SS,
Thanks for reaching out. Yes, I do have a lot of experience in this area. I'm also a veteran of the automotive world myself, so you are in the right place for sure.
As for your candidacy, you could probably stand to get a little bit more seasoning for many top US schools, but there has also been a youth movement afoot and the fact that you will be right around 4 years experience at matriculation and that you have people reporting to you (cross-functionally or not) means you can make a decent case that now is the right time for an MBA. And honestly, that is what it will boil down to. If you can explain why now, you have a decent shot at some good US and European schools. If you can't really show why now is the time, you're going to want to log some more time in the work force, gain that critical promotion, manage a direct workforce, etc.
Thematically, you are going to want to hammer discipline and maturity in your work performance. Your course work will help offset the 3.0 somewhat, but probably not enough to totally satisfy top US b-schools. They'll want to see some evidence that you've shifted into another gear within your career.
It's a little difficult to advise you on schools without knowing what you want to do short and long term, but the first school that comes to mind is Ross. Your connection to Big Auto is an obvious connector, but Ross also has a lower average GPA (3.3) than most top programs, in large part because of the engineering-automative pipeline and the respect the school has for difficult major course work.
Love to get into this a little bit more by having you fill out our internal survey and go through a consultation. PM me and I can get you set up.
Respectfully,
Paul Lanzillotti