​​Michel Favre has been new CEO of HELLA since July 2022. What characterises him personally, what habits would he like to get rid of and what goals is he pursuing in regards to HELLA?

Thursday 2022-09-01

Mr Favre, which three attributes best describe you?

Well, you should ask my wife (laughs). Self-perception and external perception often differ after all. But if you ask me directly, I would spontaneously say: intuitive, consistent and willing to act. Intuitive is a quality that has become more and more pronounced in me, especially in recent years, mainly to identify potential difficulties on specific issues or disagreements. Not least on the basis of my many years of experience, I can now make decisions much more quickly, often even from my gut. But just making decisions is not enough. You also have to make sure that they are shared, accepted and implemented consistently, otherwise you have done nothing. You should also not be too shy to lend a hand yourself. I think that's another thing that distinguishes me: I always try to be energetic and put things into practice.

And what characteristic would you most like to do without?

There are certainly a few. Sometimes I'm just too fast, sometimes too impatient also. Maybe that's the downside of the qualities I just mentioned (laughs). But as we all know, knowledge is the first step to improvement. So today I take much more time to explain things sufficiently to bring my colleagues along in the necessary way. After all, even after many years, you never stop learning.

What did you learn at Faurecia that you would now like to apply at HELLA?

HELLA and Faurecia are very similar in many ways. Both companies are successful, very international and have a strong focus on innovation and technology. In terms of sales and number of employees, Faurecia is of course much larger. This goes hand in hand with a different form of corporate management. Faurecia is therefore much more decentralised, with Business Groups and regions having more autonomy. HELLA, on the other hand, follows a more centralised approach, which undoubtedly also offers advantages. But as FORVIA, we are now the seventh largest automotive supplier in the world with over 150,000 employees around the globe. It is therefore all the more important that we remain agile and flexible. From my point of view, this is only possible with a somewhat more flexible corporate management. That is why we are now in the process of giving the Business Groups and regions more autonomy. In this way, we will be able to keep up with the market dynamics even better.

You have already been working in the automotive industry for many years and therefore know HELLA well. What do you like best about the company?

Quite clearly: it's the people and the technologies. I think this mixture is what has always distinguished HELLA and ultimately motivated me to come to HELLA. I am very impressed by how openly I have been received here and how much passion and commitment the colleagues have for the company - both in Germany, where I spend most of my time, but also at the other locations worldwide. Beyond that, I'm fascinated by technology. With Lighting, Electronics and Lifecycle Solutions, HELLA is in an excellent strategic position for the future. I sense that HELLA is a technology company that thrives for innovation and wants to actively drive the change in mobility.

What do you want to implement as HELLA's new CEO?

I said at the beginning that I sometimes act too quickly. I would like to avoid that mistake at this point. I have only been at HELLA for two months. So it would be presumptuous to present a detailed plan so early on. From my point of view, that would not be at all necessary. HELLA is one of the top automotive suppliers, or as they say in France: the crème de la crème. The goal should therefore be to continue the successful course of the last few years. Nevertheless, we also have to develop further in certain dimensions. Firstly, as already mentioned, we need to transfer more responsibility to the Business Groups and thus further strengthen their autonomy and agility. Secondly, we need to further globalise our business activities, but also our organisation. We are doing very well in Europe; however, we still have potential especially in the Asian and American markets. Thirdly, we have to rebalance the cooperation with our customers. This means, above all, that we pass on price increases, for example for energy and materials, to our customers. Currently, we are able to pass on about one third of the inflation; we want to increase this quota to 70 to 80 percent. Fourthly, we have to standardise and simplify even more, and in some cases also go for even more volume. I call this massification. And fifthly, we have to strengthen our home base in Lippstadt. The working environment and infrastructure here are undoubtedly getting on in years, which means we definitely need a rejuvenation process, a "live-cell therapy". We are willing to do so.