Why Ineos Automotive's CEO says cars are 'in my blood'

Ineos Automotive CEO Lynn Calder says she never sought out to work in the car industry, but it seems to have almost been pre-determined.

Calder's father, Harry, a longtime mechanic, transferred his love of cars to his daughter, but she says his dedication was on a whole different level.

"I have made a few jokes to give people a flavor of what that was like," Calder told Automotive News Europe. "After he passed away [in 2017], we found all these photo albums -- a whole bookshelf of them -- and there wasn't a single person in any of them. Just cars. That's how passionate he was. Cars were his life's work. So, when I say cars are in my blood, I really mean it."

Calder was leading Ineos Group's composites division when company founder Jim Ratcliff asked her to run the automotive business, which she took over last December.

"It's been a really lucky coincidence for me," she said, because in a family or car lovers she is the first to reach such a high level within the industry.

When asked whether Ratcliff had to do any convincing to get her to take the job, Calder said that wasn't necessary: "I jumped at it."