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›› In the development of powertrains and the entire integrated systems, engineering pa rtners will become an extremely critical fa ctor in the years to come – and that is exactly where I see a 1 3 F o c u s CO2 emissions reduction has been one of the most dominant topics in Uwe Dieter Grebe’s career for quite some time. Before joining AVL, he held the position of “Executive Director – GME Lead Executive CO2 Strategies” at General Motors Europe, where he was responsible for compliance with the future CO2 fleet limits. His crossfunctional activities not only covered the technical level, but also the manufacturer’s strategic product planning. “At GME I worked in three different work fields with different effects in terms of time: The long-term component involved defining architecture and technology aspects of future vehicles, so that these would technically be in a position to comply with the CO2 limits. In the medium term, it was important to define the portfolio. The third area concerned the control of customer behavior by means of pricing. So my job had a technical, a planning and a strategic character,” Uwe Dieter Grebe said describing his work at GME in Rüsselsheim where he worked before switching over to AVL Graz this September. Grebe’s connection to AVL dates back to the time he studied at the Technical University in Darmstadt. “AVL was omnipresent at the university. Being a former executive at AVL, my doctoral thesis supervisor, Professor Dr. Günter Hohenberg, maintained very close contacts with the company, which made me familiar with the company very early on,” the new AVL executive told Focus. Throughout his further career, he constantly remained in close contact with AVL as an engineering partner, which led Grebe to “value the company very highly.” When he was offered a position of Executive Vice President of Global Business Development, Sales & International Operations at AVL, Grebe was delighted to accept the offer which he regarded as “fascinating”. “In the development of powertrains and the entire integrated systems, engineering big oportunity for AVL. ‹‹ partners will become an extremely critical factor in the years to come. The reason for this is the growing complexity and the diversity of variants in modern drive systems. All the more important, therefore, will be the role of the engineering partner – and that is exactly where I see a big opportunity for AVL. In future, we will have control over an even greater range of variants, which will make us one of the preferred partners of manufacturers,” AVL’s new business manager said, who describes his new task at AVL as “hugely multi-faceted.” Making AVL a preferred developm ent pa rtner In AVL’s Powertrain System Development (PTE) business unit, Uwe Dieter Grebe’s scope of responsibility covers two key areas. In his position as manager of Business Photos: Christian Jungwirth Development & Sales with special focus on passenger cars, it is his task “to establish partnerships with customers and expand them further, so that new solutions can be created jointly”. The important thing here is not only to anticipate technical trends for our customers – this definitely requires a technological lead on the part of AVL – but also to focus more on our customers’ respective needs. Focusing on customers “means you have to be a good listener and understand their road map and overall conditions so that you can make the most of the existing opportunities together.“ Grebe’s second key area is International Operations, which includes most of AVL’s international tech centers. In this respect, Uwe Dieter Grebe will primarily be in charge of strategic alignment as well as research & development. Technical implementation will remain the responsibility of Robert Fischer, Business Manager of Engineering and Technology, Powertrain Systems. According to Grebe, it is crucial to maintain close contact with customers “whose current needs have to be satisfied in the best way possible, while at the same time it is


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