Fiora is driving the shift for Scania

8 MARCH 2021

With electrification on the whole transport industry’s agenda, Scania is pushing change even further by a new, clear structure involving eMobility. This is a vital part of the company’s purpose to drive the shift to sustainable transport solutions. As Driving the Shift Manager at Scania, Fiora Cheng Gårdemyr contributes to Scania’s ambition to develop our eMobility business, starting with the European markets.

The role is a completely new position, that no one at Scania has ever had before her. That appeals to Gårdemyr, who favours to be as far away from her comfort zone as possible. She recently finished a one-year assignment in Shanghai, China, where she has established the Scania China Trainee Programme, and built a network of universities and companies to attract the competence needed for our future ambitions.

A true business transformer

As a multilingual world citizen, born in China and fluent in Chinese, English and Swedish, and with proficiency in Spanish and German, it comes as no surprise that people, culture and innovation are her interests. Gårdemyr describes herself as a business transformer, partnership builder, and some sort of bridge between Europe and Asia. “I enjoy working at a company that contributes so much to society, with values that mirror my own.”

When she returned from Asia, she figured that working with people and be a forward-thinker was something she thoroughly enjoyed. “But with my ambitions, what I need is to be closer to business, to grasp what fantastic possibilities we have.” It was clear that she had set her mind to the 2025-strategy, to work with the future. “To be Driving the Shift Manager is to make sure we have the correct eMobility business models and offerings to current and future customers.”

Something new

Gårdemyr will start by looking at Scania’s European markets, to support them the best way possible. “I have many things to figure out. What does the structure of the markets look like? How do we measure the maturity of markets for BEV? The infrastructure? What kind of business model do we need? How do we define it?” Luckily, she feels at home at a fast pace when she deals with something new, and is close to markets and customers.

The challenge

The work has already begun, and Gårdemyr is involved in a number of topics. Not without frustration. “Well, I’m rather junior compared to many of those I work with. I don’t know that much about products and previous business models, and I’m in the company of very senior managers with 20+ years of experience.” The question about how she should pull this off has crossed her mind several times. But now the confusion is turning into understanding, and she has made her first deliveries. Her goal is to contribute at least as much as she learns going forward. “I always said I want to be a leader someday. Now, I develop my skills by learning from the leaders I work with. They are all different, but in each one of them I see what a heart committed to Scania is like, and that our way to do business is to make money in a sustainable way.”