultant & Interim Executive

 

I​ndustrial Consulting and Interim Executive Management for automotive OEM, suppliers and equipment manufacturers. Leading cross-functional complex projects. Head of Task Forces. Interim CEO, COO, CRO, CTO. Focus: Greenfield and brownfield operations. Production footprints. Procurement, including critical supplier management. 

​

Current and previous mandates:

​

  • Business consultant & interim executive, leading an OEM task force for the relocation of components, tools and equipment of a global automotive Tier-1 supplier in insolvency (2024/25)

  • Business consultant & interim executive with a global automotive equipment manufacturer on the construction and commissioning of a new E-motor assembly line at an OEM (2024)

  • Business consultant for a global automotive Tier-1 supplier on localization in China - trade off between own and Joint Venture production (2023)

  • Business consultant for a global automotive software engineering provider (Tier-1) on internationalization - global strategy, performance, cost; local footprint, organization, functions (2022/23)

2016 - 2021

President & CEO, Executive Board Member Daimler Greater China

​

Fujian Benz Automotive Co., Ltd.- Fuzhou (China)

​

OEM. Production, purchasing, supply chain and sales of vans in China; development of components

Turnover EUR 1.6 billion, 3,200 employees

​

  • China Executive Mercedes-Benz Vans and Executive Board Member Daimler Greater China

  • President & CEO of the company, a majority-owned joint venture between BAIC (China) and Daimler

  • ROS turnaround from -5 auf +10% (top und bottom line initiatives)

  • Increase in production and supplier performance. Restructuring and outsourcing of sales, marketing, product and program management

2012 - 2015

Executive Member Product Group Compact Cars

​

Mercedes Benz - Sindelfingen

Budget > EUR 100 million, 50 employees  

​​

  • Global production planning and engineering for all compact car models

  • Global production planning e-Drive, establishment of various production joint ventures

  • Production relocation of a compact car model to a contract manufacturer (Finland)

  • Establishment of a Joint Venture with a Japanese OEM to build a compact car factory (Mexico)

2007 - 2011

Director Automotive Foundries and Forge

​

Mercedes-Benz - Untertürkheim, Head of Foundries and Forge

Budget > EUR 100 million, 3,200 employees

​

  • Strategy process to determine the future product portfolio

  • Entry into cast steel (turbocharger) and cast magnesium (body parts)

  • Exit from iron casting, outsourcing of the brake disc business

  • Programs and projects to increase efficiency and quality

2005 - 2007

Director Divisional Program Office

​

Mercedes Car Group - Untertürkheim and Sindelfinge - worldwide turnaround program CORE

Budget > EUR 200 million, 15 office employees, 70 consultants, 150 full-time, 2.800 part-time project workers 

​

  • 40 work packages, entire value chain; improvement from 0 to 7% ROS 

  • Introduction of vehicle platforms and module strategy in development and purchase

  • Plant efficiencies through the introduction of the harbor logic (“hours per vehicle”)

  • Purchasing offensive. Restructuring of the administrative areas.

2003 - 2005

Managing Director and Head of Engine Plant

​

MDC Power GmbH - Koelleda (Thuringia), Tier 1 supplier

Turnover > EUR 500 million, 600 employees

​

  • ​Founding of a Joint Venture between Daimler and a Japanese OEM

  • Construction, commissioning and series operations of a greenfield engine plant in Thuringia

  • Set up of flat hierarchies, outsourcing of operations (e.g. maintenance and logistics)

  • Design, installation und operation of a lean production system

2001 - 2003

Head of Car Assembly

​

Mercedes-Benz Passenger Cars, head of assembly (interior), Bremen plant 

Budget > EUR 50 million, 1,200 employees

​

  • Assembly - interior installation and pre-assembly (cockpit, doors), 250,000 vehicles per year

  • Management of 4 team leaders, 60 foremen and 1,200 employees in three-shift operation

  • Installation of a CIP under the direction of temporarily released team leaders and foremen

  • Projects for process stabilization, efficiency increase, quality improvement

1998 - 2001

Head of Automotive Retail Dealership

​

Mercedes-Benz, Magdeburg branch

Turnover > EUR 300 million, 400 employees

​

  • Sales of new and used vehicles (cars, vans, trucks) and aftersales (service and parts)

  • Management of three regional contractual partners (aftersales and customer brokerage)

  • Parallel project manager for strategic realignment of sales in Germany

  • Parallel project manager for strategic realignment of global sales

1996 - 1998

Head of Marketing, MB Argentina

​

Mercedes-Benz Argentina, Buenos Aires

Budget > EUR 15 million, 30 employees

​

  • Market launch of the Mercedes-Benz Sprinter in Argentina

  • Restructuring of the sales areas, introduction of new dealer management tools

  • Know-how transfer from Germany and USA to Argentina

  • Implementation of a sales-wide change process ("Proyecto Comercial")

1994 - 1996

Senior Manager - Executive Board Assistant

​

Mercedes-Benz (MB) and Daimler-Benz AG, Stuttgart

Budget > EUR 20 million

​

  • MB Passenger Car Development, later Daimler-Benz Sales

  • Executive Board Assistant, Chief of Staff, Head of Board Office

  • Independent pick up, coordination and follow up of board relevant issues

  • Collaboration and support in the MB change program (TQM) with 8,000 employees

1993 - 1994

International Management Associate

​

Daimler-Benz AG, Stuttgart and Vitoria (Spain)

​

  • Pre-development passenger cars - collaboration in driving tests with 100 battery-electric cars

  • Pre-development passenger cars - collaboration in the strategy development of a directorate

  • Van plant Vitoria - study on the outsourcing of IT activities to external service providers

  • Van plant Vitoria - collaboration in the implementation of a new production control system

1989 - 1992

Scientific Assistant

​

RPTU Kaiserslautern-Landau (Campus Kaiserslautern)

​

  • Insitute for Business Informatics and Operations Research (Prof. Dr. Heiner Müller-Merbach)

  • Responsible for the European student exchange program ERASMUS

  • Member of the editorial team of the magazine "Technology & Management"

  • Conducting postgradual lectures and research in business administration

  • Preparation and submission of the doctoral thesis (Leadership Ethics for Business Practice)

Education

1989 - 1993

RPTU Kaiserslautern-Landau, doctorate in business administration, Dr. rer. pol.

1982 - 1988

TU Darmstadt, studies in business administration and mechanical engineering, Dipl.-Wirtsch.-Ing. (MB)

Internships

  • Post graduate: Procter & Gamble, Spain (Barcelona): Intralogistics project in a detergent production plant (1992)

  • Post graduate: BASF Belgium (Brussels): TQM concept for a national wholesale organisation (1991)

  • Graduate: Philips Lighting, UK (London), technical concept for cleaning cycle optimization of motor-way road lamping (1987)

  • Graduate: Oliver Wyman, Germany (Munich), industrial consulting project at VOEST Alpine, Austria (1987)

​

Languages

​

​German: native

English, Spanish: business fluent

Honorary positions​

  • Guest Professor Fuzhou University (China), MBA program, School of Economics and Management (2017 to 2021)

  • Guest lecturer, OneMBA program, an executive program of five international business schools (2018 to 2021)

  • Board Member SC Magdeburg, Handball Magdeburg GmbH (1998 to 2001)

Awards/Prizes​

  • Konrad Mellerowicz Prize for Business Administration, TU Berlin 1993. The prize shall commemorate Konrad Mellerowicz (1891-1984), a German professor of business administration. Since 1991, it is awarded every two years for outstanding academic publications in the field of business administration.

​

  • Max Weber Prize for Business Ethics, German Economic Institute (Institut der Deutschen Wirtschaft), Cologne 1994. The prize shall commemorate Max Weber, a German professor of sociology and economics. Since 1992, it is awarded every two years for outstanding academic publications addressing potential conflicts between profit orientation and social responsibility.

bottom of page