For years, the scene repeated itself over and over. Clients waited for the company engineer. When Lucía López walked through the door, surprise was inevitable.
“Where is the engineer?” they asked.
She was the engineer.
That reaction, which was commonplace for a long time in a male-dominated industry, ended up becoming one of the many challenges that would mark a nearly three-decade career at Cummins . Today, Lucía López is the commercial director for the automotive engine business and is one of T21’s 100 Women in Transport and Logistics .
But the journey began long before that.
When he decided to study industrial engineering, the response at home was almost immediate. His father was a doctor and, as was the case in many families more than 30 years ago, engineering was still seen as a male profession.
“Why don’t you study medicine? That’s not a career for women,” she recalled being told. However, it was also her father who ultimately gave her the support and encouragement to pursue the path she truly wanted.
That decision would mark the rest of his life.
He joined Cummins as an intern and never imagined that, 27 years later , he would still be building his career within the same company. Moreover, he did so by working in virtually every business area of the company: manufacturing, power generation, field testing, technical sales, off-highway applications, aftermarket , marketing and communications, eventually reaching the commercial management position for the automotive engine business.
His story is not made up of consecutive promotions, but of constant learning .
At the plant, he learned how engines worked, starting with their individual components . Later, he had the opportunity to participate in a power generation project in Zacatecas, where he spent a year and a half working with an all-male team.
There he learned maintenance, operation, service, and administration of a power plant that supplied electricity to the Federal Electricity Commission (CFE) . Later came field tests, certifications as a diesel technician, and hundreds of kilometers traveled alongside operators to understand engine behavior under real-world conditions.
“I’ve always liked understanding how things work,” he emphasized.
That curiosity eventually led her to technical sales, a field where she discovered she could combine her engineering knowledge with another of her great strengths: working with people . It was then that she understood the business wasn’t just about selling an engine, but about finding the right solution for each application.
However, growing within the organization meant facing challenges that went far beyond learning a new business.
In her early years, it was common for clients to arrive expecting to meet the Cummins engineer and be surprised to see her. One such incident occurred during a negotiation in Brazil, when a Korean client refused to discuss the matter with her solely because she was a woman and requested that a man be sent instead. Far from discouraging her, experiences like this reinforced a conviction that has guided her throughout her career: each new challenge meant proving once again that knowledge, preparation, and leadership are not dependent on gender.
Over time he understood that every change of position meant starting over.
“It was about demonstrating, once again, that I knew what I was talking about,” he commented.
Even though she had been with the company for years, each new position meant rebuilding the trust of those who didn’t know her. While others arrived with the backing of their position, she felt she first had to prove her abilities. That experience, she acknowledged, strengthened her character and forced her to develop an emotional intelligence that she now considers essential for any leader.
During that journey, people also appeared who influenced his professional development .
She speaks with particular gratitude of those who believed in her when she was just starting out, those who pushed her to step outside her comfort zone, and those who encouraged her to take on increasingly greater responsibilities. Thanks to these mentors at Cummins , she went from leading operations in Mexico to managing businesses across Latin America, coordinating teams in countries with completely different cultures, markets, and ways of doing business.
One of his most memorable moments was when he accepted the position of head of the off-road business for Latin America. In a matter of months, he went from managing a two- to three-million-dollar operation to leading a 50-million-dollar business , with teams distributed across various countries.
“It was learn or die,” he summarized.
That experience not only taught her how to run a business; it also forced her to learn how to work with people who thought differently , lived in other contexts, and faced completely different realities.
The second major turning point came when it took over the aftermarket filtration business .
Leading through people
Although he knew engines inside and out , he admitted he knew very little about filters. To further complicate matters, the manager he was to work with passed away unexpectedly before he even started. He found a team reeling from grief and without a clear transition plan. More than just managing a business, he had to rebuild people’s trust, support them through a difficult time, and rebuild a cohesive team. Five years later, the department had not only gotten back on track but had also improved its performance.
All those experiences ended up shaping the way he understands leadership today.
He doesn’t believe in micromanagement . He prefers to set goals, remove obstacles, and allow people to find their own path to achieving them. He also makes an effort to understand the aspirations of his team members to help them develop the skills they will need in the future.
“If I had people who believed in me, I want to do the same for others,” he explained.
His other conviction has to do with information.
Before making a decision, she needs data . She likes to research, analyze, and understand the context. She’s convinced that the best decisions come from knowledge, not assumptions. This discipline is also part of her daily life. Her days usually begin around 6:30 in the morning, and when she travels, she often ends up answering emails past midnight. She can’t stand leaving messages unread and always tries to keep up with her work, without neglecting time for her family, her husband, her friends, and activities like exercising or going to the movies.
When asked how she would like to be remembered, she doesn’t talk about positions, sales, or results. She talks about people.
She would like to be remembered as someone happy, curious, capable of helping others grow, and loyal to those who have shared her journey. And if she had to summarize her story in a single word, she wouldn’t hesitate to answer: perseverance .
Perhaps that is the word that best explains his career.
Because behind every job change, every challenge, and every new business, there was the same decision: to learn, to prove myself again, and to move forward.
A philosophy that not only led her to manage one of Cummins’ most important businesses in Mexico, but also to become one of T21’s 100 Women in Transportation and Logistics , a recognition that distinguishes the leaders who, with their work and example, contribute to transforming an industry that for years was reserved almost exclusively for men.
Comment and follow us on LinkedIn: @Karina Quintero / @GrupoT21
