Speakers
Keynote Speaker
Mr. Li Shufu
Chairman
Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Limited
Mr. Li Shufu began his career in 1984 as director of the Zhejiang Huangvan Shiqu Refrigerator Company. In 1986, he was named director of the Zhejiang Huangvan Beijihua Refrigerator Company. By 1989, Mr. Li became the general manager of Zhejiang Taizhou Geely Decoration Ltd. In 1992, he returned to university to continue his studies and resumed his career in 1995 when he was named chairman of Zhejiang Geely Holding Group.
Dedicated to the development of national automobile industry, Mr. Li shows unique understanding and original views in various areas like the introduction and cultivation of talents, reform and perfection of operation and management, product updating and upgrading, product quality enhancement, operation scale expansion, and capital operation.
Mr. Li has been awarded numerous titles including National Outstanding Township Entrepreneur, Youth Reformer, "Pace-setter in the New Long March", Management Professional, Top Ten Private Entrepreneur, Man of the time in the Auto-mobile Industry in China, Outstanding Person in the Auto-mobile Industry in China (50 years) and Zheshang Man of the Year. While appreciative of the awards, he likes to point out that the recognition is for past achievements, and that greater challenges lie ahead. Mr. Li's lifelong goal is reflected in his Chinese name, which means working for the well-being of the people in China.
Mr. Li received a bachelors degree in management engineering at the Harbin University of Science and Technology and a masters degree in mechanical engineering from Yanshan University. He is member of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.
Masaya Nagai
President
Honda Automobile (China) Co. Ltd.
Masaya Nagai is president of Honda Automobile (China) Co. Ltd in Guangzhou.
Mr. Nagai began his career at Honda Motor Company in 1987 handling automobile sales in Japan. In 1992, he took on public relations responsibilities in Honda's headquarters office in Tokyo.
Beginning in 1996, Mr. Nagai moved to the United States to handle company communications at Honda of America Manufacturing Inc. in Ohio. By 1998, he headed north to Detroit to assume public relations responsibilities for Honda of America Inc.
In 2001, he returned to Japan to assume public relations duties back at Honda's headquarters office in Tokyo. He stayed there for three years until being named general manager, public relations for Honda Motor (China) Investment Co. Ltd. in 2004. Mr. Nagai remained in that position until being named president of Honda Automobile (China) Co. Ltd. in 2007.
Wang Fengying
President
Great Wall Motor Company Ltd.
David N. (Nick) Reilly
GM Group Vice President,
President,
GM Asia Pacific
General Motors
Nick Reilly has served as president of GM Asia Pacific and GM group vice president since July 1, 2006. Based in Shanghai, China, he is also chairman of both the GM Daewoo Auto and Technology Company (GMDAT) and Shanghai GM (SGM).
Mr. Reilly began his GM career in 1975 with the former Detroit Diesel Allison Division in the United Kingdom. From 1978 to 1984, he held various assignments with General Motors in Belgium, the United States, and Mexico.
Returning to England, he moved to Vauxhall Motors as general operations manager, aftersales. He later held the post of Vauxhall supply manager and was appointed a director of the company in 1986.
In 1987, Mr. Reilly was named vice president of operations and a member of the board of directors of GM's IBC vehicle joint venture with Isuzu in Luton, England. In 1990, he was appointed director of manufacturing at Vauxhall's Ellesmere Port plant. Four years later, he became vice president of quality and reliability for General Motors Europe in Zurich, Switzerland, and a member of the GM Europe Strategy Board.
He returned to the U.K. in 1996 as chairman and managing director of Vauxhall and, in 1997, was named a GM vice president. In 2001, Reilly returned to Zurich, Switzerland, as vice president of sales, marketing, and aftersales for GM Europe, from where he transferred to Korea to lead GM's transition team in the formation of GM Daewoo, beginning in January 2002. He assumed the duties of president and chief executive officer of GMDAT upon the company's founding in October 2002.
A native of the United Kingdom, Mr. Reilly is a graduate of Cambridge University. In 2000, he was appointed as a Commander of the British Empire (CBE) in recognition of his contribution to the U.K. automotive industry. He has advised the U.K. government in the fields of vocational training and integrated transport. He received the Global CEO Grand Prize 2006 from the Korean Academy of International Business.
Reilly serves as deputy chairman of the Seoul International Business Advisory Council (SIBAC), is past chairman of the U.S. National Center for Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (NCAPEC), and is a member of the U.S. APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC).
Joachim Wedler
First Vice President
FAW-Volkswagen Automotive Co., Ltd.
Joachim Wedler is the first vice president of FAW-Volkswagen Automotive Company, Ltd., a position he was appointed to in February 2006.
Mr. Wedler started his professional practice at the Deutsche Bank in Germany where he worked for two years.
In 1985, he began his career at Audi AG in Ingolstadt, Germany where he held several different positions in the financial division. By 1991 he was nominated as the head of purchasing controlling. In 1993 he was appointed as the head of research and development controlling. Beginning in 1995, Joachim Wedler was the head of production controlling, responsible for financial issues with regard to production at the Audi Group. Audi produced 823,136 cars and 1.7 Mio. engines in 2005.
Joachim Wedler studied economics at the University of Stuttgart in Germany.
Frank O’Brien
Executive Vice President, Asia Pacific Region
Magna International Inc.
Frank O'Brien was named executive vice president, Asia Pacific Region of Magna International Inc. in September, 2006. As a veteran "Asian hand" and having lived in Japan for many years, Mr. O'Brien has been responsible for Asian markets for more than twenty years in various career positions.
Prior to his appointment to the Magna Corporate Office, Mr. O'Brien filled the roles of vice president corporate sales and marketing for Magna Donnelly Inc., one of Magna's ten operating units, and vice president of strategy and planning for the parent company.
Mr. O'Brien, who has worked in the automotive industry for twenty five years, began his career as an intern at Nissan Motor company's head office in Tokyo.
He then went to Asia as part of the Executive Training Program in Japan. Subsequently, he established the Donnelly Corporation Japan Office which he ran for five years before moving to the U.S. to head up the company's International Sales Department. In 1994, Mr. O'Brien relocated to Ireland, where he originates from, as Chief Executive of Donnelly's Irish Operations. In 1997, he moved to Germany and was named vice president of European Business Units. From 2000, he was vice president of Donnelly's Camera Vision Group until the company was acquired by Magna International.
Susan Derkach
Senior Consultant, North China
Hewitt Associates
Susan Derkach works with Hewitt Associates' Beijing office as a senior talent and organization consultant. Ms. Derkach works with clients to improve organizational effectiveness and manage organizational change through talent and leadership development, and employee retention, engagement and communications. She managed Hewitt's Best Employers in China Study for North China in 2007.
Prior to joining Hewitt, Ms. Derkach worked with a global training and consulting company in Beijing, helping multinational clients to develop solutions and implement people development programs in the areas of sales performance, leadership and teamwork, and customer service. Her previous work experience includes positions as chief representative for China with a specialty chemicals manufacturer, as well as HR management in Japan. Her experience brings broad strategic perspectives in addition to understanding of market entry and cross-cultural people management issues. She has been working in Asia for over 12 years.
Susan Derkach is an active member of Beijing's business community. She is chair of the Human Resource Forum for the British Chamber of Commerce in Beijing, and co-chair of the American Chamber of Commerce's HR Forum.
Ms. Derkach holds a Bachelor of Commerce with a concentration in Industrial Relations Management and Human Resource Management from the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada, a post-graduate diploma in Asia Pacific Management from the McRae Institute of International Management in Vancouver, Canada, and a Masters of Science in Organization Development, from Pepperdine University in California. She has a conversational fluency in Mandarin, as well as a basic command of French and Japanese.
Michael J. Dunne
Managing Director, China Operations
J.D. Power and Associates
Michael Dunne is Managing Director of China operations for J.D. Power Asia Pacific. He was named to this position on January 1, 2007.
For the time being, Mr. Dunne is also the Founder and President of Automotive Resources Asia Ltd. (ARA), a division of J.D. Power and Associates that specializes in Asian automotive markets. Mr. Dunne oversees both J.D. Power Asia Pacific's China and ARA operations, with locations in Shanghai, Beijing and Bangkok.
Mr. Dunne has 14 years of hands-on experience in Asian markets, advising global auto makers and suppliers on business strategy. He is a guest speaker at key global automotive industry conferences, including the Management Briefings Seminars in Traverse City, Michigan, the Financial Times Automotive Conference in Frankfurt, Germany, and the Automotive News Asia-Pacific Congress.
Leading industry and business media and publications Dow Jones, Bloomberg, The Wall Street Journal and the Financial Times routinely secure Mr. Dunne's views on the future trends of the Asian auto markets. His own opinion pieces have been published by Automotive News, The Wall Street Journal and the Detroit Free Press. He also appears in interviews on BBC, CNBC and CNN.
Mr. Dunne is currently writing a business book that features his experiences on how to succeed in the China market.
Mr. Dunne earned a master's degree in Chinese history and an MBA at the University of Michigan. He speaks and reads Mandarin Chinese and Thai.
Rakesh Sachdev
Senior Vice President and President of Asia Pacific
ArvinMeritor, Inc.
Rakesh Sachdev is senior vice president and president of Asia Pacific, ArvinMeritor, Inc. He is responsible for managing existing customer relationships, developing new business and running the company's operations in China, India, Australia, Japan, Korea, Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam.
Reporting directly to ArvinMeritor's Chairman, CEO and President Charles G. "Chip" McClure, he will help the company increase profitability by adding $1 billion in sales in the region over the next three to five years, increase outsourcing from the region by more than $1 billion in purchases from new and existing suppliers, and substantially expand ArvinMeritor's engineering and development footprint in India and China.
Previously, he served as senior vice president of Strategy and Corporate Development for ArvinMeritor. In this position, he was responsible for leading efforts to develop and implement ArvinMeritor's global strategies. Further, managed all corporate development activities including mergers, acquisitions and divestitures, and led internal business strategy initiatives.
Prior to that, Mr. Sachdev was vice president and controller; interim CFO; and vice president and general manager of Worldwide Braking Systems for ArvinMeritor's Commercial Vehicle Systems (CVS) business group.
Rakesh Sachdev joined ArvinMeritor in 1999 as vice president and general manager for CVS' global trailer products group, after more than 18 years of senior management experience with Cummins Engine Company. While at Cummins, he served as chief financial officer of Cummins Automotive Business Unit. Prior to that, Mr. Sachdev was managing director, chief operating officer and chief financial officer for Cummins' manufacturing, marketing and distribution business in Mexico. He also served as vice president and general manager for international business at Atlas, Inc., a Cummins subsidiary.
Mr. Sachdev is a graduate of the Indian Institute of Technology in New Delhi, India, with a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering. He holds a master of business administration degree in finance from Indiana University, as well as a master of science degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Illinois.
Neville Green
Director and General Manager
Manheim Investment Management Consultancy (Shanghai) Company
Neville Green has over 30 years experience in the auto industry at senior management level. That experience includes 22 years at Nissan Australia in various leadership roles in finance, distribution, dealer operations, sales, marketing, and export and after sales as well as being a member of the Executive Committee.
In 1998 Neville Green joined Manheim as operations director for the Australian business. In this role he was responsible for all vehicle related activities including vehicle logistics and processing, inspection, reconditioning, and vehicle preparation and auction logistics, as well as key OEM account management. Mr. Green also established new business start ups in Japan and Thailand, and developed the business in New Zealand.
After 2 years of living and working in Thailand, Mr. Green moved to China in early 2005 to develop Manheim's business there. He is director and general manager of Manheim Investment Management Consultancy (Shanghai) Company. He is also a director of Manheim China Holdings, its overseas parent company, and Manheim Asia Pacific. He is also chairman of Manheim's Joint Ventures in China.
*Additional speakers pending. Please check back soon.
