A life that’s all being too obsessed with wheels
Kicking off his career as a mechanical engineer, Jens Puttfarcken never thought he would experience a major twist along the way — becoming a more people-driven sales manager and, ultimately, taking over as chief executive officer of Porsche China.
But the head of the niche brand in China has been sure about one thing throughout — his passion for cars.
“I have always been very much interested in technology and, in my mechanical segment, I focused my main course on everything around cars,” he says.
The watershed in his career, according to Puttfarcken, came when he changed the trajectory from a techsavvy mechanical engineer to a more people-driven sales manager.
Following his instincts, Puttfarcken moved to Fiat Automobiles — one of Italy’s oldest automaker greats — and began a new journey to a sales-related position.
By 1997, he had taken up the job of regional sales manager with Porsche China, which was then a very small company with only two model lines — Boxster and 911 — and just 20,000 cars selling globally each year.
“You can get a lot of personal insights while working with customers,” recalls Puttfarcken.
Against the backdrop of the current dented sentiment in the auto industry, he believes Porsche’s seamless efforts to bring new and innovative models to the market has helped buck the broad trend.
“The overall auto market is not experiencing the same kind of growth like in the past, but the premium segment is still very strong.”
Having worked as an after sales manager, customer relations manager and sales manager for Porsche’s subsidiaries around the world, Puttfarcken ended up at the helm of the luxury auto brand’s subsidiary on the Chinese mainland — the largest sales market for Porsche for three consecutive years.
“With his many years of experience in various management positions in sales, Jens Puttfarcken is well equipped to expand the very important Chinese market for the Porsche brand and steer it toward a successful future,” said Detlev von Platen — a member of the executive board at Porsche AG.
Puttfarcken’s knowledge of the auto business had accumulated over time when passing through each and every position and branch at Porsche.
Combining everything he has learned from different functions, he feels that coming to China has made it “form a closed loop”.
Being curious is one of the most special and important characteristics of his career, says Puttfarcken. After propelling himself to the top post at the China subsidiary, he feels he’s looking at a completely different market with a unique cultural backdrop.
He thus began studying the country with its language. “Understanding a language and how the language is composed, you start to understand how people are thinking.”
“I’m curious to learn and I always encourage everybody to approach me and share ideas,” he says, adding that being curious and open are vital factors that contribute to success.
Besides, being resolute about making a decision without hemming and hawing also matters, says Puttfarcken, referring to his decisive move from a technology position to people business. “If you want to go that way, then take a bold decision and go that way”.