The Auto Ethnographer with John Stech
The Auto Ethnographer with John Stech
Podcast Description
John Stech, The Auto Ethnographer, draws on his thirty years in the global automotive industry to bring the world to your doorstep in both an informative and entertaining way using a style rooted in autoethnography. What is "autoethnography"? Derived from Tony E. Adams’ definition, "autoethnography" is a research method leaning on the experiences of individuals to analyze assumptions, culture, communication, local norms, traditions, emotional impact, and how they mesh with greater culture and society where they operate. Normally, "auto" relates to the self – as in "autobiography". But we put wheels on it, separated the words, and focus on vehicles and the cultural experiences related to the auto industry.The Auto Ethnographer and his guests tell the human stories behind the famous automotive and vehicle brands, spanning continents, countries, and cultures across the globe. Together, they unlock the mysteries of local culture, values, and approaches to success in the vehicle industry. Of course, every cultural interaction faces the risk of faux pas, and those will surely be covered as well. The Auto Ethnographer's guests made the vehicle industry happen in their country markets. Now they tell their stories. Each guest will relay their experiences while addressing cultural challenges they faced. Guests range from current and past industry leaders to newcomers and rising talents. They are either expats in a foreign land or local employees working with a foreign brand in their home country. The target audience are Individuals fascinated by the auto industry and how to navigate cultures for successful outcomes. The audience are either seasoned professionals or newcomers seeking to learn how to build their careers with global insights. But don't think this is limited to the auto industry. These international business principles are valid across industries.John Stech engaged in his 30-year career with Mercedes-Benz, Chrysler Corp (now part of Stellantis), Volvo Car Group, and VinFast Automotive of Vietnam. He has lived and worked on five continents, interacting with thousands of people from dozens of different cultures. Now he brings that experience to you.
Podcast Insights
Content Themes
The podcast focuses on topics such as cultural interactions in the automotive sector, product strategy discussions, and marketing insights, with episodes exploring the strategies of Mercedes-Benz and comparisons between Volkswagen's presence in different countries.
John Stech, The Auto Ethnographer, draws on his thirty years in the global automotive industry to bring the world to your doorstep in both an informative and entertaining way using a style rooted in autoethnography.
What is “autoethnography”? Derived from Tony E. Adams’ definition, “autoethnography” is a research method leaning on the experiences of individuals to analyze assumptions, culture, communication, local norms, traditions, emotional impact, and how they mesh with greater culture and society where they operate. Normally, “auto” relates to the self – as in “autobiography”. But we put wheels on it, separated the words, and focus on vehicles and the cultural experiences related to the auto industry.
The Auto Ethnographer and his guests tell the human stories behind the famous automotive and vehicle brands, spanning continents, countries, and cultures across the globe. Together, they unlock the mysteries of local culture, values, and approaches to success in the vehicle industry. Of course, every cultural interaction faces the risk of faux pas, and those will surely be covered as well.
The Auto Ethnographer’s guests made the vehicle industry happen in their country markets. Now they tell their stories. Each guest will relay their experiences while addressing cultural challenges they faced. Guests range from current and past industry leaders to newcomers and rising talents. They are either expats in a foreign land or local employees working with a foreign brand in their home country.
The target audience are Individuals fascinated by the auto industry and how to navigate cultures for successful outcomes. The audience are either seasoned professionals or newcomers seeking to learn how to build their careers with global insights. But don’t think this is limited to the auto industry. These international business principles are valid across industries.
John Stech engaged in his 30-year career with Mercedes-Benz, Chrysler Corp (now part of Stellantis), Volvo Car Group, and VinFast Automotive of Vietnam. He has lived and worked on five continents, interacting with thousands of people from dozens of different cultures. Now he brings that experience to you.
Last week the Auto Ethnographer, John Jörn Stech, attended the 10th International Electric Vehicle Technology Conference & Exhibition combined with MobilityTech Asia 2025. The conference happened to be aligned in the same week that the American Houses of Congress passed legislation that effectively killed public funding and support for electric vehicles and renewable energy initiatives. The stark contrast between Thailand’s push on the accelerator and America’s stomp on the brake pedal are in focus today.
But the lens through which the topic will be dressed is not so much political as it is society and culture. The Thai and American cultures are extremely different. While Thailand is rooted deeply in Buddhism, and to a lesser degree Confucianism, which promotes a communal approach to addressing societal problems, American culture is individualistic, “everyone out for themselves”.
The Auto Ethnographer takes a look into Buddhism’s teachings and how they apply to renewable energy, electric vehicles, and the daunting task of combatting climate change. How do Thais employ those teachings to live a more harmonious communal life in Thai society?
Meanwhile, in the United States, individualism rules the day on electric vehicle adoption, the shift towards renewable energy, and on climate change, a topic that stirs debate on its very existence to this day.
John also discusses how past victories against pollution in the USA have rendered relatively clean air and water in the current day. This is in stark comparison to the 1960s and 1970s when environmental regulation was just getting started. With the air “looking” clean and carbon dioxide, a major contributor to global warming being invisible, it is easy to fall into the trap that there is no problem. Can’t see it? No problem then.
Contrast that to Thailand which continues to struggle with urban air and water quality. The problem is literally visible. So while Thais unite to conquer the pollution particulates, the PM 2.5 matter, they can simultaneously fight carbon dioxide through use of cleaner vehicles and energy production.
The iEVTech 2025 conference & exhibition was the impetus for this comparison. It was a show highlighted by two dozen speakers and dozens of international companies highlighting their EV, solar, energy storage, and related products. China, South Korea, UK, Germany, Switzerland, Finland, and other nations were represented in technology clusters. The United States was absent, a point not missed by the Auto Ethnographer and the cause for much contemplation of this topic for today’s podcast.
To learn more about The Auto Ethnographer, please visit the homepage at https://www.auto-ethnographer.com
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