Automotive News Europe - October 2016 - Leading Women - 28

Mouna Sepehri
Executive vice president, office of the CEO; member of the executive committee |
Renault | Boulogne-Billancourt, France | 53

❚ EDUCATION:

Post-graduate degree in
business law and stock
exchange law, Pantheon Assas University, Paris, France;
degree in international law
and private law, Pantheon
Assas University; certificate
of aptitude for the legal
profession (CAPA) from the
Paris bar association

What attracted you to the
auto industry?
Having worked as a lawyer on
mergers and acquisitions, I felt
the need to give my career a
new direction. Automotive
products mean a lot to people.
They are the stuff of dreams
and symbolize freedom. At the
same time, the automotive industry is a world of international business, technical innovation, professional diversity and
constant evolution of technology and ideas.The idea of tak-

ing part in this dynamic and
challenging world was extremely appealing and drove
my personal choice.
First automotive job:
After working at a New Yorkbased international law firm,
where I specialized in mergers
and acquisitions, I decided to
join Renault as head of their
legal department in 1996. You
could say I was somewhat outside my comfort zone.
What was your big break?
That came during my negotiations with our Japanese partner, Nissan, which successfully
sealed the alliance agreement.
It was a great opportunity and
real turning point in my career.
What major challenge have
you faced in your career?
Undoubtedly, it was the dialogue
with Nissan that eventually
brought about the Renault-Nissan alliance. The challenge was
to create an unprecedented
cross-cultural combination between major car manufacturers.
At that time, many people

❚ FAMILY: Husband;

2 sons ages 21 and 13

❚ BORN: Babol, Iran
❚ NATIONALITY:

French-Iranian

❚ LANGUAGES: French,

English, Persian

www.autonewseurope.com

thought that such an alliance
was a real gamble and were
skeptical about the outcome.
But the results have proved otherwise and today I am proud to
have played a part in this innovative business agreement. The alliance has helped both Renault
and Nissan outperform traditional competitors in their respective
countries and has elevated both
companies to the top tier of the
automobile industry. Together,
Renault and Nissan rank among
the top four car manufacturers
worldwide and there is no doubt
now as to the success of this
unique partnership.
Who has had the biggest
influence on your career?
My parents because of the
way they raised me and the
values they imparted. They
taught me to be daring and
fearless, follow my instincts
even if they go against other
people's expectations and to
never give up. Since my earliest school days I knew that I
could achieve what I wanted if
I persisted.
What should be done to
encourage women to enter
the auto industry?
We should facilitate the recruitment of women. Then we have
to demonstrate that attracting
female talent is good for business. The Renault Group is already taking three measures
in pursuit of its commitment
to gender equality. That includes implementing recruitment ratio targets reflective of
the current population in
schools and universities. We
also support female employees throughout their career
through mentoring and internal networking programs. And
we ensure equal promotion
opportunities through a robust
succession planning system.

Name one thing about
yourself that most people
don't know.
I was a skateboard champion
in my youth.
If you could have dinner
with anyone, living or dead,
who would it be?
It would be Nelson Mandela. I
would have a lot of questions
about his vision, the amazing
strength of character that led
him to leadership and how he
accomplished the dream of
bringing about cohesion and
unity in his country.
Best advice you've ever
received?
I was raised with solid values:
to do what I really liked, to be
myself, to be daring, and most
of all, to not be afraid of anything. Don't be a slave to appearances, be yourself, be authentic, don't fall into the trap
of trying to please everybody.
What advice would you give
your child?
To be themselves. That means
having a successful life rather
than a successful career. That
means having inner faith and
intuition and following their instincts and desires. But they
need to study and work hard
to achieve their dreams. Values and knowledge are the pillars of individual freedom.
Once they have that, nothing
and nobody can take it away
from them.
If you were a car, what car
would you be?
I would be a Renault Zoe, a
zero-emissions car that cares
about its surroundings by being environmentally friendly.
It's discrete and offers high
performance, taking us toward the future in a responsible way. ANE

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