In April this year, the 50-year-old manager, who went through a Mercedes and anchored in the Volkswagen Group, was last in charge of production on virtually the entire African continent. As CEO of Volkswagen Group South Africa, Thomas Schäfer was responsible for the development of the group’s brands in the region of sub-Saharan Africa. So he is primarily a “man of production,” which is something that fits well with the covid times.
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“When I flew to the Czech Republic, I joked with colleagues who were waiting for me at the airport that I mainly want to go for a draft beer. Lockdown was much tougher in South Africa than here, “smiled before the first big interview in the Czech Republic, the manager who took over the largest Czech factory and must not only take it out of the coronavirus crisis, but above all adjust it to the future. It seems to be electric.
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Thomas Schäfer told the Business News List, among other things, that Škoda Auto will launch a new electric car next year, look for new markets, and also strongly opposed the fact that it should change the carmaker’s strategic direction towards cheap cars. This was speculated before his arrival. Here is the first part of the interview. We will publish it all this Friday.
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What did you think when you first entered the Škoda Auto gate?
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When I came to Mladá Boleslav on Sunday and then they took me to work on Monday, I realized how huge a company it is. I didn’t realize it that much before. But it’s great here and it’s a super-efficient and well-distributed factory.
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What surprised you in the good and what in the worse?
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Definitely in good condition the capacity and competence of the local people. There is a great team here and my predecessor (Bernhard Maier, editor’s note) who did a great job. So I enjoy going to work because people can see that they want to achieve other things. The negative is, of course, covid, and it’s understandable that co-workers also need to get used to my leadership style.
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What is your leadership style?
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I’m very fast and let’s say personal. I walk a lot among the people I eat in the canteen and I prefer to call them directly than wait for their reports. This is completely new to them. They were used to chain vertical steering. I like to skip it sometimes. I also like to talk to employees who do not work directly below me. They have to get used to it and be more flexible.
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What vision did you bring to Škoda Auto? How do you want to change your business?
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First of all, I want to say that the company is in really good condition. Even in times of crisis, we will be profitable, which not many other carmakers can say. But there is always room for improvement. We will take on more responsibility within the VW Group. From January, we will be responsible for the region of Russia and North Africa. Škoda Auto will lead and be in charge of all VW brands there and will organize the group’s operations in these regions. These are huge markets, consider that Egypt has some 90 million people. And Skoda will play a bigger role there. We have a portfolio of cars that the Egyptians love. And, of course, we will continue to grow elsewhere as a brand.
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Are you looking for ways to increase production?
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Yes, now it’s hard, our production is full. We are looking for all capacities, we go on three shifts, we are looking for every free overtime. But we still need more capacity. We will tune production as much as possible in the Czech Republic, there will also be opportunities in Russia and India. The new Škoda Fabia will come next year, and with the new model there is always a chance, for example, to increase the speed of the production line and make it even more efficient.
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How many cars would you like to produce per year?
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There is no limit to that (laughs). We will probably produce over a million cars this year and our long-term ambition is to produce 1.5 million cars and more. Such a number could come in three years. But it must be seen that our industry is now undergoing a huge change, and every investment in our country means having a horizon at least twenty years ahead. So we are now more cautious in investing in production. For example, electric cars are heavier than cars with internal combustion engines, so you have to invest in new production line equipment, such as cranes with higher capacities, when making them.
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Do you want damage done by cheap cars? Something like Dacia? It was talked about before you started.
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No. That was a big misunderstanding. Our brand and cars have always been available, they have a great price-performance ratio, that is our focus. There are market segments we will not go into. But the reality is also that within the Volkswagen Group, Škoda delivers the best performance. Thanks to the fact that we produce in the Czech Republic, we can have, say, a sharper pencil at a cost. And thanks to that, we can enter new regions and new segments as a brand without making cheap cars.
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We will bring the whole interview tomorrow, ie on Friday, November 6.
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