What Does A Business Day In Bugatti President Winkelmann’s Life During Lockdown Look Like?

Among many other areas, the current coronavirus pandemic is having a profound effect on our working habits.

Most of the jobs that can be performed from home have been transformed into telecommuting jobs, with even auto industry CEOs forced to use their homes as business offices. Bugatti president Stephan Winkelmann makes no exception.

While workers at the Bugatti Atelier in Molsheim are idled as production of the Chiron and Divo has been suspended, a large number of employees are still working, including the big boss.

Stephan Winkelmann is currently managing the company from his home in Strasbourg, France. At least twice a week, he travels to the headquarters in Molsheim to inform himself about the current situation there with the small number of employees who are not able to work from home. This includes meeting with the facility manager and security staff.

“Even though I am now working from home like many other employees, no day is ever the same during this difficult time. However, thanks to digital processes and communication channels, we are still able to work and keep on developing our extraordinary hyper sports cars,” Stephan Winkelmann explains.

What exactly does a day of working from home look like for Bugatti’s president? Read on to find out.

7:00 a.m.

The day starts early for Winkelmann. At 7 am he gets up, has a light breakfast and catches up with the day’s national and international news, with a focus on politics and business.

8:30 a.m.

The executive then reads his e-mails and starts his first Skype meeting with the Comité de Direction, the extended Executive Board. “At the moment, we talk to Bugatti’s senior management team every morning so that everyone is up-to-date with the current situation in the company and how we are all doing health-wise, also including our business partners,” Stephan Winkelmann says. The discussions typically involve analyzing the latest global developments and how the company should react to them.

10:00 a.m.

New conference calls follow with various departments such as Development, Sales, Design and Marketing. The discussions primarily involve development and design.

12:00 p.m.

This is the time Stephan Winkelmann has lunch, watches news on TV and catches up with e-mails.

2:00 p.m.

New phone conferences follow with the Comité de Produit, the product committee, regarding the development of current and future products. “For me, these are some of the most exciting meetings as they give you a glimpse of all the power and creativity in our company. Things can get a little heated sometimes. However, in my experience, it precisely this kind of friction that leads to the best results,” Winkelmann says. After that, he reads fresh e-mails.

7:00 p.m.

Now’s the time for some personal activities, such as endurance fitness. “Since I currently cannot train at the gym or in the pool, I go running for an hour in the early evening and break up my run with a few exercises. This improves my endurance and health, I enjoy it and it gives me time to review the day without my smartphone or computer. This period of meditation also recharges my batteries,” the executive explains.

9:00 p.m.

The evening is reserved for private phone calls, including with his mother, who lives in southern Germany, and friends from all over the world.

10:00 p.m.

The day ends with a reading session. “For me, the only benefit of the lockdown is that I have more time to read in the evenings. I normally read two books in parallel, one fiction and one non-fiction,” Winkelmann says.