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Picture-perfect career in the car trade
Mitsubishi managing director Andreas Kostelecky explains in an interview with the automotive industry how one goes from car salesman to managing director of an import company.
Picture-perfect career in the car trade
AUTOMOBILE INDUSTRY: Mr. Kostelecky, you started as a car salesman at Citroën D. Freytag in 1989 and, after several positions as sales and marketing manager, you were appointed managing director of Mitsubishi at Denzel Autoimport GmbH in March 2010. Which training and further education measures have helped you the most in your career?
ANDREAS KOSTELECKY: In addition to my experience in sales, the foundation for my current position is certainly the MBA Automotive, which I acquired at the Kufstein University of Applied Sciences. Denzel helped initiate this form of training and I am very happy that I took advantage of this opportunity.
You previously gained practical experience as a sales director for several years. What additional benefit does an academic education bring?
On the one hand, it is a look beyond the brand edge and, on the other hand, closing blind spots in the areas of finance and controlling through a scientific approach. A simple example: You can design a presentation in a straightforward manner, but the audience will get more out of it if you do it according to the latest academic findings.
You did your MBA part-time - what effort did that mean for you?
The first level was automotive manager, then came the MBA. Of course the family has to play along, because at the weekend I learned not to go to the swimming pool.
The automotive trade is currently undergoing major changes. Which recipes are currently promising?
The trend towards digitalization raises two questions in particular: What do we do with the data collected and who does it actually belong to? When I started in the industry, there were only two sales channels: face-to-face and telephone. Since then, the Internet, email, Facebook, Instagram, etc. have been added. The challenge now is to design a media mix in which the product determines the channel.
At Denzel you are now also leading the market launch of MG in Austria. Will we still need an importer in the future?
Good question, because digitalization obviously brings with it the risk that we will be rationalized away. We are therefore currently working on creating a USP that will ensure our existence in the future. MG has realized that a market launch cannot be achieved without an importer. When the mark is set, the cards are reshuffled - then we have to stay in the game.