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PODCAST

The Auto Ethnographer with John Stech

John Stech, The Auto Ethnographer, draws on his thirty years in the global automotive industry to bring the world to your doorstep in both an informative and entertaining way using a style rooted in autoethnography.What is "autoethnography"? Derived from Tony E. Adams’ definition, "autoethnography" is a research method leaning on the experiences of individuals to analyze assumptions, culture, communication, local norms, traditions, emotional impact, and how they mesh with greater culture and society

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All Episodes

16:59

EP 18: John Stech: Same-same or different? Comparing...

The Auto Ethnographer with John Stech ·

2025/06/27

In this episode, host John Stech discusses his observations on the Thai and American car cultures. Having lived in Thailand for nearly two years, he compares what he has observed on the streets, at motorshows, and at car meets. While some like to people-watch, John always has his eyes on the cars he encounters everywhere.Says John, “Cars move us—but in wildly different ways. In America, a chrome grill might gleam with ambition and showy opulence. In Thailand, a dusty pickup truck or sprightly

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10:21

EP 17: John Stech: A visit to Taiwan sparks...

The Auto Ethnographer with John Stech ·

2025/06/19

This week John Stech, host of The Auto Ethnographer, was traveling in Taiwan. He was there to see his wife’s nephew graduate from high school. The five days on the ground were very busy, a packed schedule planned in advance. While there he was inspired to think about the pride that nations and their people feel about locally developed and produced automotive brands.The visit started and ended in Taipei but much of the time was spent further south in the towns of Nantou, Puli, and Taichung, as well

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59:28

EP 16: Dr. Deb Mukherji: Unraveling the success...

The Auto Ethnographer with John Stech ·

2025/06/11

Dr. Deb Mukherji joins The Auto Ethnographer from Gurugram, India, a city near New Delhi. In today’s episode he helps to unravel the success factors for entering the Indian market as a foreign company, automotive or otherwise.There are success stories and failures on the Indian market. These are woven into the conversation as we explore the main drivers for success: navigating regulations, technology adapted to local consumers, economics, and the human aspect including culture.Dr. Mukherji has over

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50:45

EP 15: Benny Oeyen Part 2: Tuning challenger brand...

The Auto Ethnographer with John Stech ·

2025/06/04

During this second in a two-part episode, The Auto Ethnographer’s host John Stech speaks with Benny Oeyen, a Belgian who is passionate about building bridges between cultures. With automotive experience on four continents and with four distinctly different automakers, he is well-prepared to speak on cultural impacts in the industry. Benny is in the unique position of having worked for automakers in or from three major Asian countries, Mazda, Kia, and GM China. He is energetic and tells his story in

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57:57

EP 14: Benny Oeyen Part 1: A global citizen with a...

The Auto Ethnographer with John Stech ·

2025/05/28

During this two-part episode, The Auto Ethnographer’s host John Stech speaks with Benny Oeyen, a Belgian who is passionate about building bridges between cultures. With automotive experience on four continents and with four distinctly different automakers, he is well-prepared to speak on cultural impacts in the industry. Benny is in the unique position of having worked for automakers in or from three major Asian countries, Mazda, Kia, and GM China. He is energetic and tells his story in a candid,

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46:27

EP 13: Dr. Edwin Pang: From Malaysia to Germany on...

The Auto Ethnographer with John Stech ·

2025/05/21

This week Dr. Edwin Pang, a noted automobile tire expert, joins The Auto Ethnographer to discuss his journey from student in Malaysia and England to tire development engineer in Germany.Born and raised in Malaysia, Edwin opted to study with the University of Nottingham both on their Southeast Asian as well as UK campuses. It was his first time living outside of Malaysia and a big step in gaining personal independence in his life and career.On graduating with a Ph.D. in Engineering he took a role in

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37:16

EP 12 Part 2: John Stech: Did DaimlerChrysler perish...

The Auto Ethnographer with John Stech ·

2025/05/15

In today’s Auto Ethnographer episode, the second of two parts, host John Stech dives deeper into his experience at DaimlerChrysler, covering his stay at the Chrysler side of the family.John’s assignment at Chrysler International, a division of the company responsible for 120 non-NAFTA markets, was to revamp the volume planning system in time for a major new product offensive. In doing so he had to gain trust with an experienced Chrysler team and get their support in building a modernized approach to

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42:52

EP 12 Part 1: John Stech: Did DaimlerChrysler perish...

The Auto Ethnographer with John Stech ·

2025/05/14

In today’s Auto Ethnographer episode, host John Stech dives deep into his experience at DaimlerChrysler. He worked within both halves of the merged companies for the duration of the company’s nine year existence. Did its end stem from irreconcilable intercultural differences? The Auto Ethnographer dives in to answer the question and the conclusion may surprise you.On the day of the merger announcement in May 1998, John Stech was driving to work at Mercedes-Benz USA. He was so shocked by the news

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38:01

EP 11: John Stech: How he prepared for his first...

The Auto Ethnographer with John Stech ·

2025/05/07

On this week’s Auto Ethnographer episode, host John Stech tells his own story. He had spent his life preparing for a dream of working and living abroad. Suddenly the opportunity sprung up and he had only three months to prepare for a transfer with family to Egypt. Here he would be Managing Director of DaimlerChrysler Egypt (now separated into Mercedes-Benz Egypt and Stellantis Egypt).John Stech was born Jörn Stech in Germany. His family emigrated to the United States in the 1970s but he spent many

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41:51

EP 10: Dr. Susanne Lehmann: How a Volkswagen leader...

The Auto Ethnographer with John Stech ·

2025/04/30

On this week’s episode of The Auto Ethnographer, host John Stech is joined by Dr. Susanne Lehmann, Managing Director of Volkswagen Group Malaysia. During the conversation they “visit” Malaysia, Mexico, China, and the United States and discuss how each location’s culture required different work styles.Dr. Lehmann studied economic sciences and later earned her PhD in global automotive supply chains. Alongside she studied the impact of culture on the workplace, a topic that would serve her well on her

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57:42

EP 9: Andreas Schlegel: Speeding through cultures...

The Auto Ethnographer with John Stech ·

2025/04/23

In this week's episode of The Auto Ethnographer podcast, host John Stech speaks with Andreas Schlegel on working in Germany, the United States, South Africa, the United Kingdom, and Sweden. Andreas recounts his journey through a number of premium and performance brands including Mercedes-Benz, Porsche, Aston Martin, Lotus Motorcars, and Volvo. He even did a stint with F1 team Williams Racing.Growing up in the Stuttgart, Germany area, Andreas started his career with Mercedes-Benz in their

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57:05

EP 8: Jorge Mussi: Navigating Brazil, Sweden, and USA...

The Auto Ethnographer with John Stech ·

2025/04/16

The Auto Ethnographer, John Stech, has a conversation with Jorge Mussi, the General Manager of Aftersales and the Customer Services Division at Toyota do Brasil about his journey from his native Brazil to Sweden and the United States and back to Brazil. He tells his story that begins with Volvo and is currently evolving at Toyota.Jorge’s automotive journey started with Volvo Truck & Bus in the early 1990s. For his love of cars, he moved over to Volvo’s passenger car division where he experienced

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59:23

EP 7: Greg Clark – Experience at Mercedes-Benz, Honda...

The Auto Ethnographer with John Stech ·

2025/04/09

The Auto Ethnographer is joined by Greg Clark who expounds on his experiences working with Mercedes-Benz, Jaguar Land Rover, American Honda, and INEOS Automotive. Four distinctly different brands, each with its own culture. During the conversation we "visit" the UK, Germany, Japan, and United States and the unique working cultures of each.Greg, a native of the United Kingdom, moved to the United States for his studies. He parlayed that stay into the beginnings of an automotive career with

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54:51

EP 6: Stavros Paraskevaides: The challenges of...

The Auto Ethnographer with John Stech ·

2025/04/02

This week on The Auto Ethnographer podcast, host John Stech speaks with Stavros Paraskevaides, located near Athens, Greece. Stavros recounts the challenging eight years he spent in the Middle East and how he managed a wide array of cultures within a distributor operation. He now puts those learnings to use for clients at SP4A Advisory, a consultancy he founded in 2021.Stavros led BMW and Rolls-Royce at the brands’ largest distributor in Saudi Arabia, a large company with multiple locations and over

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53:30

EP 5: Gianfranco Pizzuto: the journey from...

The Auto Ethnographer with John Stech ·

2025/03/26

In this week's episode John Stech, host of The Auto Ethnographer, has a conversation with with Gianfranco Pizzuto, Founder and CEO of Automobili Estrema, a company designing and preparing the Fulminea e-hypercar for launch. He also reveals plans for a new, as-yet, unannounced project.Born and raised in northern Italy where the borders of Austria and Switzerland converge with his native country, Gianfranco was raised bi-lingual Italian and German. He attributes his upbringing to his success in

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44:10

EP 4: Gareth Dunsmore: Leading teams across...

The Auto Ethnographer with John Stech ·

2025/03/19

In this week's episode John Stech, host of The Auto Ethnographer, has a conversation with Gareth Dunsmore. With an appreciation of different cultures going back to his childhood, thanks to his family, Gareth talks about his experiences working overseas with Nissan and VinFast. He also speaks about McLaren and how to convey its Britishness around the world.Gareth started his marketing career with Nissan Motors UK but had an opportunity earlier in his career to move to Nissan’s regional office based

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58:26

EP 3: Dr. Helmut Groesser: Strategizing...

The Auto Ethnographer with John Stech ·

2025/03/12

In this week's episode John Stech, host of The Auto Ethnographer, has a conversation with Dr. Helmut Groesser. Helmut spent most of his career in Product Management at Mercedes-Benz. Most of the vehicles you know over the past decade were influenced by Helmut and his team in some way. Today he talks about how Mercedes-Benz considered different country-market requirements and some of the interesting ways to convince the vaunted Mercedes-Benz Engineering Department to adapt the vehicles.He took a

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51:16

EP 2: A Conversation with Greg Tebbutt: The...

The Auto Ethnographer with John Stech ·

2025/03/05

This week John Stech, host of The Auto Ethnographer is joined by Greg Tebbutt. Greg has spent 30 years in marketing with half of that in the automotive industry, both on the agency and the automaker sides. On the agency side he worked with Nissan, BMW, Audi, and Volkswagen (South Africa). On the automaker side, he worked with Volkswagen (USA), VinFast, and Meyers Manx. The conversation centers on the Volkswagen brand in South Africa, of which Greg is a native, as well as the United States, providing

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14:34

Welcome to The Auto Ethnographer first episode

The Auto Ethnographer with John Stech ·

2025/02/18

John Stech, The Auto Ethnographer, introduces the concept of autoethnography and how it became "auto ethnography" with a focus on cars. On this podcast we tell the human stories behind the famous automotive and vehicle brands, spanning continents, countries, and cultures across the globe. We unlock the mysteries of local culture, values, and approaches to success in the vehicle industry.Derived from Tony E. Adams’ definition, "autoethnography" is a research method leaning on the experiences of

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