Barbara Cox Awards 2024 nominees:
Marta Blázquez
President of Faconauto
Brief biography of you and your career
Faconauto President Marta Blazquez has more than 20 years’ experience in automotive. She has held director positions in marketing, communications, sales and retail at various entities within the PSA-Citroën Group and Banque PSA Finance. Following her tenure at a Swiss consulting firm for three years, she was also head of direct sales and marketing at Citibank.
She joined Faconauto in 2018 as Executive Vice President and became President in 2023. Representing more than 2,000 dealerships, Faconauto is a combination of dealer associations working for car brands, industrial vehicles and agricultural machinery. Marta is also a director on the board of CEOE (the Spanish Confederation of Employers’ Organizations), the executive committee of CEPYME (Spanish Confederation of Small and Medium Enterprises), and Mujeres Avenir, a Spanish-French association focused on promoting gender equality and female empowerment.
She has been ranked among the top 100 most influential women in Spain and among the five most influential women in automotive. In 2021, she received the Motor Mujerhoy Leadership Award.
What is your proudest achievement as a leader or role model?
“It gave me enormous pride, personally and professionally, to become the first female Faconauto President in almost four decades.
“At Faconauto, we look after the interests of distribution dealers in Spain, and it is an honour to represent more than 2,000 associates and companies, which employ 161,287 people.
“I am Faconauto’s spokesperson and public face. In most of the institutional and corporate meetings I attend, I am usually one of the few and, sometimes, the only woman.
“That proves just how much we have to keep on working to change this ‘picture’ in automotive.
“I am part of an increasingly expanding movement that has taken shape thanks to the Faconauto Woman project. Together with my team, I have been the driving force and I feel fortunate to be in this position.
“I was also one of the founders of the Dialogue Association, which promotes Spanish-French relations under the umbrella of the French Embassy. Some years after its creation, it became the Women’s Network of the Peugeot and Citroën group in Spain.
“It has been nothing short of a revolution for automotive manufacturers in our country and in Europe, as it meant women in the sector could come together to promote initiatives to make us more visible.
“I have always wanted to be known as a woman who supports other women. Dialogue is the essence of this. The motto of Faconauto Woman is ‘We are stronger together’.
“This motivates me every day and I believe it’s my mission to help change Spanish automotive for the better. I am constantly seeking consensus to promote the union between the different players in our sector.”
What is the most significant innovation you have been involved with?
“Thanks to the vision and talent of many women at Faconauto, we have managed to revolutionise and modernise our organisation, making it an important part of the Spanish economy.
“Faconauto is an attractive, innovative and proactive project responding to many of automotive’s greatest challenges, such as the decarbonized mobility transition and the opportunities presented by technological development. We are helping our associates tackle these, and other issues so that they can be more competitive.
“We help shape the political agenda too, to influence governments and institutions to help defend the interests of the car dealers. That influence has been achieved thanks, in large part, to four strategic projects. At the head of these is Faconauto Woman, which, along with Faconauto Verde, Faconauto University and Faconauto Seguridad Vial, works to ensure dealerships have greater equality, better training and greater knowledge of electrification, energy efficiency and digital transformation.
“Our feminine approach has been essential to promoting the unity of the automotive sector in Spain. Faconauto is the glue that holds many employer associations together, ensuring they are focused on shared objectives.”
What do you do to give back to charity and/or the wider community?
“Everyone has an obligation to help others who are less fortunate. For more than a decade, I have been actively collaborating with Regalar Sonrisas, a beautiful initiative that arranges for children and young people in Spain to donate gifts and money to other less fortunate children.
“This is a very important cause to me, as I firmly believe the next generation should grow up with values such as solidarity and generosity. In Spain, there are many initiatives like this, with so many people dedicating their efforts and time to a positive end.
“Every Christmas, Faconauto and its dealers, together with CaixaBank Payments & Consumer, contribute to El árbol de los sueños (“The tree of dreams”). So far, more than 1,000 gifts have been donated to vulnerable children and young people.
“Our Faconauto Congress has allowed us to lead awards that recognize the great work carried out by other groups in sustainability, education or equality. In the last round of our “Commitment Awards,” we presented one to the Spanish women’s football team for demonstrating the values of talent, hard work, and team spirit on and off the field.
“I am also a member of the Impulso Awards judging panel for Innovation in sustainable mobility. The main objective is to highlight innovation in Spanish sustainable mobility and recognise innovation and projects developed by companies, entrepreneurs, and administrations that have had a positive impact.
I am also part of a jury organised by BMW Benigar that campaigns for mobility grants for women who are at risk of social exclusion. This is driven by one of its dealerships: Hispamovil SA, via the campaign “Demasiadas Paradas” (“Too many unemployed”). The group seeks to provide concrete support to improve the mobility of these women and help them access employment, training and autonomy.
“The philosophy and objectives of Faconauto Woman have influenced every initiative, contact, meeting, interview, media appearance and project that our employers’ association has developed in recent years.”
What advice would you give to a woman considering a career in automotive?
“Don’t be afraid. I know that this sector has historically been linked more to males, but that is changing. We are changing it. All women can aspire to be part of the automotive industry. They all have great opportunities to grow professionally in roles throughout the automotive value chain. That goes for the dealerships I represent but also in engineering, design, digitalisation and communications.
“Ultimately, Faconauto Woman has, for four years, built a community that means greater visibility for women in our sector.”
What advice would you give your younger self on having a successful career?
“Successful careers involve many factors, such as effort, perseverance, and the ability to keep learning. But the key is being able to work as part of a team. For me, it is especially important to be approachable and accessible and to set clear objectives so as not to lose focus. In addition, I always leave plenty of room for my team to grow and develop.
“I have been fortunate to work with bosses who have pushed me and helped me to improve, so I consider it essential to pass that on, to support and motivate others.
“Leaders must always be aware of the importance of their team. Being a leader means being a clear, open person who sets the objectives for their team in a strategic way but also knows how to give space for each professional to grow.
“I exercise leadership that is far removed from hierarchy or imposition. I have been fortunate in that I have always had good leaders and I have learned a lot from them.
