The sudden and unexpected announcement of Klaus Zellmer’s move from Skoda to Volvo is one of those appointments that makes perfect sense. I’ve met most of the great and the good of the car industry over the years, from Ferdinand Piech to Elon Musk. Many have been inspiring; a fair few have left me wondering how on earth they got their big gig. The good ones build teams that produce great, customer-focused cars. The companies of, how shall we say, less good leaders seem to be always playing catch-up.
Zellmer is firmly in the first camp. He’s my favourite car boss to interview: warm, engaging, honest, intelligent and empathetic. That last quality doesn’t always feature prominently in discussions about running a car company, but understanding people is a pretty useful starting point when you’re employing thousands of them and trying to persuade millions more to buy your products.
He’s done an incredible job at Skoda, which delivered record results in 2025. Crucially, its cars still feel as though they’ve been designed around the people buying them, rather than somebody’s desire to impress the board. There’s confidence about the brand without it forgetting what made people like it in the first place.
Sign up for Steve Fowler’s DriveSmart newsletter here
He’ll take over at Volvo next year, following Hakan Samuelsson, another leader I admire enormously. Samuelsson has helped turn Volvo into a technology leader, but I’ve no doubt Zellmer will go on to even greater things. Indeed, I suspect finding his replacement at Skoda might be the harder job.
Of course, nobody achieves all that alone. My own leadership mantra has always been to surround yourself with people who make you look good. Glib? Perhaps, but it’s served me pretty well. I’m proud to have had some of the UK’s biggest automotive media talents work for me, then go on to bigger and better things. Their success isn’t something to feel threatened by; it’s something to be delighted about. And they don’t make you look good by agreeing with everything you say. Sometimes they do it by explaining why your latest brilliant idea isn’t actually very good – I’m quite used to that!
Thomas Schafer, Zellmer’s boss within Volkswagen’s wider family of brands, strikes me as someone who understands that, too – he’s another fantastic guy to spend time with. His team is making difficult business decisions and some equally tricky product decisions. Volkswagen’s problems aren’t suddenly solved because it’s launched a couple of good cars, but you can see the change in direction from the driver’s seat.
The excellent ID. Polo is a proper Volkswagen again, while the ID.3 Neo is one of the most improved cars I can remember in recent years. Better materials and more sensible controls, including proper buttons, show what happens when someone accepts that customers might have had a point. There’s been an honesty about the original ID.3’s shortcomings that you don’t always expect from a German car company. I’d much rather hear that than be expected to get used to something I don’t like.
That takes leadership, as does giving the people doing the work permission to change course. My recent meeting with Markus Haupt, who runs Seat and Cupra within that wider group, left me thinking he’s another in the Schafer and Zellmer mould. I’m hoping Aston Martin and JLR now have the right people in place, too. There’s no shortage of talent in either business; they just need the right direction and support.
There isn’t just one way to lead, though. Elon Musk’s approach certainly won’t be to everyone’s taste, including, I know, plenty of people who’ve worked for him. Yet when I’ve met him, his sheer intelligence and vision have shone through. You can recognise what Tesla has achieved without signing up to every management decision. Equally, the boss getting all the attention shouldn’t obscure the people who turned those ideas into cars.
Much as it pains this Liverpool supporter, Sir Alex Ferguson understood the value of building a team, then developing the people who would become the next one. Manchester United’s dominance through the Nineties and Noughties didn’t happen by accident. Standards, spotting talent and knowing how to get the best from people were central to it. Right, that’s quite enough praise for Man United.
Closer to home, last week I saw examples of brilliant leadership when I hosted the annual AutoRaise Alliance conference. AutoRaise is a charity that helps young people into vehicle-repair apprenticeships, and the room was full of inspirational people. Among them was Linda Jackson, the former Citroen and Peugeot boss, who I’ve known for quite a while and interviewed many times.
Linda spoke movingly about her career, its challenges and achievements. She’s a wonderful example of what someone can achieve when ability and determination meet opportunity.
Sharing that stage also brought a reminder that inspiration doesn’t require a chief executive’s job title. Corporate social responsibility expert Lisa Basford not only showed us how ‘doing the right thing’ can benefit a business’s bottom line as well as its people, but she also brought apprentices Shelby Carwardine and Holly Caldwell into the conversation to tell their stories. They were brilliant ambassadors for their industry and will go on to inspire plenty of others – being leaders in their own way. In a world so often fixated on university as the route to success, it was refreshing to hear from young people building rewarding careers another way.
What struck me, too, was how many attendees told me AutoRaise had improved under the leadership of former journalist Emma Speed. The result, I was told, is that the charity is now helping more young people into vehicle-repair apprenticeships than ever before. That’s a far better measure of success than how impressive the event looked. Emma and the team are getting more people started in a crucial part of the car business – another fine example of great leadership in the car industry.
So yes, I’m excited to see what Zellmer does at Volvo. But I’m equally pleased to see people getting their first opportunity through AutoRaise. From the chief executive to the newest apprentice, getting the right people into the right places gives this industry a much better chance of producing cars we love and looking after us once we’ve bought them.
Sign up for the DriveSmart newsletter
To get the latest motoring insights from EV editor Steve Fowler delivered straight to your inbox, simply enter your email address in the box at the top of this page.
Each edition of DriveSmart offers clear, expert guidance on the fast-moving world of electric vehicles and modern motoring, from trusted reviews and practical tips to the biggest industry news of the week.
You can also head to our newsletter preference centre to sign up for the email.
