Leipzig Leadership Lecture with Christian Lindner

From G7 to dealership margins: Christian Lindner translates geopolitical volatility into operational strategy.

Tariffs, interest rates, trade conflicts: What is negotiated at G7 summits ends up in the car retailers’ contribution margin just a few months later.

Christian Lindner – former Federal Minister of Finance, now Deputy CEO of Autoland AG – knows both sides. In his guest lecture at HHL, he demonstrates how geopolitical volatility can be translated into operational management logic. And why resilience is becoming the new competitive advantage.

When
Monday, September 7, 2026 | 4:30 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.

Where
Faculty of Education, Leipzig University (Erziehungswissenschaftliche Fakultät) | Lecture Hall

Agenda
4:15 p.m. | Doors Open
4:30 p.m. | Opening Remarks by the Dean of HHL
4:40 p.m. | 8th Leipzig Leadership Lecture
5:30 p.m. | Q&A

Speaker
Christian Lindner, Deputy Chairman of the Executive Board at Autoland AG & Former German Federal Minister of Finance

Language
This session will be held in German. Simultaneous live translation into English will be provided.

Please note: This event is exclusively open to HHL students, alumni, and staff.

About the Speaker

Christian Lindner is the Deputy Chairman of the Executive Board at Autoland AG, Germany’s largest independent automotive retail group, where he oversees marketing, sales, and digitalization. Before transitioning to corporate executive management, he spent over two decades in German high-level politics, serving as Federal Minister of Finance from 2021 to 2024 and long-standing Federal Chairman of the FDP (2013–2025). Having started his career as an entrepreneur and start-up founder in the early 2000s, he combines political decision-making experience with a passion for mobility, growth strategy, and digital business transformation.

Photo Credits: Autoland AG