Living as an #expat outside of your home culture is the ultimate challenge. In this 2025 year-end special, I’ve distilled the most powerful insights from 41 episodes of The Auto Ethnographer into one essential guide.

Join me as I revisit the most impactful moments from every featured guest this year—professionals who have navigated the complexities of the automotive industry and beyond in foreign lands. Whether you are facing early culture shock , looking to improve your cross cultural management skills, or simply curious about the reality of working abroad, these stories prove that the lessons learned are universally applicable.

From the excitement of the "honeymoon phase" to the hard realities of cultural adaptation, this video compiles the real human stories behind the job titles.

In this video, we cover:

• Real-world advice: Practical tips for surviving the transition to a new country.

• Professional growth: How to handle cross-cultural communication in the workplace.

• The Human Side: Honest reflections from unique guests on what it truly means to live as an expat, work with expats, and to be a global citizen.

Resources & Links:

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#ExpatLife #CulturalAdaptation #WorkingAbroad #CrossCulturalManagement #2025Recap #AutomotiveIndustry #CultureShock

What happens when a single career stretches across continents, cultures, and some of the most storied automotive brands on earth? In this episode of Auto Ethnographer, we dive into the remarkable global journey of Toscan Bennett, a man whose life has been shaped by movement, adaptation, and an uncanny ability to bridge worlds that rarely understand one another.

Host John Stech welcomes Toscan for a wide‑ranging conversation that begins with his unusual upbringing as a third‑culture kid born in Vietnam, raised across Asia and Latin America, and eventually thrust into a career that would take him deep inside the automotive industry’s most complex cultural intersections. Toscan’s story is not just about cars, it’s about identity, belonging, and the unique fluency that comes from never fully fitting into one place.

Across the episode, Toscan walks us through his extraordinary professional arc, spanning 11 automotive brands and multiple continents. In this conversation alone, he reflects on his time with Alfa Romeo, Ferrari, Chrysler, Mitsubishi, Volkswagen, Volvo, Ceer, and VinFast—each one offering a different lens into how global companies think, operate, and sometimes collide. From Italian passion to Japanese humility, from German precision to Vietnamese speed, Toscan reveals how culture shapes products, decisions, and the very rhythm of corporate life.

Listeners will hear vivid stories of American engineers experiencing European roads for the first time, the chaos and brilliance of cross‑cultural product development teams, and the surprising realities of working inside Swedish consensus culture. Toscan also shares candid insights into the limits of centralized thinking—especially when headquarters assumes the world looks just like home—and the moments when only firsthand experience can break through corporate assumptions.

As promised during the episode, John and Toscan also acknowledge the three brands they didn’t get to—Lotus Motorcars, Opel, and Vauxhall—a reminder of just how expansive Toscan’s career has been. Even with an hour of conversation, there simply wasn’t enough time to cover all eleven.

Whether you’re fascinated by global business, automotive history, or the human side of cross‑cultural leadership, this episode offers a rare inside look at what it truly means to build a career across borders. Toscan Bennett’s journey is a lesson in adaptability, curiosity, and the power of seeing the world through more than one lens.

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Do Thai citizens love cars? And what attracts them to different brands? Those are the questions that John Jörn Stech, host of The Auto Ethnographer, set out to answer at a large motorshow in Bangkok, Thailand.

This week the 42nd Thailand International Motor Expo is bringing car fans and curious consumers from around the country to the IMPACT Challenger show hall. A wide range of brands hail from Europe, Japan, South Korea, the United States, and increasingly, from China.

John speaks with representatives from eight different brands – European, Japanese, American, and Chinese – to understand what attracts their customers to their brands. These are Volvo, Toyota, Audi, BMW, Chery, Ford, Great Wall Motors, and Zeekr. Listeners may be surprised what the brands think the consumers find attractive.

John speaks with Auteneo founder, Krzysztof Tokarz, about his company’s foray into social listening. This involves using AI-driven tools that “listen” to thousands of social media conversations about the automotive industry and specific brands. Using this social listening technology, automakers can learn what consumers are saying about their products and address the concerns, either tactically or with strategic product changes. To learn more about Autoneo’s capabilities, visit their website at https://www.auteneo.comand be sure to follow them on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/auteneo.

John also speaks about the increasing number of Chinese competitors in the market, with special focus on Changan’s luxury Avatr brand, whose show stand is directly adjacent to Mercedes-Benz. Is this a threat to the vaunted German luxury brand?

Auto shows are exciting, full of energy, and able to answer questions for inquisitive consumers. There is no doubt that Thailand’s show is in its prime and set to grow each year with new brands entering the market.

To learn more about The Auto Ethnographer, visit our website at https://www.auto-ethnographer.com.

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