Winterkorn at the ESADE Alumni Annual Conference: Volkswagen will be an "engine" of Spanish industry
Martin Winterkorn, Chairman of the Board of Management at Volkswagen AG, gave a speech at the 19th ESADE Alumni Annual Conference. In his remarks, Mr. Winterkorn declared that his company, Europe’s largest automaker, aims to be an “engine of Spanish industry. He also declared that Spain and SEAT are key parts of the corporation’s global growth strategy.
At the conference, Winterkorn was presented with this year’s ESADE Award. He received this honour for his exemplary leadership in support of innovation and new technologies. The conference, which coincided with the 25th anniversary of ESADE Alumni, drew a crowd of nearly 2,000 ESADE graduates to Barcelona’s Palau de Congressos de Catalunya.
In his keynote address, entitled " "Building a Strong Industrial Base for Europe’s Future", Mr. Winterkorn declared: “What Europe really needs is more industry, more innovation and even better products for the global markets. He expressed support for the European Commission’s goal of raising the share of industry in Europe to 20% of GDP by 2020 as part of the “For a European Industrial Renaissance programme. In order to achieve this target, Mr. Winterkorn called for Europe to maintain and strengthen its existing industry and create a framework in which innovation and investment are encouraged rather than hindered.
Mr. Winterkorn, the head of Europe’s largest automotive group, analysed the situation in the automotive industry and discuss the keys to quickly adapting the sector to each client’s needs. "Cars have increasingly become mobile computers," declared Mr. Winterkorn, before identifying flexibility, digitalisation and sustainable technology as the strategic pillars for the future of European industry.
The 19th ESADE Alumni Annual Conference also featured speech by José Manuel Soria, the Spanish Minister of Industry, Energy and Tourism.
ESADE Award
The ESADE Awards are sponsored by ESADE Alumni as a means of honouring organisations and individuals whose careers, activities or services have demonstrated the values that define the founding spirit of ESADE Business School and set a good example for others.
This year’s award went to Martin Winterkorn, Chairman of the Board of Management at Volkswagen AG, Europe’s largest automotive group. He received this honour for his exemplary leadership in support of innovation and new technologies, for his truly global focus, and for his outstanding achievements as CEO of Volkswagen AG.
ESADE alumni, Europe’s largest alumni association
The 19th ESADE Alumni Annual Conference coincided with the association’s 25th anniversary. ESADE Alumni was founded with the goal of creating a global network where ESADE graduates – now holding positions of responsibility the world over – could come together to share their experiences. Drawing on a pool of more than 50,000 graduates, ESADE Alumni is the largest alumni association in Europe.
ESADE Alumni currently has 17,500 members -- a 52% increase over the past five years. Its members hold positions of responsibility all over the world, mainly in the areas of business management, marketing and finance. It is also the most active association of its type. ESADE Alumni has 32 international chapters that organise activities for alumni at various places around the globe, from Argentina and Chile to Japan and Singapore, plus the United States, Dubai, Russia and more. Last year, the association organised approximately 1,000 events, which drew a total of around 42,000 participants.
Through its 64 professional groups, ESADE Alumni promotes ongoing training, professional development and entrepreneurial initiative.
Eugenia Bieto, Director General of ESADE, declared: "The education sector needs to be able to respond to fundamental challenges such as technology, globalisation and talent attraction."
Previous winners of the ESADE Award include Antonio Brufau, Chairman and CEO of Repsol; Pablo Isla, Chairman of Inditex; and Mikael Ohlsson, CEO of Ikea.
An outstanding executive career
Martin Winterkorn holds honorary professorships at Tongji University in Shanghai, the Budapest University of Technology and Economics at the Dresden University of Technology. He is the Chairman of the Board of Management at Volkswagen AG, the German automaker’s parent company. From 2002 to 2006, he served as Chairman of the Board of Management at the Volkswagen subsidiary Audi AG. In the course of his distinguished career, he has also worked for Robert Bosch GmbH, Bosch-Siemens Hausgeräte, Ingolstadt and many other companies. He is also the Chairman of the Supervisory Board at Porsche Automobil Holding.
