EP 3: Dr. Helmut Groesser: Strategizing Mercedes-Benz products for the world

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 detour to the United States for three years to work on the Jeep, Chrysler, and Dodge brands when Mercedes-Benz and Chrysler were joined under the DaimlerChrysler roof. Here he helped to bring the more advanced Mercedes product planning methods to Auburn Hills, Michigan in order to prepare Chrysler for its coming global product offensive in the early to mid-2000s. Helmut speaks candidly about his time in that role and about the differences in working between Germans and Americans. Helmut also speaks about his time working as Head of Sales for Mercedes-AMG, a highly operational role much different from his long-term-focused product strategy roles. He speaks of Mercedes-AMG's development process and how speed was achieved even when vehicle lines were developed within the parent company. Living in the United States and working with people around the world has impacted Helmut personally. He explains how with some thought-provoking anecdotes. Visit The Auto Ethnographer's homepage for more information about the podcast series at https://www.auto-ethnographer.com