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Peter McDonald of Seat answers Barker's Dozen
Date: 13 August 2014 | Author:
Aussie, Aussie, Aussie: Hawke, Everage and Minogue.
1. What was your first job? I worked at a supermarket in Australia in my early teens - very exciting stuff like stacking shelves, mopping the floor and working the checkout.
2. What was your first company car? A yellow Volkswagen Beetle V5 the business loaned to me. Not my choice of car, but lots of fun to borrow for a few weeks.
3. What did you listen to on your last car journey? It's a bit geeky, but I'm now a real advocate of BBC World News on DAB radio.
4. What one thing do you wish you could do better? I've had a number of opportunities to learn Mandarin and German, but never quite saw it through.
5. What's your biggest achievement? I've been in the Seat brand for five years now and I'm really proud of the achievements we've made in that time - consistent growth in market share, particularly in retail over the last 18 months.
6. Who are your role models? Growing up in Australia, my idol was Bob Hawke, the prime minister in the '80s and '90s. He's on the different side of politics to me, but he implemented many of the structural economic reforms Margaret Thatcher did in the UK, like market deregulation and trade union reform.
7. What's the stupidest thing you've done? I managed sales planning at VW's joint venture in Shanghai for a few years. It wasn't necessarily a stupid decision, but thinking work would be easy and I'd retain any shred of work-life balance was a stupid assumption.
8. What was the most hotly debated topic at your last meeting? Creating marketing communication that differentiates Seat Fleet in the market, and how we get some standout.
9. What's in your garage? A new Leon Cupra 280 DSG. The Cupra 280 just broke the lap record for a front-wheel drive production car around the Nurburgring. At under eight minutes it's faster than a whole bunch of very accomplished sports cars - I certainly don't test how well it handles Milton Keynes' roundabouts!
10. What's the worst thing about your job? Without intending to ingratiate myself, and I'll condition this with being new to the role, there's nothing bad about it. yet!
11. What one law would you make or change? I'd be more relaxed on monitoring speed on the motorway, but more vigorous on speeding on local roads.
12. What keeps you awake at night? A fair bit! I moved job, started an MBA and have my first child on the way - that's a lot to juggle at once.
13. Who is your ideal celebrity date? Dame Edna Everage, or a Minogue sister.
