Michael Dunne

Bloomberg says his insights are “the best in the business when it comes to China.”

Michael Dunne is an accomplished entrepreneur, a widely-enjoyed author and a highly sought after keynote speaker.

A native of Detroit, Dunne grew up around cars, helping Jim Dunne, his father, take spy pics of future cars near company proving grounds in Milford and Dearborn and Highland Park.

Dunne moved to Asia straight after graduation in 1990 and established Automotive Resources Asia (ARA), a car consultancy. Who could have imagined that, 20 years later, Asia would become the center of the car universe? ARA was acquired by J.D. Power in 2006 and Dunne led the J.D. Power-ARA business to record growth in China until 2010.

Today, Dunne runs Hong-Kong based Dunne & Company Limited which specializes in luxury cars, clean energy cars and retail. In 2013, Dunne is launching a new firm for car consumers called CarKeysAsia.com

Beyond creating new enterprises, Dunne also writes and speaks. In 2011, Wiley published his book: American Wheels, Chinese Roads. “AWCR” earned widespread acclaim including noteworthy reviews by the Wall Street Journal, CNN, Fortune and the South China Morning Post.

Dunne is also featured as the auto columnist at the Wall Street Journal Asia’s Chine Real Time where he comments on current and future trends in China’s automotive market.

Dunne’s 22 years on the front lines in Asia equip him with intriguing insights into what makes the car business go in Asia. He is a global keynote speaker with engagement venues ranging from Capetown to London to New York to Hong Kong.

Clients include blue chip enterprises like JP Morgan, Daimler, Samsung, Ford Motor Company, Littler, Columbia University, the Society of Automotive Engineers and the Fortune Global Forum.

Specialities

Keynote Speaker
Asia Car Consumer Trends Speaker
Clean Energy Vehicle Trends Speaker
Luxury Car Demand Trends Speaker
Cars, Politics and Global Trade Speaker

Topics

Program 1. The Understood but Not Yet Mastered

What to Expect When You’re Not Expecting: Negotiating in China as a Lifestyle Choice.

If it has not happened yet, then it is only a matter of time. It could be that your employee refuses to leave his desk after being fired. Or maybe your business partner insists on re-opening negotiations just hours after the final contract is signed.

Or it could be that the local fire department insists that you owe fines for non-compliance that date back six years. Make that fines plus interest for late payments.

Or it could be that your goods are stuck on a ship in the Shanghai harbor and there’s no telling when approval for offloading will come.

Events like these are core to the Chinese negotiation culture. To outsiders, they look like bold intransigence, backsliding, breaking good faith, or downright cheating.

But inside China, it is everyday life. You might not like it; you might not expect it, but that vexing experience called Chinese negotiation will come find you.

In this program you will:

Discover the keys to winning in a negotiation culture where “win-win” does not exist.
Learn what happens when Chinese negotiate against each other.
See the difference between strategic and tactical negotiations in China.
Acquire the tools to respond effectively to emotional outbursts or
the silent treatment
Recognize when a negotiation in China is finally complete.

Program 2. The Known But Not Fully Understood.

How China’s Massive Car Market Will Take Your Life in New Directions

“Sharp curve ahead!” reads the road sign warning. What happens when a market enters uncharted territory? One unprecedented change of direction leads quickly to another — and then another.

And so it is with China’s car market — now the largest in the world – with sales nearing 20 million cars and trucks a year. That’s 50% larger than the American car market and China is just getting started.

What kinds of changes should we be bracing for? First off, think about oil. China now imports 60% of the oil it needs each year. With car demand expected to climb to 30M by 2020, hunger for more oil will become rapacious, China will make ever-bolder claims over sea-lanes and oil-rich offshore territories like the Spratly Islands.

Second, because of China’s steep tariff walls, 95% of cars sold in China are made in China. Before long, global automakers and Chinese companies will transform China into the car factory for the world. What will happen to auto jobs in Europe and the USA?

Then there are the quality, environmental and safety issues. China makes no secret of its ambition to have its own car brands dominate world markets. Will Chinese cars be safe and clean?

In this program you will:

Find out whether China is likely to become addicted to oil just as America is today. Or will China make breakthroughs in other technologies such as electric vehicles?
Discover where Chinese branded cars are being exported today.
Get expert insight into the quality, environmental soundness and safety of Chinese cars.
Witness how much global automakers count on China as their profit center.
See why China is destined to become the Detroit of the world — the global production center for cars and trucks of all brands.

Program 3. The Little Known

Indonesian Business Opportunities: Remarkable in More Ways Than One.

“Remarkable Indonesia”. That’s how Indonesia now presents itself to the world through TV commercials. Will Indonesia be the next China for business growth and profits? Several signs point to a resounding “Yes”.

In 2011, incomes crossed the all-important 3,000 per capita GDP level. That’s when personal consumption begins to take off. Foreign direct investment climbed to 20 billion dollars in 2011, a historic level.

Indonesia’s stock market has been Asia’s best performing every year since 2008. And exports shot up 30% in 2011, driven by demand for Indonesian resources and minerals.

All of these pieces of good news have sent businesses in Europe, America and other parts of Asia scrambling to create an Indonesia strategy. Indonesia, the world’s 4th most populous country, does offer remarkable opportunity.

And yet, ask any businessperson with more than two quarters “in country”, and they will tell you that winning market share and profits is neither straight nor easy. Is that Democracy or Demo-crazy? Is that corruption index ranking stuck at 110? When will the roads and ports and airports finally get built?

In this program you will:

Learn from how Indonesia’s interaction with foreigners – Chinese, Indians, Arabs and the Dutch – over hundreds of years shapes business behavior today.
Discover how powerful families and the government work to control most business in Indonesia.
Witness the most common mistakes foreigners make doing business in Indonesia.
See how veterans of business in Indonesia avoid the big landmines – political, economic, social and religious.