AUDI’s Volker Germann To Speak At The Women Automotive Network’s June Summit

AUDI Brussels’ CEO, Volker Germann, and Volkswagen CV’s Member of the Board of Management, Dr. Astrid Fontaine are just TWO of the fantastic speakers confirmed for this year’s June Summit (which is being hosted by the Women Automotive Network).

Volker’s talk is entitled ‘Vorsprung starts in the mind: Innovation meets Inclusion,’ and Dr. Astrid will be speaking on ‘diversity and innovation: Why diverse teams are more innovative.’

Other speakers include Daimler Truck AG’s Elizaveta Olar, Toyota Motor Europe’s Monica Perez Lobo, USA’s Desi Ujkashevic, Forbes Contributor, Joan Michelson, Jaguar Land Rover’s Dr Paula Palade, and more.

A result of a recent poll (which was taken during the Women Automotive Network’s Spring Meetup in March 2022) showed that 46.8% of delegates felt as though ‘education’ was the main barrier towards improving diversity in the automotive industry.

40.3% of women in the automotive sector claimed that they turn to ‘outside of work mentors,’ as opposed to management or colleagues, indicating that a large number of women prefer to reach out to external mentors when it comes to career advice, NOT their employer.

Again, this linked up nicely with 29.0% of women believing that mentor-ship programs are ‘the key to career success,’ NOT ‘training opportunities from their company’ (a low 11.3%).

With this in mind, at this year’s June’s Summit, there will be a series of specialist, dedicated career and leadership workshops, and personal success stories from automotive leaders, covering tech trends, from the latest game changers and industry leaders, held over two days, alongside speed networking for ALL attendees, – to drive career goals and support in the industry.

“Active Diversity Management means consciously using diversity for the company’s success. It enables the highest degree of creativity, competitiveness, and innovation. It promotes openness and adaptability to break new ground, it supports the understanding of diverse customer expectations and new business models,” said Volker.

“At the same time, diversity is a basic building block of social sustainability in the form of responsibility and integrity. Diversity at Audi Brussels is not an option, but a must,” he added.

“To promote a fair representation of society in a key industry for the future, women should be part of this future. Women could bring different thinking, needs and expectations that may be not properly considered today from customer or business perspective in the automotive industry. Basically, it makes business sense,” said Monica Perez Lobo – Head of Sustainability and ESG – Toyota Motor Europe.

Sponsors include McKinsey, Capgemini, Harman, Unicepta, Daimler Truck, Micron, heycar, NCP, Audi, Magna, BlueYonder, Akzo, Novelis, Henkel, Flex, Vitesco, Ford, Altair, Leoni, Tuxera, ITW, Skoda, Carwow, and the Electric Ladies Podcast.

“We are so excited to hold our annual June Summit once again,” said Stephanie May, the Women Automotive Network’s Commercial Director, and the June Summit’s organiser.

“Last year, 510 delegates attended, whereas this year, we’re expecting a much bigger turnout, and we can’t wait to to support leadership and diversity in the automotive industry, and to bring professionals closer together,” added Stephanie.

About The Women Automotive Network:

The Women Automotive Network is the fastest-growing platform for automotive diversity and technology discussions, – made possible by their events, content, mentorship scheme, and their rapidly growing community of 9000+ members on LinkedIn.

To purchase a ticket to our June Summit, click here.