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In the still-male-dominated auto industry, women often carefully navigate their approaches as leaders. Their strategies vary, but many say learning to strike a balance between assertive and collaborative is key.

Several of Automotive News' 100 Leading Women described having low confidence early in their careers, often because they lacked experience or were the only women on their teams. Other honorees in the 2020 Leading Women class said they were more aggressive than they needed to be as they were getting started to ensure that their voices were heard.

The balance comes down to "listening to understand but not being run over," said Janet Barnard, chief people officer at Cox Automotive. "We have to find ways to communicate differently than men do generally. I hate to have to give myself over to that, but I think that's the reality."

Women often won't apply for a new position unless they believe they can check every box for skills …

Samatha Chamarthi credits a Chrysler women's resource group event in the 1990s for sparking a dream career milestone.

She intently listened as some of the automaker's female executives such as Sue Unger and Nancy Rae described how they broke through barriers and ascended the industry ladder; they were role models.

"I was in the auditorium," recalled Chamarthi, who was born in India. "I still remember sitting somewhere in the middle inspired by these women thinking one day I should become a CIO of an automotive company. I was a software programmer back then."

Chamarthi now is chief information officer for Fiat Chrysler Automobiles in North America and Asia Pacific — and is one of Automotive News' 100 Leading Women honorees. She made her remarks during an Automotive News virtual roundtable in August.

She is one of many Leading Women honorees who say they feel compelled to help other women excel and climb the ladder in th…

19 CEOs

11 presidents

6 CMOs

5 COOs

2 CIOs

78 are on the list for the first time

68 have at least one postgraduate degree

75: Age of the oldest

31: Age of the youngest

18 were college athletes

72 companies represented

2/3s are extroverts

1 has been on all five lists

Smashing the auto industry's remaining glass ceilings can be difficult work — but it's much more fun if you have a friend who's always standing by with a hammer.

That's the case with Leah Curry and Susan Elkington. In the early 2000s, the two met as managers in the welding shop of Toyota's massive assembly plant in Princeton, Ind. Though vastly different, they quickly became lifelong friends, trusted confidantes and, over time, champions of each other's careers.

Today, they command two of Toyota Motor Corp.'s largest assembly plants and are among the 2020 Automotive News 100 Leading Women in the North American Auto Industry.

Elkington, 49, is president of Toyota Motor Manufacturing, Kentucky — the automaker's largest assembly plant in the world — which makes the Camry and Camry Hybrid, Avalon and Avalon Hybrid and the RAV4 Hybrid, as well as the Lexus ES 350 and ES 300h.

Curry, 59, is president of Toyota Motor Manufact…

During the pandemic, work and home have blurred in unprecedented — some say unsustainable — ways.

Work days are filled with back-to-back Zoom meetings. Employees report working more hours with fewer breaks. Many schools are teaching virtually, so parents must juggle their children's remote learning alongside their full-time jobs.

For women, who research suggests are more likely than men to not be working as they shoulder child care needs during the pandemic, these challenges can be especially acute, several of Automotive News' 100 Leading Women honorees say. They see the coronavirus taking a toll on work-life balance in ways that will require flexibility and support from the C-suite to the factory floor to overcome.

The rapid escalation of COVID-19 in the U.S. in the spring upended the traditional 9-to-5 workday. Those who could transitioned to working from home, while manufacturers created a series of safety protocols to bring em…

"Barrack Obama. He would be the one I would aspire to have a conversation with, to be enlightened and to thank him for his contribution to history." -- Denise Gray, LG Chem Michigan

"My husband. He is the most on-point person I know. He never puts off for tomorrow what he could do today. He gets more out of a day than probably anyone that I know. I admire that. That is not me. I'll get deterred and go from one thing to another. I get it done, but it might look more like sausage-making with me." -- Juanita Powell Baranco, Mercedes-Benz of Buckhead and Mercedes-Benz of Covington

"Nikola Tesla — he was the inventor. He was a humanist, not only an inventor. That, to me, is a hero." -- Suzana Cizmic, Bosch

"I lost my mom earlier this year. She's the one who always told me you can do anything. She really encouraged me to pursue my studies and focus on math and sciences. She was always taking me on educational field trips to science cent…

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Leah Curry and Susan Elkington are presidents of two of Toyota’s biggest North American assembly plants. But 17 years ago, they worked side by side in a body weld shop in Indiana and became close friends.

Nine leaders from the 2020 list joined Automotive News via Zoom to discuss the most pressing issues facing them today and beyond. We explored key themes from that conversation in this podcast series.

IN THEIR WORDS

The 2020 honorees tell it like it is. Here are their confessions, insights and advice.

From the publisher: After 20 years and 5 editions, successes yet to be counted

Publisher Jason Stein comments on the achievements represented in the 2020 edition of Automotive News' 100 Leading Women in the North American Auto Industry program.

How we selected 100 Leading Women

Every five years since 2000, we have put together a list of 100 Leading Women in the North American Auto Indu…

As technology gains revolutionize how vehicles look and work, those strides also are poised to expand women's place in the auto industry.

Female leaders will be crucial to the industry's evolution as gas-powered engines make way for electric vehicles and as car buyers increasingly expect vehicles to provide safety, entertainment and connectivity, several of Automotive News' 100 Leading Women contend. This coming shift dovetails with greater awareness on the part of automakers, parts suppliers and other automotive companies of how a more diverse work force — including on leadership teams — can benefit their businesses.

"We're at a true point of renaissance about the possibilities and the transformation that's about to happen," said Deborah Wahl, chief marketing officer for General Motors. "This is probably the most innovative period that I've seen in my whole career. The change in how we do work, how people think about doing work, how we look at transformation …

Volkswagen Group's board signed off on a $3.7 billion deal for its heavy-truck unit Traton to acquire Navistar International Corp., deepening the German company’s bet on the lucrative North American market.

VW will provide Traton with a 12- to 18-month loan of 3.3 billion euros ($3.9 billion) to fund the transaction, according to a statement Saturday. Details of the deal -- in which Traton will pay $44.50 a share for the 83 percent of Navistar stock it doesn’t own -- were unchanged from an announcement last month. It’s expected to close mid-2021.

Navistar, the maker of International branded trucks, is a major player in North America. Traton has coveted the company as a means to challenge sector leaders Daimler and Volvo AB on a global scale. The VW unit makes Scania and MAN vehicles and is largely dependent on sales in Europe and Latin America.

VW is Navistar’s second-largest shareholder with a 16.7 percent stake, narrowly behind billionaire investor Car…

WASHINGTON -- Volvo Cars is recalling 54,000 U.S. vehicles for an airbag defect after one crash death tied to the issue, according to a filing with U.S. regulators.

The unit of Zhejiang Geely Holding Group is recalling 2001-03 model year S80 and S60 vehicles sold or registered in high humidity U.S. states because the driver side frontal airbag inflator may rupture, sending metal fragments flying, when the air bag is deployed.

According to the Volvo filing with the government, Volvo will replace the inflators with a modern propellant and inflator. Parts are expected to be available by March.

NHTSA said Saturday it confirmed one person in the United States was killed when a ZF/TRW FG2 twin driver airbag inflator containing the propellant 5AT-148N exploded.

The issue has been the subject of NHTSA and Volvo meetings since August 2019.

The agency said the fatal incident was the only known rupture incident for this type of inflator around the wor…

The election of Joe Biden as the 46th president of the United States promises a renewed effort to tighten up vehicle emissions/mileage regulations and encourage electric vehicle production, a shift in tone from the outgoing White House administration.

A more immediate concern for the president-elect: The global COVID-19 outbreak — which has killed more than 232,000 people in the U.S. since early this year and threatens to be even deadlier as winter approaches — and its effects over the auto industry and the economy at-large. According to a report on Tuesday by Politico, he is planning to create a task force of medical experts to tackle the virus.

Biden, 77, was projected the winner Saturday over Republican President Donald Trump, 74, by several news organizations in a tightly contested race. The former vice president has touted an ambitious clean-energy plan that could encourage a new wave of transportation propped up by federal investments in e…

DETROIT — A friendly competition designed to spark innovation at Fiat Chrysler Automobiles as employees work from home produced a smartphone app that the company is now releasing to help customers learn about their vehicles.

FCA's "Pitch Night" event during the summer led to the submission of more than 500 ideas related to connectivity and infotainment that were then voted on. The virtual event, borrowing from the "Shark Tank" TV show format in which entrepreneurs pitch ideas to a panel, ended with one winner: an augmented reality app called Know & Go that breaks down key features by having the user simply point the camera at a part of the vehicle.

When looking through the camera, the user will see a name and description overlaid on the particular feature. The upcoming Ram 1500 TRX, due out before the end of the year, is the first vehicle that can be used with the app.

The concept came about after two employees — Feature Innovation Manager Carolina …