K>VOICES
Hosted by Natasha Philpott, K>VOICES celebrates the people behind KIRCHHOFF Automotive. In each episode, Natasha sits down with colleagues from around the world to explore their career journeys, cultural backgrounds, and passions beyond the workplace. Discover the human stories behind a global automotive leader with 8,000+ employees across 11 countries.
K>VOICES
Interview with KIRCHHOFF Automotive CEO Wolfgang Kirchhoff
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
In this episode of K>VOICES, we sit down with Wolfgang Kirchhoff, CEO of KIRCHHOFF Automotive, to learn more about the person behind one of the most recognizable faces in our company. Inspired by the storytelling approach used in previous K>VOICES episodes, this conversation explores Wolfgang's family roots, leadership journey, personal interests, and the experiences that have shaped his perspective.
Growing up around a family business, Wolfgang was introduced to entrepreneurship and leadership from an early age. He reflects on his earliest memories of KIRCHHOFF, the lessons he learned while gaining experience outside the family company, and what it was like helping grow the business alongside his brothers.
Throughout the conversation, Wolfgang shares insights from more than three decades in the automotive industry. He discusses the challenges and opportunities that have shaped his career, the values that influence his leadership style, and the importance of staying connected with employees across KIRCHHOFF Automotive's global operations.
Family plays a central role in Wolfgang's life. He speaks about his wife and children, shares the story of how he met his wife while skiing in Austria, and reflects on the importance of maintaining strong family relationships while balancing the demands of leading a global company.
Listeners will also get a glimpse into Wolfgang's life beyond work. From cycling, swimming, skiing, and golf to reading during long flights, he discusses the hobbies and interests that help him stay energized and maintain perspective.
Join us for an engaging conversation about family, leadership, personal growth, company culture, and the experiences that have shaped Wolfgang's journey both inside and outside of KIRCHHOFF Automotive.
If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to like, subscribe, and share it with a colleague.
Hello, everyone, and welcome back to K Voices, the podcast where we connect with the people, stories, and values that shape Kirchhoff Automotive. Today is a very special episode, and it's a real privilege to welcome a guest who has helped shape not only our company, but also the culture and values that guide us every day. Joining us is Wolfgang Kirchhoff, CEO of Kirchhoff Automotive. Many of us know Wolfgang through company updates, plant visits, videos, and messages shared across our global organization. But today we have the unique opportunity to get to know him in a different way. Today we'll get to know the person behind the role, talking about his path to Kirchhoff Automotive, life in the family business, his favorite hobbies, and why family continues to be his greatest priority. Whether you've met Wolfgang many times over the years or know him only through company communications, this conversation offers a rare and personal glimpse into the person behind the role. Wolfgang, thank you so much for joining us today and welcome to K Voices.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, thank you very much, Natasha. I'm looking forward to your interview and to the all the different questions.
SPEAKER_00We've got lots of questions for you. I'm sure everybody is curious to know who is the the face behind Kirchhoff Automotive. So, how would you describe yourself outside of work?
SPEAKER_02Well, I I like to laugh a lot. I'm I have a certain humor, but on the other side, I also can be can be very silent and listening. I'm I'm a family person, and beside my family, I also enjoy a lot coming together with friends. I always say life without family and friends would be very, very poor. So beside of hard work, I really enjoy the family, I enjoy my friends and uh here and there some sports.
SPEAKER_00You're uh very into sports. What kind of hobbies and activities help you recharge after a busy day?
SPEAKER_02So first of all, I I try to do sports on a regular basis to to keep a certain fitness with all that traveling and sitting in in the office and planes and I don't know what. So I I early in the morning I like to go swimming, so and if possible, every morning when it's possible. And uh well, I like mountain biking, referred to my age. Meanwhile, it's it's a knee mountain bike. I I also like walking with my wife or with my friends through forests and well hobbies I like like skiing in winter or uh here and there playing a little golf in the summer season.
SPEAKER_00Wow, you're very well-rounded. You actually met your wife skiing on a ski trip.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, this is this is this is correct. We so we met many, many, many years in Austria, and yeah, meanwhile, we are married since 35 years this year.
SPEAKER_00Aw, were you did you just bump into each other or were you helping her with her skiing? How did how did that story go?
SPEAKER_02No, to to be very honest, our parents knew each other not very well, but they knew each other through my father working in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia Employers Association as president, and and my father-in-law, he was quite uh an important politician because he was for many many years vice president of the German parliament of the Deutsche Bundestag, and so they knew each other. They were not friends, but they knew each other, and and so we met one day in uh in our place where we where we had our winter vacation. And uh this this is how how I also obviously met my wife first time. Yeah, was it love at first sight? Next day we went we went on the slope for skiing.
SPEAKER_00That's so cute. And tell us about your family, your kids, and and what they do.
SPEAKER_02Definitely all three are are grown up. We have uh three adult children, so uh the eldest boy is 33, the second boy is 31, and our daughter Eva Maria, she's 29. And they all have a master's degree. So Karl the eldest and Eva Maria, uh they are an MBA, and and Hans in the middle. He's an engineer like his father and his uncles, so uh he's a master of science, and uh so they are all in in a job outside the company because this is sort of our family rule, which meanwhile even is written down and as we call it family status. That means after a qualified education, and for sure bachelor and master degrees they are uh qualified educations, they have to start their professional career outside of the um uh family business. And this is by the way, the same as as our father did it already, and uh my brothers and myself did it. So it's really interesting. So they're not they don't just get to come in, they have to but no no no no, not not first of all, then the qualification must be there, and then they should have an experience of three, four, five years outside having first leadership positions, for example, etc. So it is much easier for them to enter our business one day, and it's much easier for our colleagues because they know that someone comes in not only because of the family name, someone comes in with a certain qualification and uh is is much better received to to become a team member uh in our leadership teams.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, that's very admirable. So walk us through your history into coming into the company because you said you had to do the same thing. So, where were you before Kirchhoff Automotive?
SPEAKER_02So, first of all, after school I was in military service, and then but by the way, I'm I'm an a mechanic for repairing tanks, and this for sure hopefully I need not to do in the near future. But uh okay. So after my military service, I studied mechanical engineering in Darmstadt, which is south of Frankfurt. Many, many, especially colleagues from the US, so they know the Rhine-Mine area because the US Army was had a very strong presence there at that time, still in the 80s. And when I finished my diploma as a mechanical engineer, I entered Schefler Group. Scheffler, a big automotive supplier. That time I was in the LUK division. By the way, they have a have a big operation in Worcester, Ohio. LUK is the world market leader for mechanical clutches, and for meanwhile, a lot of a lot of other products for the for the drivetrain. So there I was almost for four years. Until then, I entered in 1992, which obviously is now 34 years ago, I entered the the family business. But including the final stage of my studies, I uh wrote my diploma thesis in Audi, in Ingolstadt, by the way, in the Audi press shop. And so that means uh that meanwhile, I'm almost not not exactly, but almost 40 years in our automotive industry.
SPEAKER_00Wow, that's impressive. And how much change has there been?
SPEAKER_02A lot of a lot of change, not only in technologies, for sure, big technological changes, uh, yes. Um and if we are talking about uh IT, if we are talking about uh digitalization, about all the communication which are you know we see at each other now, uh and we have a clear voice from the other opposite that we can hear. So this this speedied up all the the business digitalization, communication, and and this is in my opinion, this is the um biggest move or the biggest change that organizations are much less hierarchic, are much less formal. Teamwork that was a sort of vocabulary for decades, but uh uh since many many years we know that without a strong teamwork, you cannot survive in our business. So it's so much faster now that without multiplying in the team, we could not manage that. And yeah, so these are the biggest changes. And if I compare the position of Kirchhoff Automotive today with the position we had 35 years ago. So already 35 years ago, we were talking about partnership with our customers, and it was by far not a partnership that time because very large customers like GM or Volkswagen Group, or they had really power, and they more or less told us what we had to do. And meanwhile, it is really much more partnership. And we have, I don't want to say that we are dealing on a level playing field, but it is a bit more than that because the consolidation in our industry, especially in the supply base, the the best survived, and they really became partners in not only in the value chain as well as in in the design of automobiles. So especially organizational, teamwork, and and the partnership with the customer, this is a big change that I saw uh the last uh 35 years. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. So you've been yeah, with us since 1992, and then in 2016 you became the CEO after spending so many years in various operational leadership roles. How did those roles and experience prepare you uh to lead the company?
SPEAKER_02Well, first of all, as I was talking before, that then there should be a qualified education. And in this case, I'm an engineer, so I I I'm not a toolmaker, but I I understand a lot of our technical processes, so I I can judge a lot what to change, uh, not to enter technologies that may end up in a dead-end road. For example, Kirchhoff Automotive never entered uh in the hydroforming technology uh because this was a dead end road, but uh we entered in the hotforming technology because this is still very, very important and still will stay important for a while. So in my in my case, it's the technical skills of an of an engineer. But much more important is how to communicate, how to work, and how to lead teams and my direct reports to work together with my director colleagues, or with my nowadays with my chief officers' colleagues on on a level playing field. So these skills and behaviors how to work together, how to build teams, how to build up a strong leadership. This is in my opinion, uh very much decisive.
SPEAKER_00Great. And you you sit on the board as well, and you work with your brothers. Your brothers are also responsible for other parts of the Kirchhoff group. What is that like working together with your your brothers?
SPEAKER_02Well, it's first of all, it's great fun. And but but yeah, it's not only fun, sometimes it it's also serious discussions, but at the end we always found common sense. So having said that, we respect each other because this also has to do with the with a level playing field, because we more or less we have all the same education, not only at the same university, and we are all engineers, and we we always had clear defined functions in our company. So Johannes, brother in the middle, he takes care for a complete different market for Kirchhoff Ecotech, uh, which is uh garbage collecting trucks and street sweepers. And Ant and myself, for years we were running and growing Kirchhoff Automotive. Uh as CEO was always until 2016, um, uh, as we say in the Latin language primus interparis, and I was the chief operating. And um so uh together with our non-family directors or executives, we we grew the company uh to what it is today. And you should know that uh not only when we were children or when we were students, also nowadays we spend a lot of our spare time together. We we go skiing together, we go hiking together, we go sailing together. So for sure, not every vacation we do, we we do with our brothers and sisters, but but minimum twice a year we are doing something together, and beside our professional life, uh we still share a certain amount of our private lives and enjoy each other. So we found really a great basis uh to do both the professional side and the private side. And okay, at the end of all that, for sure, our parents had a had a big uh portion in leading into this situation, and this is why we are still for their uh guidance and for their education, we are still very, very grateful, very thankful.
SPEAKER_00And uh you said you go away twice a year. How is it planning that vacation? Because I'm sure you guys are all very busy.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, so this always we have to plan, uh let me say minimum six, eight months in in advance, sometimes one year in advance. Oh wow. So we also have a have a special habit when there are special birthdays. The one gets from the others uh a trip for sailing, a trip to to South Africa. So recently with with our brother Johannes, uh, we were for one week in Nova Scotia in national parks and and rowing with kayaks and mountain biking and hiking and doing whale watching and and so so many many funny things, but mostly connected with with any sports. Yeah, but we we have to we have to plan in advance. So trips like this we have to plan one year in advance, otherwise, no chance.
SPEAKER_00And no talking about work when you're on vacation, right?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, this happens only very seldom because our wives they take care that it's not a business trip.
SPEAKER_00That's so nice that everybody gets along. I know you are a very busy guy. You just recently were in the States doing a little tour there of the plants. But what does a typical month look like in the life of Wolfgang Kirchhoff?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, there is okay, there's a lot of traveling involved, not only overseas, also here in Germany or in Europe, uh, because I try to visit the major operations minimum once a year. Still, I like to do it. It is always very important that I still have the the feeling uh for the operations, the feeling for the people, and vice versa, that also uh the the people have the opportunity to see me and probably to shake hands or get some small talks so that they just have a better impression. So this is one thing. The other thing is that that beside of uh the business I have for our company, and uh okay, when I'm at at home, I'm I'm here on my desk or uh in meetings, but I also uh service in a couple of boards of third companies where where I am in engaged, and for my brothers as well. Uh we do not only work in our company or for other companies, we also do a lot of networking and having leading positions in our associations. Yeah, so this is a mix, yeah, a mix of traveling, a mix of office and meetings.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, keep a packed calendar that's uh keeps you going. I love it. Keeping busy, it's super important.
SPEAKER_01We cannot we cannot complain that uh that it is boring, though.
SPEAKER_00We cannot and everyone that I've spoken to on this podcast, and just in general, and myself, we everyone has that feeling that even though we are such a large company, it still has that family feel. How do you work to maintain that culture? How do you keep that going?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, just just to be together with with our people, to be in the middle. When I was last week visiting some of our US plants, we had short management reviews uh and for sure plant tours to stay on the ground and to work with the people, to listen to the people. So this this is very important, as I mentioned before, not only for me, also for our workforce. So this is certainly part of our culture in the family company, in good family-owned and driven companies. It's quite it's quite similar. It's quite similar because this is with the so-called typical uh Deutsch-German German Mittelstand. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, it's a good thing.
SPEAKER_02And even even if we are quite a large corporation with uh more than 8,000 people and and almost uh 2 billion euros in sales, uh we still, in our self-understanding, we still are a mid-sized company, middle stand company.
SPEAKER_00No, it feels so big. And um we had your cousin Thomas on the show last year, and he's a big part of the culture life, which allows him to coordinate with all the plants to engage employees in unique cultural experiences in North America. We just had our first one in the summer here in Aurora where we did a group painting. And that was really unique and special for all the employees to come together. And I've never seen or heard of a company having this type of culture life program. So, why was that important to you to incorporate that into the company?
SPEAKER_02So the idea was that that Thomas, who is a professional musician, he he plays classic guitar, asked how he could support our business and he would like to play uh whatever roles. He's not a shareholder, but he he just said, Can can I somehow bring value to the company? Because we also with him we have a really very, very good understanding. And just this evening I will be together with him in a piano concert. So we will go in the cologne area and listen to a very to a very nice pianist, Viking Olaf, some guy from Islam. So if you ever have the chance to listen to him, he's really good. But now, how to explain about culture life. So then I said, hmm, what could you do? Because definitely he's not an engineer, he's not an industrial leader, but he understands culture and he's he's sort of a culture manager. So since now more than 30 years, he uh organizes a classic guitar festival, which is uh one of the top three, or probably the uh number one classical guitar symposium in the world. So the the the guys come from all over the world. This is really, really amazing and very nice concerts. So I said probably, and yeah, this was my idea. I said, probably set we set up sort of a cultural program. And I said immediately, I'm not only talking about music, so because it it came from from an idea that many of our colleagues uh when when we are talking about work-life balance, okay, we try to to keep a certain fitness and we do some sports as a balance, uh, for example. So we have a lots lots of programs that we support uh our colleagues going to the gym or going swimming or doing whatever activities, and then I said a balance for our colleagues is not necessarily uh uh uh only sports, because there are some people that are not that much interested in sports and that are not that talented in sports. So I said, culture also may be sort of a balance. And I gave him an example, and by the way, I changed my behavior. I gave him an example. I said, you know, I'm always sort of jealous if I'm in an overseas plane and I have files and uh notices I could not read up to now, and I'm preparing for my visit and all that. And some people are just sitting there and and reading a book. And I said, but I was you know, I don't like to see movies on a plane. So so I said, Isn't that interesting? The guy's just sitting there and reading a book. So I said to Thomas, it must not necessarily be only music, we have so many other things. We have uh literature, we have paintings, we have other sorts of arts. And then Thomas said, Yeah, well, I'll come back in a couple of days and I will present you some some some first ideas. And this was the starting point of Kirchhoff Culture Life, and we do so many different things. It's from painting together or doing yoga together, uh cooking together, or visiting a museum together. Not necessarily every of our colleagues has a connection to culture or to arts. So and Thomas is a perfect person who can guide the people and he who can introduce the people how to see or how to enjoy literature or how to enjoy the visit of a Nice museum. But Thomas always wants to involve the people, and this makes the big difference.
SPEAKER_00Right. Yeah, no, he's great. He's the very talented man. And uh we had a great time when he was here doing our events.
SPEAKER_02He's also a very funny guy.
SPEAKER_00Yes, yes. He's great. And we also did a tree planting event with him last year in um Michigan. So that was um a fun event as well. And yeah, I love that. I love that we do that, and it it is very special and unique to the company. So uh kudos to you on on leading that and getting everyone included and feeling, you know, something a bit different that most companies don't have. Let's look ahead now. When thinking about the next five to ten years, what excites you the most about the future of Kirchhoff Automotive?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, the most exciting thing is to follow the path of the transformation in our industry. This is not a Caribbean cruise, so uh we uh have to be very, very awake and very aware to follow the right strategies. And this is why we had a strategy workshop in June, where also the executives from North America were participating. And uh so we set some new goals and uh along with them some strategies we are just defining more and more uh in the details. So this will be exciting, uh, but but this process we implemented many years ago, and this is also sort of our success that we actively make up our mind what should come next and not to make too many mistakes. Uh, mistakes happen unfortunately every day, but well, to really to to set up the right strategies. There will be a next step of consolidation in our industry. I cannot predict this in detail, but definitely we'll we will be on the winner's side of this consolidation. This is what I hear from our customers, and what I'm also telling in every operation where I am, that we need to keep this top, top, top level of our quality, and not only the quality, the service, and for sure at the end as well being competitive. But where do I see us in the next 10 years? I still see us with an annual growth of round about uh four or five up to seven percent, perhaps. Maybe we also go for an for an acquisition to a company that fits not only in our uh technologies, it's all it also has to fit in our sales channels. But we have to handle really with care because in this process of consolidation, I'm just talking about, you also can make mistakes to get together with wrong companies or distressed companies. So it is not too easy. So there are not only chances in this process, there might be also a lot of risks. But but definitely I see us still in this industry, I see us with our products we are doing today, and probably some of additional products that fit to us. And uh, I'm really convinced that we will be able to follow this path as we did it in the last 25-30 years.
SPEAKER_00That's exciting. And I'm sure you'll be traveling around and you've already met thousands of employees around the world throughout your career. What is it about our people that makes you most proud to lead the company?
SPEAKER_02Well, uh, that is that is the fact that uh most of our people are pretty qualified, they have a good education, they have a good motivation, and they fit into our culture and into our values. And for example, when we started our business in China, we we told very clear we want to become a Chinese company, even if even if the shareholders are German, but we want to become a Chinese company. We also want to supply Chinese customers. And we read a lot of of the culture and tried not to make too many mistakes when entering in a new culture. And this makes me very proud that during my last visits to China, I heard once more that many, many, many of our colleagues in the in the management team are with us for eight years, 12 years, 16 years, so so 20 years. Some some are really with us since the beginning. We are now since since 20 years running operations in China. And this gives me an example that that we succeeded, beside of all the behaviors in the different markets, that also in China we have a certain Kirchhoff culture which is company culture, which is respected. And this makes me proud. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. No, we're able to adapt to and collaborate and work with all different cultures and enter different markets. So that is an amazing, an amazing feat and uh something to really be proud of. And yes, it's been great getting to know you and and your background and how you've been able to lead this company for so long and where you see the future for us. Uh, before we wrap up, is there anything that you wanted to share with colleagues, a message to them?
SPEAKER_02Well, the message is, and I was I was talking about that last week when I was when I was visiting some of our US operations, the markets in the moment this won't stay. Also, I I think this also works in waves. Ten years ago, we had globally 2022 world platforms. And it was predicted, well, in five years this will be around 30 global platforms. And meanwhile, in the volume markets, they don't see this anymore. For example, if you remember GM had world platforms, including Europe and Asia, Ford had world platforms, including Europe and Asia. This is not existing anymore. Volkswagen most probably will also step back, so we will have much more regionalization. In the moment, the situation in the markets, not only talking about the transformation of the drivetrain, the situation in the markets are complete different if we see the market in China, if we see the market in Europe, and if we see the market in North America. So I was talking a little bit about that. And so we we will have to find our way how to deal with this, I would say with this increasing regionalization. And what do we have to adopt in our strategies, in our productivities, how to approach the customer, etc. So this is what we are working on right now, and uh because this is a major change. Not not only, once again, to repeat it, not only the the different speed in transformation, there's also a very it's very different in the market, also the different uh business climate and the different circumstances in the market. This won't stay like that. Probably then there will be another move in in whatever years. So the challenge is to meet the expectation of the markets and to meet the expectations of of our customers, and this is why, once again, quality service and and also competition. So we must we must stay agile. I always say the the automotive industry is one of the most competitive or one of the top three competitive um in the world. So, but you know, it's also not necessarily boring to work in to work in consumer electronics or in it. Just imagine that. Just imagine the speed that is is in these in these industries. So yeah, the automotive industry also has quite some speed, and yeah, this won't this won't go away. So we have to be focused on the customers, we have to be focused on the markets, and we have to stay agile. And this is on the other side, this is this is this is fun. And and if we do so, if we understand the things, uh, and if we execute the things, yeah, then plan your work and work your plan. So then we will be comp competitive.
SPEAKER_00Yes, definitely, uh definitely an exciting environment, and it's keeps you on your toes, that's for sure.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, keeps you busy.
SPEAKER_00Um, okay, my last question for you, which I ask everybody on the show what is your dream car and why?
SPEAKER_01Wow.
SPEAKER_00And do you own it already?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I I guess, yeah, I I for example, I I I own an uh 9-11 convertible. This this is sort of my dream car. It's a very sporty car. It has power that you you don't need every day. But it's it's fun to drive, and and anyway, it has a convertible, it's really very nice. And I'm I'm considering to buy the one or the other old-time or vintage car, as you say, but there I'm I'm making up my mind whether it may be an old Mercedes or probably an old British car. If we see in the in the 50s and in the 60s, the the the the the um in the UK, very, very nice cars were built, quality-wise a little bit difficult. So you have you have you have to work a lot on uh on these sort of cars. Yeah, this is uh I'm I'm not yet not yet clear, but I'm I'm yeah, in the considerations since a couple of months, but it it would be nice also to to to own and to work on a vintage car, but but this also needs time. Uh time and you're busy. You asked you asked about sort of a dream, so this this would be my this would be my answer. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Well, thank you. Thank you for sharing. And yes, thank you so much for joining us today on K-Voices and sharing.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, it was a pleasure. Thank you.
SPEAKER_00Yes, this is excellent. And to everyone listening, thank you for tuning in. If you enjoyed this special episode, be sure to share it with your colleagues and stay tuned for future conversations with the people who make our company what it is. Until next time, I'm Natasha Philpot, and this has been K Voices. Thanks for listening.