The automotive and mobility industry is facing some of the biggest changes in its history. The next five years may bring more change than the previous fifty. Over the past five years, the industry has had to deal with continuous disruption. This has included the COVID-19 pandemic, supply chain disruption, semiconductor shortages, and geopolitical tensions such as the wars in Ukraine and Iran and rising tariffs.
At the same time, the industry is managing several major shifts at once: electrification, the move to software and AI-defined vehicles, new Chinese competitors, stricter regulation, and changing customer expectations. This means leadership requirements are changing. Companies do not only need strong general leaders. They need leaders who can perform in a very specific business context and deliver clear business results.
To navigate this environment effectively, organisations in automotive and mobility need leadership that focuses on:
According to the International Energy Agency (IEA)1, electric car sales grew by 20% globally in 2025, exceeding 20 million vehicles, meaning one in four new cars sold worldwide was electric. Sales are projected to rise further to 23 million in 2026, representing 28% of total car sales, underscoring how rapidly the market is transforming and how critical it is for leaders to manage this transition effectively.
High-performance leadership in automotive and mobility cannot be defined through a generic leadership model alone. The context is too specific, too complex, and too dynamic. What makes a leader successful in one sector, market, or phase of transformation may not work in another.
The industry is operating in a period of uncertainty marked by industrial transition, margin pressure, rising competition, and regulatory complexity. For example, the pace of EV adoption differs across regions, CO2 regulation is evolving, and customer demand remains uneven in many markets. Key challenges include:
This is why companies should define leadership needs based on business context, not abstract capability lists. For example, a plant leader in an EV conversion programme should be measured differently from a commercial leader building a direct-to-consumer sales model, or an R&D leader responsible for software integration. Each role should be linked to the specific transformation, operational risk, and value creation challenge it is expected to solve.
To succeed in uncertainty, automotive organisations must move away from broad leadership frameworks and instead define clear, measurable outcomes for each leadership role. The key question should not only be “Does this person show leadership potential?” but also “What must this leader deliver in this role, in this market, over the next 12–36 months?”
Leaders should focus on specific outcomes, such as:
To make this practical, each leader should have 3–5 role-specific success measures. These should be linked directly to strategic priorities. Examples could include:
This approach creates much stronger accountability than generic leadership assessments. It also makes leadership development more precise, because gaps can be identified against real business outcomes rather than broad behavioural models.
By defining clear leadership success factors, organisations can build leadership teams that are more accountable, focused, and responsive.
The selection of leaders in automotive and mobility should be structured, evidence-based, and weighted towards the predictors that matter most for success in the role. In a period of major transformation, relevant experience should carry the greatest weight. In most cases, around 60–70% of the assessment should focus on proven track record: What the leader has already delivered in similar contexts, functions, and business situations. The remaining 30–40% should assess personal characteristics such as cognitive ability, adaptability, and leadership style. For roles with especially high complexity or change, the balance may be closer to 50/50, but proven performance should still remain a central part of the decision.
Selection should therefore focus less on personality-based leadership ideals and more on evidence of delivery in comparable business conditions. Companies should ask: Has this leader created value in a complex transformation? Have they led through uncertainty? Have they delivered measurable business impact? This more rigorous approach helps organisations identify leaders who are better prepared for the complexity of the automotive sector.
In conclusion, as the automotive and mobility industry faces unprecedented disruption, organisations must align leadership selection and development with the realities of the market. This means defining leadership through context and results, not through generic models alone. By focusing on adaptability, sustainability, innovation, and collaboration, and by setting clear business outcomes for each leader, companies can navigate uncertainty more effectively and strengthen their position for the future.
1 International Energy Agency (IEA). (2026). Global EV Outlook 2026. https://www.iea.org/reports/global-ev-outlook-2026