Driving with Dunne

When she was nine years old, Linda Zhang got on a plane for the first time in her life and flew to America. Her father met her at the airport in Chicago and they drove three hours to Purdue University where he was a graduate student. Riding in a car - also for the very first time - taking in the bright city lights, Linda says she felt a "little bit like a princess" in a fairytale. Well, Linda's life story certainly looks like something that could be made into a movie. At just 19, she graduated from the University of Michigan with a degree in electrical engineering. She has since added an MA in computer engineering and an MBA, also from Michigan. In 2018, Linda was named chief engineer of arguably Ford's most important product launch in decades - the Ford F-150 all-electric Lightning. The F-150 has been America's best-selling vehicle for 44 straight years. And the profits from the F-150 series are greater than total annual profits at Nike or McDonalds. In today's Winning in Asia conversation, Linda talks about the challenges and breakthroughs in her work as a Chief Engineer. What was the vision for the all-electric truck? How did she deal with the skeptics? What features will the Lighting offer that the gasoline-powered F-150 does not? #WinningInAsia / #ZozoGo https://twitter.com/Dunne_ZoZoGohttps://www.instagram.com/zo.zo.go/?hl=enhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-dunne-a696901a/

In his new book, Race of Tomorrow, Simon Mundy recounts real life stories of how the climate crisis is changing the basic fabric of people's lives and planet earth itself. Mundy, Editor of Moral Money at the Financial Times, documents the profound changes during a 2 year journey that took him to 24 countries. His visits range from a thawing perma-frost area the size of China in Siberia to sweltering hot cobalt mines in The Democratic Republic of Congo. Along the way, he discovers not one but two races: One set of people are battling for survival from changes in weather patterns and temperatures. At the same time a second group of people are chasing boundless wealth through development of breakthrough innovations. Where do electric vehicles fit into the equation?#WinningInAsia / #ZozoGo https://twitter.com/Dunne_ZoZoGohttps://www.instagram.com/zo.zo.go/?hl=enhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-dunne-a696901a/

Shah Firoozi P.E., J.D. is one of the most savvy and insightful business people on the planet. Born in Iran, raised in the United States, Shah earned advanced degrees in engineering, business and law. He also speaks several languages. His company, PAC Global, works with automakers and suppliers in just about every time zone, from the US to Turkey from China to Brazil. In today's Winning in Asia conversation, I ask Shah why joint ventures are so hard. Where do they go wrong? What can we do to make them more successful? These are an important question for companies doing business anywhere but especially in China where joint ventures are often mandated by law. Shah, who lived and worked in China through the 1900s and 2000s, also shares his view on how China has changed in recent years. And what we can expect from the Middle Kingdom in the coming years. I have known Shah for 17 years. I learn something new from him every time we have a conversation. You will, too. #WinningInAsia / #ZozoGo https://twitter.com/Dunne_ZoZoGohttps://www.instagram.com/zo.zo.go/?hl=enhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-dunne-a696901a/

Walk the campus at the University of Michigan or downtown Ann Arbor with John U Bacon and you won't get more than two blocks before you're intercepted by an admirer or friend. The calls come from every direction: "Hey, John! Hey Bacon!" Bacon is the world's leading authority on Michigan football, having written several New York Times best-selling books, including Endzone, Three and Out and Overtime. Now Bacon, whom I first met at Michigan in 1986, has written a tremendous new book on leadership. In this episode of Winning in Asia, Bacon shares the lessons he learned when he took over the hapless Huron high School hockey team, a team that recorded a 0-23-2 record the previous year. Three seasons later, the same Huron High team was one of the top five in the State of Michigan. His central message: "The key is to make it special. And the key to making it special is making it hard."#WinningInAsia / #ZozoGo https://twitter.com/Dunne_ZoZoGohttps://www.instagram.com/zo.zo.go/?hl=enhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-dunne-a696901a/

Born in Detroit, raised in Buenos Aires and San Paolo, teeth cut at the River Rouge plant, John McElroy is an auto industry insider par excellence. Since founding Autoline TV, John has cemented his reputation for knowing everything that matters and everyone who counts in the global auto industry. He and his team have engaged in conversation with hundreds of leading executives from America, Europe and Asia. In this episode, John shares his view on the most impressive automotive executives he ever met, how Detroit views threats and opportunities in China and which cars he would recommend to his best friend. #WinningInAsia / #ZozoGo https://twitter.com/Dunne_ZoZoGohttps://www.instagram.com/zo.zo.go/?hl=enhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-dunne-a696901a/

Mark Schaub, Managing Partner at the global law firm King & Wood Malleson, has been advising companies operating in China for almost 30 years. So, Mr Schaub is the perfect expert to walk us through China's aggressive new rules on data. Since late 2020, Chinese regulators have been cracking down on private companies from Alibaba to Didi Chuxing to on-line education powerhouses like TAL. The focus is on data privacy and data security. In August, the powerful Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) published a new set of rules that will have a direct impact on tech companies, including smart electric cars and autonomous vehicles. What specific changes are afoot? And what adjustments will foreign data-dependent companies need to make in the coming months and years to continue operating in China? Schaub is also the author of a valuable and humorous book: The Art of Law: Chronicling Deals, Disasters, Greed, Stupidity and Occasional Success in the New China.#WinningInAsia / #ZozoGo https://twitter.com/Dunne_ZoZoGohttps://www.instagram.com/zo.zo.go/?hl=enhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-dunne-a696901a/

Mazda is an intriguing company -- a little bit like that iconic European brand, Volvo. Both companies make excellent design a priority. Both are relatively small but still profitable. And both enjoy an army of devoted customers. One difference, of course, is that while Volvo is now Chinese-owned (Geely), Mazda remains independent. Will Mazda be able to stay autonomous in an era of massive spending on future technologies like EVs, batteries, autonomous driving and car connectivity? Our guest on this episode of Winning in Asia, Jeffrey Guyton, President and CEO of Mazda of North American Operations, talks about the future of powertrains (EV vs. Hybrid vs Hydrogen), Mazda's distinct culture and what it takes to win in the ever-demanding Japanese market. Among his many talents, Jeff is fluent in four languages, including Japanese. And he was named to the Automotive New 2020 All-Star roster. Under Jeff's leadership. Mazda is achieving record sales in North America. Also joining the conversation this week is Ali Zamiri, VP, Business Development and Sales, Accel Robotics, a leading pioneer in new retail. Jeffrey, Ali and I are all disciples of Dr. Linda Lim, our former professor at the University of Michigan Ross School of Business. Yes, you can expect some sparring of wits in our conversation. No doubt, Linda will approve. #WinningInAsia / #ZozoGo https://twitter.com/Dunne_ZoZoGohttps://www.instagram.com/zo.zo.go/?hl=enhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-dunne-a696901a/

In 2018, Wall Street Journal's highly-respected reporter Tim Higgins set out to write a book about the downfall of Tesla. He had good reason to think the company was in deep trouble. Early in 2018, Tesla found itself in exceptionally difficult circumstances.. Elon's vision for a revolutionary manufacturing line powered by robotos was turning into a colossal disaster. Full automation was not working. From sleeping on the factory floor to setting up tents in the parking lots as an auxiliary assembly site, CEO Elon Musk was doing everything possible to avoid total collapse of the company. He would later describe the period as "production hell" and revealed that the company was within weeks of going bankrupt. What happened next is nothing short of extraordinary. Not only did Elon and Tesla survive that near-brush with extinction, the company, just two years later, became the most valuable car company on the planet. In this episode of Winning in Asia, author Tim Higgins takes us inside the company for a first-hand look at the people, the pressures and the giant pivots that have shaped Tesla since its inception in 2004. #WinningInAsia / #ZozoGo https://twitter.com/Dunne_ZoZoGohttps://www.instagram.com/zo.zo.go/?hl=enhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-dunne-a696901a/

Our special guest this week on the Winning in Asia podcast is Dr Linda Lim, my corporate strategy professor at the University of Michigan and a forever mentor. Linda has a gift for presenting complex economic dynamics in a down-to-earth, folksy way. And her laughter is contagious. She and her husband Dr. Pete Gosling have hosted some of Ann Arbor's best-ever parties for former students. We would gather at their home for delicious Thai or Indoesnian food and music. I still remember all the books lining the walls, which she tells me number in the thousands. In this episode, we talk about the intensifying economic and technological rivalry between the United States and China. If she were an investor, where would she place her chips? What does she make of China's ambitions to be the world dominator in next-generation technologies? And is getting an MBA today still worth the investment? Born and raised in Singapore, Dr Lim was educated at Cambridge and Yale and then earned her PhD from the University of Michigan. #WinningInAsia / #ZozoGo https://twitter.com/Dunne_ZoZoGohttps://www.instagram.com/zo.zo.go/?hl=enhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-dunne-a696901a/

In The Scientist and The Spy, Mara Hvistendahl recounts the story of how Robert Mo, a Chinese national with two PhDs and a home in Florida, got into trouble with the FBI. Hoping to find a way to earn more income for his young family, Mr Mo takes a job with DBN, a powerhouse seed producer based in Beijing. Before long, he finds himself conducting recon missions in the cornfields of Iowa. The Economist says her compelling account reads "in part like a spy thriller, replete with car chases, phone-tapping and aerial surveillance as agents track the shovel-carrying suspects across America." The larger question Ms Hvistendahl raises: When does economic espionage and intellectual property theft become a matter of national security? And what to do about it? #WinningInAsia / #ZozoGo https://twitter.com/Dunne_ZoZoGohttps://www.instagram.com/zo.zo.go/?hl=enhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-dunne-a696901a/