Women have been making waves in the automotive industry for decades. Dating back to the early days, we find inspiration and incredible women in this industry.
Some might think women haven’t pioneered any aspect of the car world, but that simply isn’t true. Wherever you look in today’s automotive world, you’ll find women in key roles shaping the industry to make things better for everyone.
What roles have women played over the years? Here are five incredible women that have had strong influences in the automotive industry.
Wilhelmine Erhardt
The year was 1899, and the Eisenach vehicle factory in German was ready to take all of its motor vehicles on an outing. Yes, you read that right, all of the vehicles. The factory manager, Gustav Ehrhardt, understood his wife’s enthusiasm for cars. This put Wilhelmine behind the wheel of one of the four Wartburg motor vehicles that were first taken on an outing. Imagine the looks Wilhelmine received as she drove around as the very first female car driver in Germany.
Wilhelmine and Gustav would travel together when Gustave would drive his Wartburg racing car during long-distance cross-border trips. Nearly a year later, Wilhelmine became the first female driver in a motor race. This race took place on August 3, 1901, where she narrowly missed out on being on the podium after the race.
Mary Barra
In 2014, Mary Barra became the CEO of GM, making her one of the most incredible women in the automotive industry. Although it was 2014, she was the first female CEO in the industry. Barra began her GM career at 18 as a co-op student and took on many different roles at the company. The stepping stone to becoming the CEO was her role as the Senior and Executive Vice President of GM Global Product Development.
Mary Barra has successfully led GM through some of the most recent changes in the industry, helping to poise the GM brands for the future. Times Magazine has named Barra as one of the “100 Most Influential People in the World,” which she certainly is.
Clarenore Stinnes
Clarenore Stinnes is the first woman to circumnavigate the world by car. She was known as a daredevil and risk-taker, which led her to take on this arduous journey at the age of 26. This meant the trek took place from 1927 to 1926 over the course of 26 months. Keep in mind, at this time in history, there were very few roads, and some countries were still without cars. Maps were often few and far between, but still, Stinnes finished the trek.
This journey took her and her companion across Europe, through the Balkans, across Caucasus to Siberia, across the Gobi desert to China and Japan, over the Andes, and across the USA. The pair finally returned to Europe via ship, and Stinnes became the first woman to circumnavigate the globe by car.
Josephine Payne
Josephine Payne is a plant manager at Ford. She leads a team of more than 250 people and is responsible for overseeing the manufacturing of all Ford engines, transmissions, axles, and batteries for the global automotive market. This easily makes her one of the most incredible women in the automotive industry. She, like Mary Barra, began her career in the automotive industry at a young age. She has a degree in electronic engineering and has been part of the Ford team for the past 24 years.
Payne not only runs one of the most important Ford plants in the world, but she has been instrumental in promoting women into various careers in the automotive industry. She is certainly shaking things up and making a huge difference at Ford.
Danica Patrick
One of the most impressive women in the automotive industry that has become a household name is Danica Patrick. She is one of the most recent racing successes of women on the track. Until the next woman breaks her records, Danica is the most successful woman in NASCAR and IndyCar motorsports. She won the IndyCar race at Motegi, Japan, in 2008. Patrick broke down barriers and opened the doors for other women to race in these top-speed races.
During her NASCAR career, Patrick raced in 191 races. She never made it to the podium but did enjoy seven top-ten finishes. She was the first woman to secure the pole position in the Daytona 500 in 2013. Danica Patrick has been shaking up the auto racing world since she began racing IndyCar models in 2005.
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