Internationally, Germany has established an image as a nation of car drivers. This is not only due to the high car density and the well-known "autobahn" but also to the very famous German car brands. One of these brands is Volkswagen AG, which was recently the world's second-largest automaker by vehicle sales. Someone who knows the company very well is Felix Rudhart. After studying Business Administration at the School of Business & Economics Münster, Felix Rudhart joined Volkswagen AG and has since held various positions in marketing, sales, and product management both domestically and abroad. Felix Rudhart piloted the agency sales model within the framework of e-mobility for the company and is now Head of Sales & Service Region North at Volkswagen Deutschland GmbH&CoKG.

Dear Mr. Rudhart, you have spent your professional career at Volkswagen AG so far. What particularly attracts you to the automotive industry?

As with many of us in the industry, it has always been about the product; this started very early for me. Even as a little boy, I was more excited about my father's new car than he was. I could still recognize the brand of that new car by its smell today and still remember the key performance data of the products whose tests I read back then in Auto, Motor und Sport.

How do you experience the shift towards more e-mobility in your daily work?

Such a fundamental transformation in a historically developed company requires an immense amount of energy and is sometimes painful. We have taken the competition from younger companies in the industry, like Tesla or the Chinese brands, very seriously for many years, but their situation is not comparable to ours. We do not start on a greenfield site and cannot, at the push of a button, design processes, systems, value chains, and organizations according to today's ideal standards. We have a legacy that makes this very difficult, but at the same time, it is also our strength.

What was your most exciting challenge during your time in Ireland and China?

These were very different experiences: in Ireland, I started in November 2008, right in the middle of the financial crisis. We took over a poorly positioned importer, the total market collapsed by about 65%, and the entire organization had never worked in a shrinking market with high competitive pressure. It was a classic turnaround case, but it was still a lot of fun. We did, indeed, press the "reset button" and completely reorganized the admittedly very small company. In China, I was there from 2011, which were the golden times in China; we opened new factories, launched new products, and celebrated sales records every quarter. The collaboration in the joint venture and the development in China were extremely exciting: everything was happening there, and the social dynamics and development leaps were three times faster than in Europe. We did not foresee the recent developments in China at all; it seemed more like China was at a crossroads and opening up sustainably to the West.

What do students need to bring if they aspire to a career in the automotive industry?

The ideas about the right qualifications and the classic requirements for a successful career have changed significantly since I graduated in 2002. However, if I may put it from my personal perspective, it is still a solid professional education, a passion for the products, high commitment, a large portion of resilience, and a positive, integrative personality that will take you further. The biggest challenge, as I see it, is that employees and organizations are currently under pressure to constantly reinvent and develop themselves. This was certainly easier in professional life a few decades ago.

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