Chairman / President of the Board, CIE Automotive, S.A.
Comida Coloquio con Antón Pradera, presidente de CIE Automotive
Deusto Business Alumni, celebró el martes 28 de mayo una Comida Coloquio con Anton Pradera, presidente de CIE Automotive, en colaboración con Deloitte en el Palacio Euskalduna. Bajo el título: CIE es un modelo de negocio donde el crecimiento fluye.
Le acompañaron en la mesa, Agustín Garmendia, presidente de Deusto Business Alumni, Pablo Múgica, socio director de Deloitte Zona Norte y Mikel Larreina, vicedecano de relaciones internacionales que moderó el debate. Un evento al que asistieron más de 180 personas responsables y directivos del entramado económico empresarial.
Transcript (3 segments)
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Host0:02
Welcome friends. Today we are at the Euskalduna Palace in Bilbao for this luncheon talk organized by Deusto Business Alumni, with the new sponsorship of Deloitte. As president of Deusto Business Alumni, I thank Deloitte and its managing partner in the Basque Country, Pablo Mujica, for this collaboration. In this first luncheon with Deloitte, we have a prominent personality from the economic and industrial reality of Euskadi: Anton Pradera, president of CIE Automotive, who will speak about CIE as a business model where growth flows. Thank you, Anton, for making time in your busy schedule. Before his intervention, I want to announce that we are accompanied by our new Deputy Director General, Llana Tobalina, an alumni from 2001, who is succeeding José Samblás, who will retire in July. I now give the floor to Pablo Mujica, director of Deloitte in the Basque Country.
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Pablo Mujica3:27
Thank you, Agustín. First, I want to thank Deusto Business Alumni for the opportunity to share this lunch with all of you. The speaker today can talk about almost anything, but I am especially interested in automotive, a sector that is crucial for the global economy and especially for Euskadi, where it represents over 15% of GDP. I have brought a Deloitte study of 25,000 consumers that highlights four key trends: autonomous vehicles – consumers are cautious after accidents; alternative powertrains – half are considering switching; connectivity – industry-driven but consumers worry about data privacy; and shared mobility – a generational shift. I am sure Anton will share his experience on these and many other topics. Let's enjoy the meal.
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Anton Pradera10:06
Thank you all for coming. I feel a bit embarrassed speaking in front of so many important people. I want to start by saying that Euskadi must remain an industrial country – industry is the base, and with the technological transformation we can be winners. We need about 100 multinationals billing over 100 million euros to secure our position. Diversification is key: we survived the 2009 crisis because Brazil was booming. Growth requires the right tool – our management tool works across 89 technologies. You don't need proprietary technology; you need technological vitality – knowing where to buy what's available. Culture is everything, and culture is people. We need universal entrepreneurs, not narrow executives. In automotive, the big challenge is the high cost of electric cars; the technology is not yet consumer-ready. Shared mobility already exists via taxis and public transport; it will increase mileage and parts demand. Our model: lean central administration (0.5% of turnover), decentralized factories run by entrepreneurs competing for investment, and integration that is a marriage for life. We avoid centralization synergies because they destroy entrepreneurial responsibility. We keep client concentration below 5%. Cash generation is paramount. We demand 20% return on net assets and achieve 23%. Our culture is inherited from Basque family businesses – we operate as a multi-local network with horizontal relationships. That is the secret of our success.