Automotive leadership training is a Bodhih program for production, quality, supply-chain, engineering and commercial managers in OEMs, auto-component suppliers and mobility businesses. Delivered in person or live virtual, it builds cross-functional leadership, calm launch management, data-led daily reviews and supervisor development, with AssessAll pre- and post-assessments measuring the change.
- Recommended: 2 days in person, or 5 × 3-hour live virtual sessions, plus a 90-day leadership project
- Level: Intermediate · In person · Live virtual · Blended
- Designed with the ADDIE model and customised to your context
- Offered by Bodhih since 2008 to 2,000+ organisations across 7 regions
Also known as: automotive manager training, auto component leadership program, leadership development for automotive OEMs, automotive middle manager development
Where and how: automotive leadership training as an in-person workshop in Bengaluru, Mumbai, Delhi NCR, Gurugram, Hyderabad, Chennai, Pune, Kolkata, Ahmedabad and Jaipur; as a live online course; or delivered overseas in Dubai, Singapore and across the Middle East, Asia and Africa.
Last reviewed by Siddharthan VGJ, Founder · Bodhih Training, Bengaluru
Why automotive managers need more than technical depth
Automotive managers are usually promoted for solving hard engineering or production problems. Then the job changes: they must align design, quality, purchase and the shop floor, keep an OEM customer confident and develop supervisors who have never been taught to lead.
At the same time, plants are absorbing new vehicle platforms, connected features and electric product lines as business change, often with the same people and tighter launch windows. Automotive leadership training gives managers a shared, practical way to run daily reviews, hold cross-functional teams together and lead change that sticks.
Leadership and social influence rose 22 percentage points as a core skill since 2023, the largest rise of any core skill.
Employers expect 39% of workers' existing skill sets to be transformed or become outdated between 2025 and 2030.
What participants will be able to do
Lead engineers and the shop floor as one team
Bring design, process, quality and production people to shared goals instead of refereeing between them.
Stay steady through launches and change-overs
Plan launch-week priorities, protect the critical path and keep the team focused when the schedule slips.
Manage OEM and supplier relationships with confidence
Handle escalations, recovery plans and tough customer reviews with facts, clear commitments and respect on both sides.
Run daily reviews that drive action
Turn the morning tier meeting into a short, data-led conversation that ends with owners and dates, not blame.
Build a problem-solving culture
Coach teams to raise issues early, test causes with evidence and close actions rather than hiding defects.
Grow the next line of supervisors
Delegate real responsibility, give useful feedback and prepare shift leads to run their area without you.
Who should attend
- Production and manufacturing managers in OEM and tier-one plants
- Quality managers handling customer complaints, audits and launch quality
- Supply-chain, purchase and supplier-development managers
- Engineering and new product introduction managers working with the plant
- Program and project managers running vehicle or part launches
- Commercial and key account managers serving OEM customers
Program outline
Recommended design, customised to your context after a short needs analysis.
01From expert to automotive leaderModule 1 · 90 min+
- What changes when you lead managers, engineers and supervisors at once
- Your leadership baseline from the AssessAll pre-assessment
- Choosing the behaviours your plant or business needs most
02Cross-functional leadership across engineering and the shop floorModule 2 · 2 hours+
- Why design, process, quality and production pull in different directions
- Shared goals, clear decision rights and one escalation path
- Practice: resolving a design-versus-production dispute before a gate review
03Steering teams through launch and change-over pressureModule 3 · 2 hours+
- Launch readiness conversations that surface risk early
- Prioritising when everything is urgent: critical path, buffers and trade-offs
- Keeping morale and focus when start of production slips
- Simulation: the fortnight before a new model goes on the line
04OEM customers and supplier partnersModule 4 · 90 min+
- Preparing for a tough customer review or recovery-plan meeting
- Developing suppliers through joint problem-solving rather than pressure
- Saying no or not yet with a credible alternative
05Data-led daily reviews and a problem-solving cultureModule 5 · 2 hours+
- Running a 15-minute tier meeting on output, quality and delivery data
- Asking questions that find causes, not culprits
- Making it safe to raise a defect or a missed date early
- Tracking actions to closure on a visible board
06Guiding people through technology and business changeModule 6 · 90 min+
- Explaining a new platform, connected features or an electric product line as business change
- Handling worry about roles and skills with honest, specific answers
- Small pilots, quick wins and visible sponsorship
07Developing supervisors and the 90-day projectModule 7 · 90 min+
- Delegating an area, not just tasks, to a shift lead
- Feedback and coaching conversations at the line
- Planning your 90-day leadership project with a measurable result
Sample training plan: 2-day hands-on design
This two-day design puts production, quality, engineering, supply-chain and commercial managers into the situations that test automotive leaders most. Participants settle a design-versus-production dispute before a gate review, steer a team through the fortnight before start of production, rehearse an OEM recovery-plan meeting and rebuild a failing daily tier review. Day two adds supplier development, explaining an electric product line as business change and delegating an area to a shift lead. Each manager leaves with a 90-day leadership project.
Participants can align functions, prioritise under launch pressure and handle a demanding OEM review.
- 09:30–10:00Who owns the defect?Energiser
- 10:00–11:00My leadership baselineDiagnostic
- 11:15–12:15Design versus the lineRole-play
- 12:15–13:00Decision rights on one pageBuild sprint
- 13:45–15:15Six weeks to start of productionSimulation
- 15:30–16:45The OEM recovery-plan reviewReal-play
- 16:45–17:30What I will do differently on MondayReflection
Participants can run a data-led daily review, lead people through change and develop supervisors.
- 09:30–10:30Fix the tier meetingCase clinic
- 10:45–11:45Run it for realSkill drill
- 11:45–13:00Developing the supplier, not squeezing itCase clinic
- 13:45–14:45The electric line announcementRole-play
- 15:00–16:00Handing over an areaPeer coaching
- 16:00–17:00My 90-day leadership projectAction planning
Every session’s activity, timings, outputs and materials, plus pre-work, a 90-day reinforcement plan and how impact is measured. Free, emailed to you instantly.
Recommended: 2 days in person (09:30–17:30 and 09:30–17:00), or 5 × 3-hour live virtual sessions timed around shift changes, plus a 90-day leadership project. A sample design: every Bodhih program is customised after a short needs analysis.
How long is automotive leadership training?
The recommended design is two full days in person followed by a 90-day leadership project with check-ins at day 30, 60 and 90. It also runs as five live virtual sessions of three hours each, timed around shift changes so production managers can attend.
What activities are included in automotive leadership training?
Managers settle a design-versus-production dispute, run a launch war room six weeks before start of production, present a recovery plan to a sceptical OEM, redesign and lead a daily tier review, plan a supplier development visit and brief a team on a new electric product line.
How we deliver it
Built on your plant's reality
Bodhih uses the ADDIE model, starting with interviews and a short needs analysis so cases reflect your launches, customers and shift patterns.
Mixed functions in every group
Production, quality, engineering and commercial managers sit together, so cross-functional friction is practised in the room, not just discussed.
Simulations under time pressure
Launch, escalation and daily-review simulations put managers under realistic pressure, with peer observers and facilitator feedback.
A leadership project, not a certificate
Each manager runs a 90-day project, such as improving a daily review or developing two supervisors, with check-ins from a Bodhih facilitator.
Tailored versions
For OEM and tier-one plants in Chennai, Pune and NCR
Cases on line launches, model change-overs and customer escalations, with shop-floor walks built into the in-person days.
For supplier-development and purchase teams
Extra time on developing suppliers, joint problem-solving visits and recovery plans that a supplier can actually deliver.
For mobility and electric product businesses
Focus on steering change, new business models and blending experienced automotive staff with people hired from technology firms.
How we measure impact
Automotive leadership training follows the Evaluate stage of the ADDIE model. Managers take an AssessAll pre-assessment and post-assessment on Manager Effectiveness Diagnostic (Advanced) and Change Leadership & Adaptability. Reporting managers hold check-ins on agreed behaviours, such as daily-review quality and supervisor delegation. A 30-60-90 day follow-up reviews each leadership project against its baseline, with the plant or function head joining the day-90 review.
Pair this program with AssessAll, Bodhih’s AI assessment platform, for pre- and post-program skill measurement.
Frequently asked questions
What is automotive leadership training?
Automotive leadership training is a program that helps managers in OEMs, auto-component suppliers and mobility businesses lead people, not just processes. It covers cross-functional leadership, launch and change-over pressure, OEM and supplier relationships, data-led daily reviews, problem-solving culture, change and developing supervisors, using cases from your own plants and customers.
What leadership skills do automotive managers need most?
They need to align engineering, quality, purchase and production around shared goals, stay calm and clear during launches, manage demanding OEM customers and suppliers, and run short daily reviews that lead to action. Increasingly, they also need to explain technology change and develop supervisors who can run an area on their own.
How do you lead engineering and shop-floor teams together?
Start with one shared goal and clear decision rights, so nobody wins by escalating. Bring engineers to the line and supervisors into design reviews, use the same data in both places, and settle disputes on facts at a fixed forum. The program practises this with a design-versus-production case before a gate review.
How long is the automotive leadership training program?
Our recommended design is two days in person or five live virtual sessions of three hours each, followed by a 90-day leadership project. Plants with shift constraints often split the in-person days a week apart. The design is customised after a needs analysis with your plant, quality and HR leaders.
Can automotive leadership training be delivered online?
Yes. The live virtual version runs as five three-hour sessions with breakout simulations, shared daily-review boards and case work, and suits managers spread across plants in Chennai, Pune, Gurugram and Sanand or overseas sites. Session times are set around shift changes so production managers can join without leaving the line uncovered.
How should managers handle pressure from OEM customers?
Prepare facts before the meeting, own the problem without excuses and offer a recovery plan with dates you can keep. Separate containment from the permanent fix, agree how progress will be reported and follow up before the customer chases you. The program rehearses a tough recovery-plan review with a facilitator playing the OEM.
How do you run a good daily review meeting in a plant?
Keep it short, standing and at the board where the data lives. Review yesterday's output, quality and delivery against plan, pick the two or three gaps that matter, and agree an owner and date for each. Ask what got in the way rather than who failed. Close by checking last week's open actions.
How do you measure the results of automotive leadership training?
Managers complete an AssessAll pre-assessment and post-assessment on manager effectiveness and change leadership. Their reporting managers check in on agreed behaviours, and a 30-60-90 day follow-up reviews each leadership project, such as faster action closure from daily reviews or supervisors running an area without escalation.