How women have shaped the UK automotive industry in the last 30 years
Stacey Ward, senior data director at Cap HPI, takes a look at how, over the past three decades, a handful of determined women changed the face of the automotive sector, paving the way for others to follow and hold their own in a male-dominated industry…
When you spend your life working with data, you quickly learn that numbers always tell a story. Right now, the data surrounding the UK automotive sector points to an industry in the middle of a massive identity shift. We talk a big game about electrification, digital retail and software-driven vehicles. But if you strip away the tech jargon and look at our actual workforce statistics, a much more traditional and stubborn picture emerges. Women still make up just 20% of the automotive workforce, and that number drops significantly when you look at boardrooms and senior operational roles.
It is an uncomfortable truth, especially when we are concurrently wrestling with a severe skills shortage that spans everything from the workshop floor to advanced software engineering. Frankly, we can’t keep complaining about a lack of talent if we are only fishing in half the pond. Solving this crisis is impossible without actively bringing more women into the fold.
Yet, while the high-level data shows how far we have to go, the actual human stories of the last 30 years tell a much more encouraging tale. The progress we have seen didn’t happen by accident, nor did it come from passive corporate evolution. It was driven by specific, determined women who didn’t just enter the UK automotive sector; they actively changed how it operates.
Look at Linda Jackson. If you want a blueprint for OEM leadership, Linda is it. She started out in an accounting role at Jaguar, within British Leyland, in the late 1970s and worked her way up to become the global CEO of Citroën, and later, Peugeot. Becoming the first woman to run a French car brand more than a personal achievement; it shattered a glass ceiling that many assumed was permanent. Linda proved that financial acumen paired with a sharp product strategy could take a woman to the top of global manufacturing, showing anyone watching that the path to the chief executive office was genuinely open.
Then there is Alison Jones, who has been an absolute force across both the OEM and sales landscapes. Spending over 20 years moving through the ranks at Volkswagen Group, she eventually took the reins as managing director of Volkswagen Passenger Cars before becoming the UK managing director and senior vice-president for Stellantis. She recently became global chief customer and aftersales officer, and direct report to the CEO. Alison didn’t just navigate the corporate ladder; she steered massive dealer networks through some of the most turbulent times in recent history, including the transition to electrification and the chaos of the pandemic. Her legacy is one of operational excellence, proving that women belong exactly where the commercial decisions are made, right at the sharp end of retail and sales strategy.
We can’t keep complaining about a lack of talent if we are only fishing in half the pond. Solving this crisis is impossible without actively bringing more women into the fold.
Similarly, Lisa Brankin’s impact as managing director of Ford UK and Ireland has been hugely significant. Leading a brand so deeply embedded in British motoring culture requires balancing a massive heritage with rapid modernisation. Lisa’s background across sales, marketing fleet operations gave her the grounded perspective needed to guide the market leader through its current shift toward an electric future. By running such an iconic, traditionally male-dominated operation, Lisa has made female leadership at the absolute top level feel normal rather than exceptional.
Of course, individual success stories only go so far without broader structural changes to help others follow. That is why the work of Julia Muir has been so vital. Recognising the stagnation in the data, Julia founded the Automotive 30% Club with a clear, practical goal: fill at least 30% of key leadership positions with diverse women by 2030. By getting CEOs to sign up and commit to tangible operational changes, she took the conversation out of abstract HR policy and turned it into a concrete business objective.
These women did more than just succeed in their careers; they changed the way the industry thinks. They proved that a balanced workforce directly correlates with better innovation, stronger commercial results, and a clearer understanding of a buyer base that is, after all, 50% female.
At Solera Cap HPI, we are backing change with practical commitment, by becoming a founding member of Empowering Auto UK. This initiative, which recently launched in London, focuses on the real pressure points: high mid-career drop-out rates, rigid workplace cultures, and the lack of clear, operational pathways for women to move into senior leadership.
The automotive businesses that are genuinely thriving today are the ones treating diversity as a core commercial strategy rather than an exercise in compliance. They are actively embedding flexibility into management culture, rethinking how apprenticeships are marketed, and ensuring talent is pulled upward.
Reflecting on the last 30 years, the progress made by these trailblazers is clear. They proved what can be achieved in this industry. Now, the responsibility sits with the rest of us to ensure the next generation of women coming through don’t just find a place in automotive, but actively help lead it forward.
