{"id":1658,"date":"2025-06-03T12:46:28","date_gmt":"2025-06-03T12:46:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/china.38komma5.com\/china-know-how\/managing-director-automotive-supplier\/"},"modified":"2025-06-18T08:26:09","modified_gmt":"2025-06-18T08:26:09","slug":"managing-director-automotive-supplier","status":"publish","type":"avada_portfolio","link":"https:\/\/china.38komma5.com\/en\/china-know-how\/managing-director-automotive-supplier\/","title":{"rendered":"Managing Director Automotive Supplier"},"content":{"rendered":"

Transformation in the Key Market China<\/h1><\/div>

Trans-formation in the Key Market China<\/h1><\/div>
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\"Selbstbewusster<\/span><\/div><\/div><\/div>

How an automotive supplier secured its future viability through strategic new appointments<\/h2><\/div>
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For us at Steinkellner China Search, these are precisely the moments that define our work: When we are able to support companies like yours in successfully mastering complex transformation processes in a strategically decisive market like China. The automotive industry<\/a> is facing massive upheavals due to developments such as electromobility. For our client, the challenge was not only to fill a critical leadership position in the short term in this dynamic situation, but also to set the course for the future with strategic foresight<\/a>. Experience with us how we helped an established automotive supplier revitalize stagnating sales and forge a success alliance for sustainable growth from an urgent challenge.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>

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<\/i><\/i><\/span>The Starting Point: a Strategic Challenge in China<\/span><\/a><\/h4><\/div>
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An established German automotive supplier, generating around 30% of its total revenue in China, was confronted with a critical development: Revenue in the Chinese market was stagnating and even showing declining tendencies. The current technical and political developments surrounding electromobility intensified the challenges for the entire industry. For our client, it was of existential importance to urgently secure its Chinese market. The situational short-term nature and the lengthy, industry-specific implementation processes were often at odds. Management was aware that action was needed, but lacked a clear idea of how the necessary transformation should be orchestrated<\/span><\/a> and which adjustments should be made. The implementation of a new management<\/span><\/a> was thus far more than a personnel decision; it required an explicitly strategic view beyond the next few years.<\/p>\n

The risks were considerable: A further decline in performance in the strategically important Chinese market would not only have jeopardized the company’s overall financial goals, but potentially also jobs at the German headquarters, where the China projects are largely processed. In the automotive industry, the ability to deliver in the core markets of the USA, Germany, and China is often crucial for success; weakness in one market can quickly affect others. There was therefore an urgent economic need for action.<\/p>\n

Although the objective time urgency was to be classified as very high, it was initially subjectively rated as medium on the client side – a discrepancy that we observe more frequently in practice and which is often related to geographical distance.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>

<\/i><\/i><\/span>Our Approach: the Steinkellner Method in Practical Application<\/span><\/a><\/h4><\/div>
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The assignment to us as Steinkellner China Search began with filling the position of China General Manager and expanded in the course of successful collaboration to include other key roles in sales and service to drive the transformation holistically. Our motivation for this partnership lay in the enormous complexity of the task and our deep drive to help European companies avoid unnecessarily losing ground in China.<\/p>\n

The collaboration was, as typical for our projects, very close and characterized by direct coordination. Manfred Steinkellner intensively accompanied all essential discussions and interviews to ensure a deep understanding and optimal control of the process. The profile for the China management was very clearly defined, which initially simplified the search process.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>

<\/i><\/i><\/span>The Result: Measurable Success and Lasting Impact<\/span><\/a><\/h4><\/div>
Within about two months, our team found a hand-picked and precisely fitting talent on-site for the position of China General Manager. The choice fell on a Chinese candidate whose profile exactly matched the requirements: He came directly from the relevant industry as well as the specific product area and could thus start immediately without a long familiarization period, which was a decisive factor given the urgency.<\/p>\n

The greatest benefit during our collaboration was, from the client’s perspective, our honest and direct strategic input. We did not limit ourselves to merely presenting personalities, but provided valuable insights and a well-founded opinion on the overall situation and goals in China. This comprehensive consulting approach, supported by our fixed-price policy, reinforced the already existing success alliance in the long term.<\/p>\n

After a short period of time, thanks to the new, competent leadership, a significant increase in customer satisfaction in the service area could be observed. This was achieved through the additional service personnel we subsequently recruited, who ensured faster availability and were optimized through better geographical distribution of the teams. We are very pleased that as a result of this positive development, we were also entrusted with expanding and staffing the sales team.<\/p>\n

Our competencies that were particularly relevant here included:<\/p>\n