Questions & Answers Christian Schmidt VOLVO CARS What was your first automotive job and why were you interested in the industry? I have never been the typical car guy. Even though I love cars, their design and technology, I would describe myself as more of a people person. I'm motivated by change and big challenges. One of the big reasons I joined Volvo Cars in 2012 was because the company has such a strong history of focusing on people and innovation. I started with organizational development and change management. The timing was great as this company was on the way to becoming independent. It had its own plans and strategy and a Chinese owner that provided freedom to "set the tiger free." Your greatest achievement? That is difficult to answer but it's probably what I'm doing now. My colleagues and I are working on a new way to approach consumer experiences throughout our commercial operations. We are working on building a new mindset and responsibilities to address issues from a consumer's perspective and how they experience our brand. What was your biggest failure and what did it teach you? I recently failed to fill a position as quickly as I should have. That caused me six months of having to field all the questions. That is not good for the business, the team or me. I haven't been a line manager for that long, and I believe it's part of my journey to learn how to prioritize. What is your current challenge at work? The biggest challenge is transforming the way we interact with consumers. Together with our retail partners we will have to address this together. We can't just look within the automotive industry for ways to transform. Inspiration on how to make consumers happy will come from other industries such as travel, banking, fashion and music. What about the auto industry surprises you? In many ways it seems to have been protected from external influences for a long time. There are consumer trends, and then there are consumer trends within automotive. That will come to a full stop at one point. We are living in an experience economy, and I feel that the automotive industry needs to adopt and adapt. This needs to happen sooner rather than later. What is the best advice you have ever received? I can't think of any specific personal advice, but I really like what ice hockey legend Wayne Gretzky said: "You miss 100 percent of the shots you don't take." 74