In good Company, Episode 1
2026 / 02 / 20

There are few challenges in the automotive industry as demanding as bringing a new technology into reliable, high-volume production. Over the past three decades, I’ve spent my career exactly there – where ideas meet reality.

After more than 20 years at Audi, leading production for high‑volume vehicles such as the A4, A5, and Q5 in Ingolstadt, I was recruited by Tesla during a critical growth phase to help scale production under intense pressure. Later, I contributed my experience at Lucid Motors, leading global vehicle and electric motor production and supporting the launch of the first greenfield EV factory in the United States. Across all of these roles, I’ve seen outstanding engineering succeed – and I’ve seen promising ideas fail – often for the same reason: the gap between prototype and production.

That perspective is what brought me to DeepDrive.

Why DeepDrive stood out
When the team first approached me, I wasn’t looking for another role. But it quickly became clear that this was not a company chasing validation or headlines. What I saw instead was something far more important: fundamentals done right.

The technology itself is impressive – efficient, compact, and genuinely differentiated. But what convinced me was not performance alone. It was how the product had been engineered. From the very beginning, the team designed their motor with industrialisation in mind. Not as a future step. Not as an afterthought. As a core design principle.

That is rare.

In many young companies, industrialisation is treated as something you “figure out later.” At DeepDrive, the harder questions were asked early:

Is this design buildable at scale?
Can it meet automotive-grade quality requirements?
Does it make economic sense in high-volume production?

Those questions shape everything that follows. And here, they have already shaped the product, the processes, and the organisation.

What is already in place
Over the past months, working closely with the team, I’ve seen a level of preparation that is unusual at this stage. Processes are being audited. Manufacturing concepts are grounded in reality. The organisation understands that scaling is not about speed alone, but about discipline.

Equally important is the team itself. People at DeepDrive bring strong OEM backgrounds – but they are not constrained nor spoiled by legacy thinking. They combine experience with openness. They want to learn. They listen. They ask the right questions early. That combination is essential when moving from an engineering-driven company to an engineering-manufacturing company, that must deliver reliably, repeatedly, and at scale.

This is not about fixing fundamental gaps. It is about sharpening focus at exactly the right moment.

What comes next
The transition into series production is not a single milestone – it is a sequence of decisions. Supplier strategy. Logistics concepts. System architecture. Manufacturing execution. Risk management. Each one matters.

One of DeepDrive’s strengths is that it can build on a greenfield. That brings responsibility, but also opportunity: the freedom to design production systems and processes around the product, to integrate modern digital tools from the start, and to avoid complexity that does not add value. Done simple and well, this creates resilience – not just efficiency.

This is where experience matters most. Not to repeat old playbooks, but to know where adaptation is required – and where focus must not be lost.

A message to customers
Automotive customers are right to be cautious. Series production is where trust is earned, not promised. From my perspective, DeepDrive has already built the foundation that matters: a scalable product, the right processes, and a team that understands what execution really demands.

My message to customers is simple:

This is a company you can believe in. The product is phenomenal – and it has been built with the realities of production in mind. This is a genuine game changer for electric mobility. Be part of it.

In good company
I am not the only Senior Expert supporting this journey. DeepDrive is working with a group of highly experienced Experts who have built and scaled industrial systems at the highest level – including Dr. Peter Mertens, Gerd Schuster, Hans‑Jörg Feigel, Jörg Grotendorst, and Markus Buergin. This is not about names. It is about perspective, discipline, and shared responsibility.

DeepDrive is entering a decisive phase. From where I stand, they are ready to take it.
And that is exactly when experience should be put to work.