Powerful women: what does it take to get to the top?
London, 8th May, London: Episode nine of the new Auto Trader podcast Women in the driving seat, hosted by Editorial Director, award-winning motoring journalist Erin Baker is released today. The series aims to rip up the rule book on the female-empowerment narrative by sharing personal as well as professional experiences, examining the space where both collide, and the challenges, fears and successes happen.
Episode nine covers what a vehicle plant is really like, how Stellantis thinks about circular economy – including questions like should you glue an EV battery into the car? - as well as balancing a global role with family life – from early and late shifts to new puppies.
All episodes in the series feature a Podcast Pit Stop – a quick fire round covering the professional and personal including; Lark or owl? Circuit or circuits? Phone by the bed or phone downstairs?
Join Erin as she puts two Stellantis giants in the driving seat.
Podcast preview
Alison Jones:
“She’s [Dianne] underselling it… she took it through transformation. She closed the plant, kept the team running, drove the transformation to bring it back as an electric van factory and in that period it’s massive project management on a scale you can’t imagine.”
“Circular economy is about recycling, reusing material, remanufacturing and repairing, which we’ve done in the industry for years… It’s about using less material, using it for longer and when you can’t use it anymore you recycle it”
“Those are our big issues – water and energy.”
“There are many different groups of people that can work on that chain.”
“In circular economy more broadly, it’s about sustainability it’s about how you want to live your life as a consumer or as a citizen.”
“I call it thoughtful travel, I’ll travel and go for an intense period of time…When I’m in the US, I do try and keep to UK time… it started when I needed to be fully present for a family wedding. So I get up at 2, start work at 3 do my European work then do a full day in the US and then come back and go to sleep… you can do that for a 5 or 6 day period.”
“If I’m away, it’s maximum work time and you just max out on the work.”
“I live my life compartmentalised.”
“My children have grown up with me in the industry…they keep me grounded.”
“I used to get up earlier, get ready so I could spend time with them when they were babies, get dressed at the very last minute before you go out the door, hoping there’s no sick down the back of your suit.”
“Life is about choices… there are certain jobs I didn’t go for because it would have compromised what family life would have been like. It’s family decisions on some roles… I don’t think you can do everything; you chose whether you want to do a job and how you want to live your family life.”
“I’ve definitely made choices about what I won’t do and that’s’ probably taken me longer to get at the role that I’m at now compared to others but I’m ok with that.”
“I always try and look two jobs ahead at the next role and work out what I would need to be able to do that job. You will never have all of the skills, because if you did you would be doing the job already… work out what you have got and then tell people! I used to think you’d get it on merit or results, but you need to tell hiring managers about the role you’re interested in.”
Diane Miller:
“In theory I could be called in the middle of the night.”
“[The factory] is more about people… it’s very bright, more automation than before… we’re trying to get young girls to understand it’s not that type of place [dirty, loud]… it’s relatively quiet, the most thing is the music… all the research says the music makes you more productive.”
“Music is the loudest thing in there”
“I can’t think of anything that a woman can’t do [in manufacturing]”
“[it is stressful] we have to try and make it as easy as possible”
“About 2%” of the Port staff are women
“Once we get women in they do enjoy it, the teams work a lot better…so it’s not an issue, it’s the perception.”
“About 20% [of plant production] is for export…it was higher.”
“Less people buying [electric] …there’s no real push on the government side to buy them anymore, which there was when we made the decision to go all electric… If we can’t sell the volume then we’re not viable anymore.”
“I think children also see the work ethic and learn a lot from you and they gain from that also.”
“We get a year maternity leave full pay so that did help at the start.”
Auto Trader’s new podcast Women in the driving seat releases new episodes every Thursday.
Notes to editors
ABOUT ERIN BAKER
Erin Baker is an award-winning motoring journalist and Editorial Director of Auto Trader. She writes a monthly driving column for Vogue, is a World Car of the Year judge, consults for Goodwood and hosts She's Electric, a national roadshow bringing women and electric cars together. Erin is passionate about narrowing the gender gap, both in the automotive industry itself and between car brands and female consumers, through more targeted language, marketing and experiences. She is a divorced mother of two boys.
ABOUT ALISON JONES
Alison is Global Chief Parts and Services Officer for Stellantis, having just been promoted from Senior Vice President, Global Circular Economy. She has worked in a wide variety of roles in the Auto industry over the years and was also President of the SMMT (Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders) for 2 years, alongside the day job. Alison is happily married to Nic, they have three adult children and have just welcomed a new puppy to the family.
ABOUT DIANE MILLER
Diane has been Plant Director of Ellesmere Port for 3 years, It is the first all-electric assembly plant globally for Stellantis and first large OEM in UK. Before that for over 30 years she has worked in many manufacturing roles in various plants UK and USA, and it has certainly never been boring! Originally from Ireland, married to Steve who is American they have an 18-year-old son and a 17-year-old daughter both born in England. The family loves to travel whenever the busy work schedules allow.
ABOUT AUTO TRADER
Auto Trader Group plc is the UK’s largest automotive platform. It listed on the London Stock Exchange in March 2015 and is a member of the FTSE 100 Index.
Auto Trader’s purpose is Driving Change Together. Responsibly. Auto Trader is committed to creating a diverse and inclusive culture, it aims to build stronger partnerships with its customers and use its voice and influence to drive more environmentally friendly vehicle choices.
With the largest number of car buyers and the largest choice of trusted stock, Auto Trader’s marketplace sits at the heart of the UK car buying process. That marketplace is built on an industry-leading technology and data platform, which is increasingly used across the automotive industry. Auto Trader is continuing to bring more of the car buying journey online, creating an improved buying experience, whilst enabling all its retailer partners to sell vehicles online.
Auto Trader publishes a monthly used car Retail Price Index which is based on pricing analysis of circa 800,000 unique vehicles. The same data that powers the Index is used by the Office for National Statistics to make the UK’s official measures of inflation more robust, as well as the Bank of England to feed the broader UK economic indicators.
For more information, please visit: plc.autotrader.co.uk
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