With no clear candidates, at the moment, for the presidency of Anfac, the names that are most popular are those of the groups with an industrial presence in Spain, although Toyota, Kia or Hyundai could surprise.
A dead king, a king. This Spanish saying perfectly explains what is going to happen in the most important association of the automobile sector in Spain, Anfac. The surprise resignation of its president, Wayne Griffithshas caused an earthquake in the sector and in the political landscape, but the time for regrets is over and it is time to find a replacement.
The only certainty, for the moment, is that the new president will be a man, since Anfac’s board of directors is 100% male. Beyond this come the grays, since at the moment there is no one who has positioned themselves.
Anfac’s board of directors is currently made up of representatives of groups with factories in Spain and brands without industrial presence. History and logic suggest that the next president of the association will belong to a company with factories in Spain.
However, here things get complicated. Of the 16 members, 3 are from Anfac and 6 do not have plants (Hyundai, Kia, Toyota, Volvo, Mitsubishi and BMW). The rest are Jesús Alonso (Ford), Ángel Rodríguez (Iveco), Reiner Hoeps (Mercedes), Frank Torres (Nissan), José Antonio León (Stellantis), Josep Maria Recasens (Renault) and Francisco Pérez Botello (VW).
It is reasonable that the resignation of Griffiths, president of Seat, belonging to the VW group, blocks any option for Pérez Botello, while the policy of rotations between the different brands also makes it difficult for Recasens, since Griffiths’ predecessor was José Vicente de los Mozosformerly of Renault and now in Indra.
In the case of Mercedes, Hoeps assured just a week ago that he had no intention of being president of Anfac, while Nissan, due to its current weight, it is not foreseeable that it will want to run for the position. Therefore, Ford, Stellantis and Iveco would remain.
The last time Ford presided over Anfac was with José Manuel Machado in 2013, when he was replaced by Rafael Prieto, from Stellantis. However, Ford is negotiating an ERE of 1,600 people in its Valencia plantso the situation may not be very favorable.
Iveco has never held the presidency and can be a strong candidate, as long as Ángel Rodríguez, who has his operations base in Italy, wants to take on the challenge.
By industrial footprint, the name of Stellantis stands out above the others, with three plants in Spain, so, if you decide to take control of Anfac, you could have many options for success.
The covered ones
On the other hand, there are companies that are on the board of directors, but do not have a factory and that in recent months have been the subject of rumors about the possibility of replacing Griffiths, since the statutes allow it.
Miguel Carsi (Toyota), Emilio Herrera (Kia), or Leopoldo Satrústegui (Hyundai), are the ones with the most votes, due to the share of their brands in the market.
Due to weight at the time of the dialogue with the Government, the ideal would be for the replacement to be from a group with plants, but for now there is no movement of candidates. The idea is to close the process quickly, even before vacation.
