Heiko Lässig is a senior automotive executive currently serving as Managing Director of HELLA Corporate Center Asia and Head of Finance & Controlling China at FORVIA HELLA, a global leader in automotive lighting and electronics. Based in Shanghai, he shapes strategy and drives disciplined execution across Asia, advancing financial governance, proactive risk management, and operational excellence for the FORVIA HELLA Group.
With more than a decade of leadership at FORVIA HELLA, Lässig previously held roles including EVP for Enterprise Risk Management, Internal Control, Process Management, and the Data Office. His experience includes optimizing global processes, institutionalizing risk intelligence, and accelerating fact-based decision making across complex, international environments. As a frequent speaker at industry and transformation events, he focuses on finance-driven transformation, proactive risk management, and end-to-end process optimization—translating expertise from real operational contexts into practical executive methodologies. Leveraging deep finance expertise and broad business acumen, Lässig is recognized for cross-functional impact at the intersection of finance, supply chain, and enterprise transformation. He combines strategic clarity with execution discipline to deliver resilient performance and strengthen FORVIA HELLA’s partnerships with OEMs and government stakeholders.
APAC BUSINESS: Mr. Lässig, FORVIA HELLA’s remarkable business growth in Asia has been truly impressive. Could you share your insights into the key factors that have fueled this exceptional regional performance? Would you like to share some inspiring stories of how you empower your customers?
Heiko Lässig: Asia is a key pillar of FORVIA HELLA’s long-term strategy, and our performance reflects more than three decades of sustained commitment, investment and customer partnership.
Three factors drive our success. First, our “In China, for China, to the World” strategy goes beyond local presence. We have highly capable local teams, and have built end-to-end capabilities across R&D, supply chain, manufacturing and customer support — enabling us to respond quickly to local OEM requirements while combining China’s development speed with FORVIA HELLA’s global technology expertise and manufacturing footprint. This positions us to support Chinese OEMs both in their domestic growth and international expansion.
Second, our lighting and electronics portfolio is closely aligned with the industry’s major trends. Working alongside customers, we develop affordable innovations with China’s innovation ecosystem strengthening our path to series production. This close cooperation is essential because customer success is not something we deliver at the end of a project. It is the principle that guides our decisions from the first discussion through development, industrialization and series production.
Third, regional autonomy is a decisive source of agility. We always speak about empowerment and accountability: Our teams in Asia are very much empowered to make decisions close to customers and take end-to-end responsibility for customer engagement, product development and execution — enabling faster decisions and more precise responses to local needs, while remaining aligned with FORVIA HELLA’s overall strategy and consistent quality standards. And the local teams do indeed take on this accountability.
Chinese OEMs now represent a growing share of our business and R&D pipeline — and together with our local capabilities and global scale, they give us strong confidence in the region’s continued potential.
APAC BUSINESS: From your vantage point, what are some of the key trends transforming Asia’s automotive industry and the wider global ecosystem?
Heiko Lässig: Asia’s automotive transformation is accelerating, with China at its center.
Competition is shifting from scale to technology. By 2025, China’s NEV penetration exceeded 50 %, local brands surpassed 60 % market share, and exports continued to grow. Success increasingly depends on innovation speed, software integration, cost efficiency and technology-driven differentiation. Our “In China, for China, to the World” strategy supports Chinese OEMs through localized supply chains, customer co-creation, smart manufacturing and scalable platforms—both domestically and internationally.
The industry is also moving toward software-defined vehicles and zonal E/E architectures. As centralized layouts replace more than 100 individual control units, high-performance electronics must enable functional integration and hardware-software decoupling. FORVIA HELLA contributes with solutions like innovative eFuse solution iConF.
Intelligent assisted driving is expanding, creating demand for reliable environmental perception across performance and cost levels. Our scalable radar portfolio addresses applications from cost-sensitive to high-performance vehicles.
Electrification is driving further demand for high- and low-voltage power electronics and energy-management solutions.
Lighting, meanwhile, is becoming more digital, differentiating, interactive and integrated with vehicle design and user experience. We are developing scalable, affordable innovations that bring distinctive premium lighting to high-volume segments.
APAC BUSINESS: China is now at the forefront of automotive tech and production. Meanwhile, Japan and South Korea have strong foundational advantages, and Southeast Asia holds immense potential. How do you envision the market prospects across these diverse Asian markets over the next few years?
Heiko Lässig: Each market has a distinct profile, and the opportunity in each requires a tailored lens.
China is and will remain the central stage. On the one hand, it accounts for almost 60 percent of the entire production output in the Asia-Pacific region. On the other hand, China is regarded as the ‘fitness centre’ of the automotive industry. As it combines unmatched scale, an unparalleled pace of of innovation, and an OEM landscape that is rapidly internationalizing. The competitive intensity there is extraordinary — and that intensity is exactly what sharpens our capabilities. Chinese OEMs are raising the bar on speed and value, and as global suppliers we must localize deeply, partner strategically, and move decisively. The innovations we develop with Chinese OEMs today will shape our global product roadmap tomorrow. China is, for us, the clearest example of a local innovation engine with global relevance.
The markets in Japan and South Korea are, by their very nature, different. But they, too, have their strengths: established global OEMs with deep technology traditions, and significant institutional weight in the global automotive ecosystem. Here, too, we at FORVIA HELLA can become even stronger. So: our aim here is clear – to focus more closely also on high-growth target markets outside China, to respond more quickly to customer needs and to develop targeted strategies.
Southeast Asia is where I see dynamic long-term growth potential. Rising vehicle ownership rates, expanding middle classes, and increasing interest from Chinese OEMs looking to establish production and sales footholds in the region create a multi-layer opportunity. Leveraging our global network within FORVIA group, we are well positioned to support customers across this diverse landscape with profound expertise and know-how in each market’s regulatory environment, consumer preferences, and infrastructure realities.
The common thread across all of Asia is this: the region is not a single market. It requires the organizational capability to be genuinely local everywhere while drawing on global technology leadership.
APAC BUSINESS: ESG and sustainability have undoubtedly become critical priorities for global industry leaders, particularly in the manufacturing sector. Could you elaborate on FORVIA HELLA’s overarching philosophy and share your key insights into your sustainability practices?
Heiko Lässig: Sustainability is not an add-on for us — it is integral to how we define business success, and I feel strongly about this.
At FORVIA HELLA, our sustainability commitment spans the full value chain: products and technologies, manufacturing processes, daily business operations, and supply chain management. Our group-wide target is net-zero by 2045. In China’s dual-carbon landscape — peak emissions by 2030, carbon neutrality by 2060 — this commitment aligns directly with national priorities in China and, increasingly, with what our customers require of their suppliers. Many OEMs now integrate carbon footprint metrics into supplier evaluation and project bidding. Sustainable capability is no longer a differentiator; it is a prerequisite.
A concrete milestone in our manufacturing journey is the certification of our Jiaxing lighting plant — our largest lighting facility in Asia — as a national-level “Green Factory.” This is proof of commitment. By aligning manufacturing excellence with sustainability, we create shared value: reduced environmental impact, improved cost efficiency, regulatory compliance, and stronger competitive positioning for our customers and partners.
My vision is clear: FORVIA HELLA is a driving force for sustainable transformation in the automotive industry.
APAC BUSINESS: Mr. Lässig, please tell us more about your personal journey and career milestones? Given your extensive background, particularly your tenure in senior finance leadership roles, how has this deep expertise reshaped your philosophy for building and leading high-performing teams in Asia? Looking back, what are some key takeaways or lessons learned from your journey?
Heiko Lässig: I have more than 23 years of international automotive experience and have spent more than a decade in leadership roles at FORVIA HELLA. My professional journey has taken me through the USA, Europe and China, giving me the opportunity to work in different markets, business environments and organizational cultures.
My responsibilities have included finance and controlling, enterprise risk management, internal control, business process management and Global Business Services. In addition, my experience includes a strong operational dimension: improving processes, strengthening governance, enabling efficient execution and ensuring that enterprise capabilities translate into measurable results for customers and the business.
Since 2024, as Managing Director of HELLA Corporate Center Asia and Executive Vice President of Finance & Controlling China, I focus on aligning enterprise capabilities with local market dynamics and creating scalable value for customers and the Group.
My finance background has shaped my leadership in three ways. First, it has strengthened my focus on facts, impact and sustainable value creation. Second, it has taught me to identify risks early and turn transparency into better decisions. Third, it has shown me that operational excellence depends on cooperation across business groups and functions.
Through my leadership of Global Business Services and earlier roles in risk management, internal control and process optimization, I have learned how to make complex international organizations more effective. My approach is pragmatic: clarify priorities, simplify processes, strengthen governance and give teams the information and authority they need to act.
Leading in Asia also requires cultural openness and adaptability. Local teams understand their markets, customers and operating conditions best. My role is to combine their expertise with global standards and provide a framework in which they can take ownership.
For me, high-performing teams are not created by individual heroes. They are created when people have a clear purpose, the right capabilities, reliable processes, sufficient decision-making authority and the confidence to challenge existing approaches. That is the kind of environment I want to help build at FORVIA HELLA in Asia.