CEOInterviews.AIEntrevista de "Líderes Hoy" a Marco Tronchetti Provera - CEO Mundial de Pirelli

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Interviewer2:58

You recently launched the 2016 Pirelli calendar with a completely different concept. What made you take this decision compared to the other ones that you published in the past?

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Marco Provera3:12

I have to say that this is part of the traditional Pirelli calendar. Sometimes we made calendars about countries like we did in Brazil, sometimes about Africa. This time was about the beauty, the feminine approach of women that have been able worldwide to be successful in different countries, in different fields. I think it was a way to express beauty.

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Interviewer3:40

What did this 2016 calendar mean for the whole company worldwide and for the brand?

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Marco Provera3:48

This continues the tradition of the calendar. The photographer is one of the best artists in his field in the world, and the subject is women—but women with their beauty in different fields and with different ages. So successful women, and that's a message all of us share. We need women playing a more important role in our society.

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Interviewer4:25

Annie Leibovitz is a worldwide known photographer, very respected. What do you think is the added value that she brought to this calendar?

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Marco Provera4:34

I think she was very passionate in doing this. What we do is that we always have very famous photographers, and the added value we provide them is a theme we have to share. Then we leave the freedom to the photographers to express it in the best possible way without interfering. That's, I think, the reason why it is successful.

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Interviewer4:58

You are a very successful business leader in Europe. You were the president of Telecom Italia. I would like to ask you, what did you bring from your previous experience to this company?

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Marco Provera5:11

The work with people and the passion for technology is the core of any activity. So team building, innovation—this is part of an entrepreneurial life. I like to look forward, I like the future, I like to be part of the most advanced technologies. That is my passion. That's why I did it as I did it.

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Interviewer5:35

Do you believe you have entrepreneurial spirit?

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Marco Provera5:41

Definitely. It's my duty to have an entrepreneurial spirit. I think I am one of the people that is lucky because I do what I like. In business life, if you do something with passion, that means a lot. You spend all the day thinking about tomorrow.

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Interviewer6:01

Pirelli is one of the largest tire companies in the world. How would you describe the culture of your company?

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Marco Provera6:09

My company has a long-established tradition. The life of the company started 143 years ago, and I think that vision and technology have been the combination that has always characterized Pirelli. People at Pirelli are, I think, committed to the company also because of the tradition. Pirelli is a very competitive company and brand.

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Interviewer6:42

How would you describe your relationship with the automotive industry?

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Marco Provera6:52

The automotive industry is looking for technology, and so we decided years ago to go for technology, to be always on the forefront. The relationship with the automotive industry is based on the fact that we can always deliver the most advanced technologies, able to serve the industry, always looking forward, always accepting any challenge.

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Interviewer7:26

What are the main changes that you see in the past years?

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Marco Provera7:34

I think that in the past years the automotive industry has dramatically changed. Electronics today is worth more than 50% of the value of a premium car, and it will become even more. In our business, the materials have changed in an amazing way. We use advanced technologies, advanced materials like carbon nanotechnologies. It's a different world where the competition is very challenging.

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Interviewer8:07

ChemChina has acquired an important part of the stock of the company. What's the importance of this strategic alliance?

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Marco Provera8:16

We have a great chance now because we have the right size in passenger car tires and motorbike tires, where we compete at a very high level. We are global. We have one-third of our business that is the industrial business—truck tires, agro, off the road tires. This is part of the business that has not the proper size. So we had two options: one was to combine and sell to others; the second was to find a way to be bigger through a merger with someone else. What happened with ChemChina is that we will take the lead of the evolution of their industrial business, which is very large in China and globally because they export a lot. So we will run a company in industrial business that will be more than double what it is today, and the geographical footprint will be global. I think for Pirelli it's a unique opportunity to be global also in the industrial business. We have very good technologies, but we didn't have the right size and the proper footprint.

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Interviewer9:33

What are your expectations for 2016 and for the next five years?

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Marco Provera9:40

I think we can already see where we will be five years from now because we are part of the creation of a new car. We start with the automotive industry, mostly with the premium car manufacturers. We enter into a project since day one, so we already see the models that will be in the market four or five years from now, and we are already developing technologies that will be in the market five years from now. So we already have visibility on this. We see that technology will affect the tires. We are developing sensors. The connected car is the future. So more technology, better attention to the environment, and a continuous evolution of the demand.

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Interviewer10:33

When you talk global, do you mean that the whole product will go worldwide, or do you develop particular products for each part of the world?

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Marco Provera10:43

Our technology is a global technology. The basis of technology is the same. Then there are specific characteristics related to the different regions of the world, and so we develop products that also are fitted for each market.

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Interviewer11:04

Pirelli has 22 factories in the world and more than 38,000 employees. How do you define the impact of the global market?

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Marco Provera11:10

I think the global market makes us able to always continue to look forward, to see what will be the markets many years from now. We see a global market more balanced, where the fast-growing economies slow down recently, but the US and Europe—the so-called old economic powers—are doing better than expected. So it's a volatile world in which different regions have different speeds, and being global makes us comfortable in balancing the risks.

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Interviewer11:47

Do you have any concerns about new developing markets?

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Marco Provera11:50

The new developing markets, they continue to be volatile. They are young countries—young not because of the tradition but because the average age of the people is much below old Europe—and they are creating anyhow opportunities. Now we see a slowdown, but few years from now we will see that they will come back with fast growth.

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Interviewer12:19

What is the proportion of the industrial tire business compared to the car tire business?

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Marco Provera12:25

Until now it's one-third industrial business and two-thirds passenger car tires. In three years it will be balanced because we will have a much larger size in industrial. So Pirelli will become very competitive also in industrial business. In consumer business we are 50th in the world more or less. In industrial business we are 14th. Thanks to this combination we become fourth in industrial business, and so we will have more competitive balance.

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Interviewer13:07

Today the COP 21 is taking place in Paris about sustainability and climate change. I would like to know what is the strategy that Pirelli has concerning sustainability.

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Marco Provera13:22

We created years ago a specific function that takes care of sustainability. It's why we have been able to be number one in our industry in all indexes of sustainability. We consider sustainability a priority. When we set a new factory, we set it for the next decades, not for the next months. So our business is based on medium to long-term investments. And if we don't take care of sustainability in any sense—that means the relation with our employees, the relation with the environment, or the relation with the local communities—we have to be part of the society in each region of the world where we establish our factories. Sustainability is a precondition to flourish in the future.

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Interviewer14:17

Do you see that the tires can be somehow reused?

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Marco Provera14:22

They already are reused. We are part of consortia all around the world to favor the development of recycling, proper recycling of the tires. And many steps forward have been made. I think there is a good understanding of the industry on the priorities, and one of the priorities—environment and recycling—is one of the priorities.

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Interviewer14:48

You have one of the largest research and innovation centers here at your headquarters, and I'm wondering where does the innovation and technology go in the future. About cars that will have no drivers, or tires that would have nanotechnology that would let us know about the pressure in the tires. Where is it going?

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Marco Provera15:11

It can go very far away. You have to take into account that the tire is the only piece of the car that touches the ground. So the information we can get in real time cannot be collected directly if not through the tires. Since decades we are developing mathematical instruments, algorithms that are producing information that will be very useful for drivers, for safety, and also for saving the consumption of oil, to be aware of the deterioration of the tires. I look to a future where connected cars will be one of the normal technologies in the future, and one of the best ways to connect one car to the other is through the pieces of the car that are touching the ground.

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Interviewer16:23

Would you like to be in a car with no driver?

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Marco Provera16:27

That's different. I think that will be much more under control of the different applications, so it will be safer. I love driving, so I hope I will continue to drive until I can, and it will be feasible. But even today you can also fly without a pilot.

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Interviewer16:53

Do you see planes having no pilots?

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Marco Provera17:00

No, no, there is a good reason. But we are ready to deliver also to cars with no driver. But I think and hope that a driver will stay. We'll check what human beings can do—in some cases it cannot be done by machine.

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Interviewer17:31

Europe is undergoing a very difficult situation right now with the terrorist attacks in Paris and in Turkey. How do you see this situation affecting your business and the economy in general?

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Marco Provera17:44

I think that this is obviously affecting the economy. This is obviously affecting people's lives. And I think that we have to join forces in order to let people live safe and looking into a better future for the children. If you don't solve this issue working together—if hatreds will prevail, if short-term interest will prevail—that will be detrimental to growth.

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Interviewer18:15

Pirelli has existed for 143 years and is a worldwide known Italian brand. How do you see the Italian economy and government?

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Marco Provera18:30

We made many steps forward in the last few years. Many reforms have been introduced. The plan of the government is to continue the process of reforming the country. We are going in the right direction. There are a number of complexities in our country. The most complex thing—but you know in Argentina better than I know—is the relation between people. We need to have the spirit of a common project. Until now there are still too many frictions, but the direction is the proper one.

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Interviewer19:03

Brazil is probably one of the largest businesses for Pirelli. How do you see what's going on in Brazil today?

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Marco Provera19:11

We have to remind that Brazil is a young country. The average age of the Brazilian people is around 29. They are passing through a very difficult time, but I think the energies of the country will come back sooner than expected. Today it seems in a deep crisis with no light at the end of the tunnel, but there is a light at the end of the tunnel. I've been traveling to Brazil since decades. I was there during good times and bad times, and I see that the Brazilians are much better than what we see from outside.

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Interviewer19:49

Argentina has recently elected a new president, Mauricio Macri. What are your expectations about this change?

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Marco Provera19:57

The business community is very positive on this change. Even in Argentina we had sometimes difficult times, but Argentina is able to come back. And I see now Argentina has an opportunity to come back. The new direction of the country, I think and hope, will be the right one. The country has a lot of energies that are not expressed, and so I think that can surprise the world, as Argentina did in the past.

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Interviewer20:29

The automotive industry is the biggest industry for the region. How do you see the role of Argentina and Brazil in the automotive industry, integrated, and the impact for the region?

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Marco Provera20:43

I saw in the past that there were many hopes about the integration. Lately it became more difficult. I think that with the new government it will be easier to establish the right relation that will make Mercosur not anymore a dream for the future but a reality. Mercosur has great potential, and I've seen since day one what could have been done. Unfortunately lately it was not easy. I'm positive about it.

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Interviewer21:25

What do you think needs to be done to encourage Mercosur?

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Marco Provera21:31

I think that the opinion makers, business leaders, have to help their governments to understand that what can be done together is amazingly positive. The short-term populism that sometimes affects the relation between countries has to be removed, and cooperation can be very positive.

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Interviewer21:57

You are a respected leader in your community. What does it take to be a leader?

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Marco Provera22:02

It's passion. Passion for what you do. You can be a politician, you can be a business leader—you have to be passionate for what you do, and you have to respect always the others.

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Interviewer22:16

What did you learn from your parents, and what's the importance of family in your life?

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Marco Provera22:21

It's key. In my life it's key. Related to my personal life, it's key for my children, my grandchildren. I think that there's one certain thing about our life: we live something, we don't know where we go, but we leave behind us something. If we leave something positive, that will be helpful for the next generations.

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Interviewer22:45

You have a passion for football and you're a big fan of Inter, as well as Pirelli has always been close to sports, as in Formula 1. What is the relationship between Pirelli and sports?

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Marco Provera22:56

As I said at the beginning, tires are much more than what we see from outside. They look round and black, but inside there is a lot of technology. This technology is the one that we deliver to any car manufacturer. And being with car manufacturers, sports is part of the life of very good car manufacturers. Pirelli has been in races since the beginning of last century. Pirelli supplied the tires for the Paris-Beijing first trip with a car. And we have been always challenging ourselves in motorsport, in any sport. We support sport in every region of the world.

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Interviewer23:48

I know that you love sailing and that you're a great sailor. Is there any connection or parallel between the way you sail your boat and the way you run a company?

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Marco Provera23:57

I think there are a number of relations. In a boat we live all together, we have to respect each other, but one has to take the decisions, and the others have to work in harmony. Because if you don't do properly our own job, each of us—even the best possible team—can fail. So the team building in a sailing boat is very important.

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Interviewer24:28

What does Pirelli mean to you?

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Marco Provera24:31

Pirelli for me means a large part of my business life—the last 30 years. And Pirelli means also the responsibility to continue a tradition that comes from the family of my ex-wife, of my children. I have to deliver the will of Pirelli to someone that will continue my duty, considering the responsibility we have as 143 years are now behind us, and we have to guarantee the future decades. If we have this period, it will continue.