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/

In the summer of 2020, Simon Moores delivered a wake-up call to the US Senate: China is building one mega battery factory every week. The United States is building at a pace of just three per year. By the end of the first quarter of 2021, there were a total of 200 mega battery factories in the pipeline globally. Of this total, China accounted for 75%. Europe had 10%, and the US totalled just 5%. In this episode of the Winning in Asia podcast, Simon Moores delivers an expert view of the race for global supremacy in batteries for electric vehicles. Today, China, Korea and Japan utterly dominate battery production and the all-important supply chains that feed into battery making. Asian battery makers - CATL, BYD, LG Chem, SK Innovation, Samsung SDI and Panasonic - are the clear-cut industry leaders. Europe and the US are playing catch up. Is it too late? Or are we still in the early days of the battery revolution?#WinningInAsia / #ZozoGo https://twitter.com/Dunne_ZoZoGohttps://www.instagram.com/zo.zo.go/?hl=enhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-dunne-a696901a/

Henrik Fisker was born in a small town in Denmark in the 1960s. He loved taking rides on Danish country roads with his father in the family's Saab 96 sedan. One day a Maserati blew past them and Henrik instantly discovered his life's passion: Cool cars. He first went to work for BMW where he designed the Z8 and later was recruited by Aston Martin to develop the DB9 and Vantage. In 2007, Henrik founded Fisker Automotive where he designed and developed the Fisker Karma, an electrified supercar. That company met trouble when its battery supplier, A123 Systems, went bankrupt. Today, Henrik is back, building a new company called Fisker Inc. His first product will be the Fisker Ocean, an all-electric SUV that will start deliveries in Q4 2022. In our Winning in Asia conversation,. Fisker talks about the Ocean SUV, manufacturing partnerships with Magna and Foxconn and what America needs to do to win the global electric vehicle race.#WinningInAsia / #ZozoGo https://twitter.com/Dunne_ZoZoGohttps://www.instagram.com/zo.zo.go/?hl=enhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-dunne-a696901a/

Anil Paryani has been at the forefront of batteries and battery management systems since the early 1990s. He started at Honda and in 2007 pivoted to join a young startup called Tesla. There he worked on refining battery efficiency for the Model S. Today Anil is founder and CEO of Auto Motive Power (AMP ) a company with deep expertise in batteries and charging solutions.. Anil joins the Winning in Asia podcast to talk about what America must do to catch up with China and Europe in the race for global electric vehicle leadership. In this episode we talk about Anil's early days at Tesla, his inspiration for founding AMP and why having a world-class EV infrastructure is crucial to electric vehicle take-off in America. Anil also gives insights into the dramatic cultural differences between traditional automakers and startups in Silicon Valley.#WinningInAsia / #ZozoGo https://twitter.com/Dunne_ZoZoGohttps://www.instagram.com/zo.zo.go/?hl=enhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-dunne-a696901a/

Jack Cheng, co-founder at NIO and now CEO of MIH Alliance Foxconn, reveals how Foxconn will re-write the rules for EV manufacturing. In early 2021, Foxconn sent a tremor through automotive boardrooms across the world when it announced plans to enter the electric vehicle industry. Since then, MIH Alliance Foxconn has established new partnerships with several high profile companies including, Stellantis, Microsoft, Nvidia, Bosch, BYTON, Geely and Fisker. The vision is to create an open-source platform for EVs that will dramatically reduce costs and speed up time to market. The open-source approach also makes it possible for companies with no prior automotive experience to enter the arena. On June 1st, Foxconn announced a new partnership with PTT (Thailand) to build electric vehicles in Southeast Asia. Jack will also talk about his expansive guitar collection and how he came to love American Rock & Roll.#WinningInAsia / #ZozoGo https://twitter.com/Dunne_ZoZoGohttps://www.instagram.com/zo.zo.go/?hl=enhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-dunne-a696901a/

Michael Moe is intelligent, optimistic and inspiring. You learn something new from him in every conversation. In this episode we discover a lot about the man and the keys to his lifetime of successes, from his days playing football for Lou Holtz at Minnesota to his founding of Global Silicon Valley, a premier venture capital outfit. Michael Moe also shares the meaning and significance of "contemporary capitalism", how he makes investment decisions in Asia and the central messages in his new book, Mission Corporation. We also find out why he believes Asia is still in the early innings of opportunity for investors and entrepreneurs.#WinningInAsia / #ZozoGo https://twitter.com/Dunne_ZoZoGohttps://www.instagram.com/zo.zo.go/?hl=enhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-dunne-a696901a/

Being a foreign reporter in China used to be a wide-open and exciting adventure. No more. Today, foreign journalists are constantly monitored, their travel is limited and fewer Chinese people feel free to speak with them. CNBC Beijing Bureau Chief Eunice Yoon is one of only a handful of American reporters still operating in Beijing earlier this decade. Many others have had to leave China for reasons of personal security or because their visas were not renewed. Since arriving in China earlier this decade, Ms Yoon has traveled to scores of cities and interviewed hundreds of executives, government officials and ordinary people on the street. In this episode, we find out who was Ms Yoon's single favorite interviewee and why. Ms Yoon also talks about how escalating US-China tensions are impacting foreign media operating in China. We also learn from Eunice what happened when she walked this Shanghai Auto Show in April with two young guns - diehard Tesla owners.#WinningInAsia / #ZozoGo https://twitter.com/Dunne_ZoZoGohttps://www.instagram.com/zo.zo.go/?hl=enhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-dunne-a696901a/