Register now – Building the automotive supply chain of 2026 by embracing opportunity in a more dynamic market
With 2025’s lessons in hand, the industry looks forward to a year where resilient networks, predictive tools and scenario planning open new avenues for growth, shaping the industry’s predictions for 2026.
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Following Automotive Logistics’ December livestream, which examined the major disruptions and risk events of a turbulent 2025, this January session looks ahead to 2026 with a sharper focus on how the automotive industry can maintain resilience and continuity in an environment where uncertainty is constant.
With pressures unlikely to ease quickly, we saw many organisations using 2025 to step back, plan more deliberately and position their networks for growth. The question for 2026 is whether this uncertainty can continue to be used as a prompt for better-informed, more robust decision-making.
Drawing on perspectives from across the industry, including Marion Gillich, head of supply chain resilience management at Daimler Truck, the session looks at how supply chain leaders are using data, planning tools and scenario thinking to support decisions around risk – understanding trade-offs and preparing for the next wave of disruption before it arrives.
Areas of focus include:
Network redesign and sourcing decisions: Tariff volatility, material constraints and regional production shifts are prompting OEMs and suppliers to reassess sourcing footprints and logistics flows for greater resilience, flexibility, and cost control in 2026.
Risk as a planning input: How supply chain teams are increasingly factoring risk into planning and scenario work, using data to test options and trade-offs that will influence investment and operational decisions next year.
Business continuity as a baseline: What continuity looks like when volatility is treated as normal operating conditions, and how this is changing expectations around inventory, capacity, optionality and response times going into 2026.
Lessons carried forward from recent disruption: How the experience of recent years is informing stress-testing, governance and decision-making discipline, shaping how prepared the industry expects to be for future shocks.
Event details
Date: 29 January 2026
Time: 15:30 GMT | 10:30 EST | 16:30 CET
Format: Online livestream
Interested in sponsoring this livestream? Please contact Freya at freya.english@ultimamedia.com or your usual account manager.
Speakers:
Marion Gillich, Head of Supply Chain Resilience Management, Daimler Truck AG
Since the end of 2022, Marion is heading the newly founded department of Supplier Risk Management within Global Procurement of Daimler Truck, which includes direct and indirect material purchasing.
Part of her role is managing all supplier insolvencies but also preventively mitigating supply risks and ensuring compliance and sustainability requirements in the supply chain.
In addition, she heads the European contract management area for Daimler Truck Procurement and takes care of the supplier evaluation process globally.
Her team is very strong in analytics, using internal and external data for more transparency, risk mitigation and decision steering and with that integrating a holistic supplier risk approach into the entire sourcing process. She is directly reporting to the Chief Procurement & Supplier Management officer of Daimler Truck.
Marion started her career in the automotive space in 2004 with multiple assignments in the US, many years at Daimler India Commercial Vehicles in Chennai, Financial Services in Singapore and Germany, covering Procurement, Supplier Management and Sales.
She graduated with a Bachelor of Business Administration in International Management in Karlsruhe, Germany and added her Master of Arts in Global Diplomacy at SOAS, University of London.
Christopher Ludwig, Chief Content Officer, Automotive Logistics & Ultima Media
Christopher Ludwig is chief content officer at UK-based Ultima Media, part of SWMH, where he is responsible for all editorial and content strategy and delivery across B2B automotive titles including Automotive Manufacturing Solutions (AMS), Car Design News (CDN), Automotive Logistics (AL) as well as business intelligence and analysis.
Ludwig is responsible for developing leading information and growing expert audiences across events and publications for dedicated expert groups especially in the automotive industry, and is a frequent host and speaker at global industry events. He also supports and collaborates with the editorial teams across the Cluster Industry, Automotive and Events at SWMH, including Automobil Produktion.
Ludwig has 20 years’ experience in journalism and media and has been covering the automotive industry since 2007. He has a Master of Science in Media and Communication from the London School of Economics.
Moderator:
Megan Kelly, Deputy Editor, Automotive Logistics & Ultima Media
Megan Kelly is deputy editor of Automotive Logistics, where she contributes to the overall editorial strategy and is responsible for the creation and publication of daily digital content including original news, features, special reports and newsletters, and quarterly print publications of Automotive Logistics’ magazines.
Megan is also responsible for growing expert audiences across events and publications and is on the ground at many of Automotive Logistics’ events to moderate panel sessions and network.
Megan has seven years of experience in journalism and media and has been covering the automotive industry since 2023. She has a Master of Magazine Journalism from City St George’s University of London.
Upcoming livestreams:
Please keep an eye out for updates on our 2026 livestreams - further announcements to follow.
Automotive Logistics livestreams are a key part of our 360-degree content ecosystem, offering timely discussions on the industry’s biggest challenges and opportunities. Complementing our digital hub, in-person events, reports, and publications, these sessions deliver actionable insights aligned with the trends shaping automotive logistics.
