"The decisions that shape the next decade of mobility are made now."
Counsel · Automotive Strategy Advisory
North American Assembly Retooling · 2024
When a legacy plant faces the electrification cliff
A major North American OEM faced an inflection point: three assembly facilities built around internal combustion drivetrains needed to be assessed for EV conversion viability — on a timeline driven by regulatory mandates, not engineering readiness. The board needed a position before the capital allocation cycle closed.
The internal teams had models. What they lacked was a framework for translating operational constraints into a board-ready decision structure that accounted for labor agreements, supplier proximity, and retooling capital simultaneously.
"The question was never which plant to convert. The question was which plant could survive not converting."
Plant utilization rate — 18 months post-retooling
A phased conversion roadmap prioritized the facility with the strongest supplier corridor density, deferring two sites pending workforce transition agreements. Capital allocation was resequenced by nine weeks ahead of the board presentation.
Southeast Asian Market Entry · 2023
Market entry accelerated vs. original roadmap
"Nine months isn't a schedule improvement. In this market, it's the difference between setting the price and chasing it."
Entering a compressed market before the window closes
A European OEM's regional leadership had spent fourteen months in internal review on a Southeast Asian EV entry strategy. Regulatory timelines, local content requirements, and three competing joint-venture proposals had produced analysis paralysis at the VP level.
The engagement began with a single clarifying question: which of the three JV structures could be executed with the partners already in the room? The answer restructured the entire evaluation. A phased entry framework reduced the decision surface, resolved the local content question through an existing supplier relationship, and moved the market entry date forward by three quarters.
Private Equity Due Diligence · Mobility Acquisition · 2024
When the acquisition thesis depends on a transition the target can't articulate
A mid-market private equity firm was six weeks from close on a tier-two supplier acquisition. The target's EBITDA story was clean. The concern was strategic: the firm's industrial partners flagged that the target's revenue concentration in ICE-adjacent components could represent a 60% revenue cliff within seven years under accelerated EV adoption scenarios.
The engagement produced a component-level revenue migration analysis mapped against three OEM electrification timelines. Two product lines had direct SDV analogues with existing customer relationships. One required a targeted acquisition to bridge the gap. The thesis held — with a revised hold period and a defined operational transformation milestone at year three.
"The numbers were right. The question was whether the business would exist to earn them."
Acquisition value — thesis preserved with revised hold structure
Three engagements. Three different questions. The same discipline.
If you're navigating a decision in the next 90 days, this is the conversation to have first.
On the work
I don't take every engagement. The conversations I enter are ones where the strategic question is genuinely unresolved — where the answer will change what gets built, where capital flows, or whether a deal closes.
If you're a VP navigating an electrification timeline that keeps shifting, a supplier trying to understand where your revenue sits in five years, or a firm doing diligence on a mobility asset — I'd like to understand your situation before you've finalized the question. That's usually when the conversation is most useful.
— M. Harrington, Principal
No form. A short scheduling page. Typically a 45-minute call.