Speakers
Sergio Marchionne
Chief Executive Officer
Chrysler Group LLC
Sergio Marchionne was named chief executive officer of Chrysler Group LLC in June 2009.
Previously, Mr. Marchionne was appointed chairman of Case New Holland (CNH) in April 2006 and chief executive officer of Fiat Group Automobiles in February 2005. He was appointed chief executive officer of Fiat S.p.A. in June 2004 and has been a member of the board since May 2003.
In 2008, he was appointed non-executive vice chairman and senior independent director of UBS. Mr. Marchionne also serves as a member of the board of Philip Morris International Inc. and a member of the general council of Confindustria (the employers association of Italy), of Assonime (the association of Italian corporates), and of ACEA (European Automobile Manufacturers Association). He is a permanent member of the Fondazione Giovanni Agnelli. He is also the chairman of SGS SA headquartered in Geneva.
Mr. Marchionne is a barrister, solicitor and chartered accountant. He obtained a bachelor of laws from Osgood Hall Law School at York University in Toronto, Canada. He also holds a master of business administration from the University of Windsor, Canada.
Mr. Marchionne is a recipient of a degree ad honorem in industrial engineering and management from Polytechnic University in Turin and a master's degree honoris causa from the CUOA Foundation. He also has a degree in economics honoris causa from the University of Cassino, and an honorary doctor of laws degree from the University of Windsor. Mr. Marchionne also holds the honor of Cavaliere del Lavoro.
Alan Mulally
President and CEO
Ford Motor Company
Alan Mulally is president and chief executive officer of Ford Motor Company. He also is a member of the company's board of directors.
Prior to joining Ford in September 2006, Mr. Mulally served as executive vice president ofThe Boeing Company, and president and chief executive officer of Boeing Commercial Airplanes. In that role, he was responsible for all of the company's commercial airplane programs and related services. Mr. Mulally also was a member of the Boeing Executive Council and served as Boeing's senior executive in the Pacific Northwest.
Mr. Mulally was named Boeing's president of commercial airplanes in September 1998. The responsibility of chief executive officer for the business unit was added in March 2001. Previously, Mr. Mulally served as president of Boeing Information, Space & Defense Systems and senior vice president of The Boeing Company. Appointed to that role in February 1997, he was responsible for Boeing's defense, space and government business.
Beginning in 1994, Mr. Mulally was senior vice president of airplane development for Boeing Commercial Airplanes Group, responsible for all airplane development activities, flight test operations, certification and government technical liaison.
Earlier, Mr. Mulally served as Boeing's vice president of engineering, and as vice president and general manager of the 777 program.
Throughout his career, Mr. Mulally has been recognized for his contributions and industry leadership, including being named "Person of the Year" for 2006 by Aviation Week magazine and one of "The Best Leaders of 2005" by BusinessWeek magazine.
Mr. Mulally holds bachelor's and master's of science degrees in aeronautical and astronautical engineering from the University of Kansas, and earned a master's in management from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology as a 1982 Alfred P. Sloan fellow.
Mark Reuss
President
GM North America
Mark Reuss was appointed president of GM North America on December 4, 2009. Before this appointment, he briefly served as vice president of engineering. Mr. Reuss managed GM's operations in Australia and New Zealand as the president and managing director of GM Holden, Ltd., from February, 2008 until July 2009. He also served on the GM Asia Pacific Strategy Board.
While in Australia, Mr. Reuss served as president of the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries. He led negotiations for long-term government support and a 10 year policy plan to restructure the Australian auto industry. Notably, he was lauded by the Australian Prime Minister and key State Premiers when he returned to the U.S.
Mr. Reuss began his career with General Motors in 1983 as a student intern. He has held numerous engineering and management positions across GM brands, including chief engineer roles in GM's large luxury car vehicles, and manufacturing body shop tooling launches.
In June, 2001, Mr. Reuss was named executive director, architecture engineering and GM Performance Division. He started the new GM Performance Division and launched associated production and racing vehicles including the V-Series Cadillacs and SS Chevrolets. In October 2005, Mr. Reuss was appointed executive director of North America vehicle systems and architecture. The following year, he was named executive director of global vehicle integration, safety, and virtual development.
Mr. Reuss received a bachelor of engineering degree in mechanical engineering from Vanderbilt University in 1986 and a master's degree in business administration from Duke University in 1990. He is a certified industry pool test driver on the North Course of the famed Nuerburgring motorsport race track in Nuerburg, Germany, and has earned his license for Grand American Road Racing.
Mr. Reuss is member of the Horizon Upward Bound/Cranbrook Schools Board of Directors and a member of the Vanderbilt University School of Engineering Board of Visitors. He is also GM's key executive for Penn State University.
Yoshimi Inaba
President & COO
Toyota Motor North America, Inc.
Yoshimi Inaba is president and COO of Toyota Motor North America, Inc. (TMA), the holding company for Toyota's North American sales, engineering and manufacturing operating units. He is also chairman and CEO of Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc., Toyota's U.S. sales, marketing, distribution and customer service arm in Torrance, California. In these roles, Mr. Inaba is responsible for Toyota's North American sales, marketing and external affairs operations.
He also serves as a director of Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC), Toyota's parent company in Japan.
Mr. Inaba joined TMC in 1968, immediately after graduating from Japan's Kyoto University. His first overseas assignment was in 1985 at Toyota's German sales company, where he worked for three years. After returning to TMC in Japan, he spent five years at the Europe Division. He then moved to TMS in 1993, becoming senior vice president in 1996, responsible for sales and marketing for the Toyota and Lexus divisions.
Mr. Inaba returned to Japan in 1997 and was named to TMC's board of directors (with managing director status) where he oversaw European and African operations. In 1999, Mr. Inaba moved back to the U.S. to become president of TMS, and in June 2003, he was made a senior managing director at TMC. In June 2005, he became an executive vice president, focusing on Toyota's Chinese operations.
In June 2007, he was appointed president and chief executive officer of Central Japan International Airport Co., Ltd., and a senior advisor to the board of TMC. In June 2009, Mr. Inaba returned to TMC in his current capacity.
Mr. Inaba graduated from Kyoto University with a degree in economics. He also earned a master's degree in business administration from Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Business in June 1976.
Roger Penske
Chairman
Penske Corporation
Roger S. Penske is the founder and chairman of Penske Corporation, a closely-held diversified transportation services company whose subsidiaries operate in a variety of segments including retail automotive, truck leasing, transportation logistics, transportation component manufacturing and high-performance racing. Penske Corporation manages businesses with revenues in excess of $14 billion, operates in over 1,800 locations and employs 36,500 people worldwide.
Penske companies include:
Penske Automotive Group, Inc., (NYSE:PAG) which operates more than 310 retail automotive franchises, representing 40 different brands in 17 states, Puerto Rico, the United Kingdom and Germany. PAG is also the exclusive distributor of the smart fortwo in the United States and Puerto Rico. PAG is a member of the Fortune 500 and Russell 1000.
Penske Motor Group, a privately-held specialty retailer of Toyota and Lexus vehicles in the California market. Longo Toyota, located in El Monte California, is the largest Toyota dealership in the United States, selling more than 18,000 new and used vehicles per year.
Penske Truck Leasing, a leading global transportation services provider, operating more than 200,000 vehicles and serving customers from more than 1,000 locations in North America, South America, Europe and Asia. Product lines include full-service truck leasing, contract maintenance, commercial and consumer truck rentals, transportation and warehousing management, and supply chain management solutions.
Several transportation-related manufacturing businesses, including Truck-Lite which produces lighting products, harness systems, mirrors and accessories primarily for heavy-duty vehicles in the United States and Europe; VM Motori, which specializes in the design and production of diesel engines for automotive and industrial applications; and Davco Technology, which produces fuel filtration systems and engine accessories for the North American heavy- and medium-duty truck market.
Transportation Resource Partners, a third-party private equity fund focused on leveraging control investments in growth-oriented manufacturing and service related businesses in the transportation industry.
Penske Performance operations include teams competing in the IndyCar Series, NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and NASCAR Nationwide Series under the "Penske Racing" banner. Penske Racing is one of the most successful teams in the history of professional sports. Competing in a variety of disciplines, cars owned and prepared by Penske Racing have 314 major race wins (including a record 15 Indianapolis 500 mile races), 373 pole positions and 22 National Championships.
Wilbur L. Ross, Jr.
Chairman and CEO
WL Ross & Co. LLC
Chairman
International Automotive
Components Group (IAC)
Wilbur Ross may be the best known turnaround financier in the U.S., having been involved in the restructuring of over $200 billion of defaulted companies' assets around the world. In 1998, Fortune Magazine called him "the King of Bankruptcy."
Mr. Ross organized International Steel Group in April 2002 and was its board chairman. By acquiring Bethlehem and other troubled companies, ISG became the largest integrated steel company in North America. It was listed on the New York Stock Exchange until it merged with Mittal Steel to form the largest steel company in the world. Mr. Ross remains a director of ArcelorMittal.
In October 2005, the firm teamed up with India's Housing Development Finance Corporation Limited, India's $9.5 billion mortgage finance institution, to invest in Indian corporate restructurings and turnarounds. The firm has become the first foreign fund selected by the Asset Reconstruction Company of India ("ARCIL") to rehabilitate a major Indian company, OCM.
In March, 2004, the firm organized International Textile Group ("ITG") by buying and consolidating two bankrupt companies, Burlington Industries and Cone Mills. Mr. Ross serves as chairman of ITG which has announced investments in China, VietNam and Guatemala and acquired Safety Components International and BST, two leading producers of airbag fabrics and cushions.
On October 1, 2004, WL Ross organized International Coal Group to acquire out of bankruptcy Horizon Natural Resources and two other coal companies and went public. It is listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol ICO.
In 2005, WL Ross formed International Automotive Components ("IAC") to acquire Collins & Aikman's European operations and Lear's European interior plastics division. Subsequently, the firm acquired control of PLASCAR, the leading Brazilian automotive plastics company, Mitsuboshi in Japan, Lear Corporation's U.S. European and Asian interior plastics businesses and certain North American plants of Collins & Aikman. IAC had 2008 revenues of $4.5 billion and 24,000 employees in 17 countries.
In 1999, President Kim Dae Jung awarded Mr. Ross a medal for his help during Korea's 1998 financial crisis. He is a former chairman of the Smithsonian National Board. Earlier, President Clinton had appointed him to the board of the U.S.-Russia Investment Fund, and he served as privatization advisor to Mayor Rudolph Giuliani.
Mr. Ross holds an A.B. from Yale University and an M.B.A., with Distinction, from Harvard University.
Stefan Jacoby
President and CEO
Volkswagen Group of America, Inc.
Stefan Jacoby studied at the University of Cologne from 1980 to 1985, graduating with a master's degree in business administration.
He began his career in 1985 in the industrial sales controlling department at Volkswagen. In March 1988, he moved to the controlling and marketing departments of Volkswagen of America for a year, and subsequently became responsible for pricing in the commercial vehicles business line.
In April 1990, Mr. Jacoby became head of controlling at Volkswagen Audi Nippon KK, Japan, helping to set up the new sales company. Following his return to Germany at the end of 1992, he assumed responsibility for Volkswagen AG exports and the control of Volkswagen sales companies in the sales planning department.
From January 1995 to September 1997, he managed the general office of the chairman of the board of management of Volkswagen AG. As a member of the top management, he was responsible for the Asia-Pacific region from October 1997 to September 2001, and was instrumental in bringing about the further expansion of the two Volkswagen joint ventures in China.
During the period October 2001 to February 2004, Mr. Jacoby was president and CEO of Mitsubishi Motors Europe B.V. headquartered in Amsterdam.
He subsequently returned to Volkswagen AG in Wolfsburg in March 2004, initially assuming responsibility for the group sales strategy department. He was appointed general representative and executive vice president of Volkswagen AG for the marketing and sales department in mid-2004. In October 2007 Stefan Jacoby assumed the role of president and CEO of Volkswagen Group of America., Inc. as well as the role of president of the Volkswagen brand.
Bo Andersson
Chairman and Board of Directors
OAO GAZ
President
GAZ Group
Bo Andersson began his career with GM in 1987 as a manager with Saab. After holding various leadership positions, he was appointed vice president of purchasing for Saab in 1990. In August 1993, Mr. Andersson transitioned from Saab to GM as the executive director of the worldwide purchasing electrical commodity group. In October 1994, he was appointed executive director for the chemical commodity group. After two senior management assignments, Mr. Andersson was promoted to vice president of purchasing for General Motors Europe in March 1997. In 1999, he returned to GM in North America as the executive-in-charge for worldwide purchasing.
Bo Andersson was promoted to GM Group vice president of global purchasing and supply chain on April 1, 2007. Prior to this assignment, Mr. Andersson was vice president of global purchasing and supply chain from 2001-2007. He was responsible for GM's global purchasing, supplier quality, logistics, order fulfillment, and supply operations.
Mr. Andersson was a member of GM's Automotive Strategy Board, Automotive Product Board, and North America Strategy Board. He also was the chairperson for the Michigan Minority Business Development Council, leadership liaison for GM's Affinity Group for Women, and a member of the CPO Agenda editorial advisory board. CPO Agenda is a London-based publication that covers purchasing and supply chain issues.
In June 2009 Mr. Andersson was appointed chairman, board of directors OAO GAZ and president, GAZ Group.
Bo Andersson holds a bachelor's degree in business administration from Stockholm University and completed the senior management program at Harvard University in 1999.
John Mendel
Executive Vice President
Automobile Sales
American Honda Motor Co., Inc.
John W. Mendel is executive vice president of American Honda Motor Co., Inc., heading up both Honda and Acura automobile sales divisions. Mr. Mendel is responsible for U.S. sales activities of the Honda and Acura divisions as well as Acura parts and service field operations. In addition, he oversees Honda and Acura market representation, customer marketing, dealer business management, and product and sales information.
In his previous position, Mr. Mendel was executive vice president, automobile operations of American Honda Motor Co., Inc, and was responsible for product planning, advertising, marketing, public relations and distribution for both Honda and Acura Automobile Divisions.
Mr. Mendel joined American Honda in December 2004, and was promoted to executive vice president in 2007.
Prior to joining American Honda, Mr. Mendel served as executive vice president and chief operating officer for Mazda North American Operations. He began his career with Ford Motor Companys U.S. operations in 1976 and held numerous sales and marketing positions within Ford, Lincoln Mercury and Ford Customer Service. He was appointed major markets/dealer advertising manager in 1990 and regional operations manager in Chicago in 1992. Mr. Mendel served as regional manager for Fords San Francisco and Los Angeles operations from 1993 through 1998. He then served as director of marketing with Ford of Britain from 1999 to 2002 before joining the leadership team at Mazda.
Mr. Mendel holds undergraduate degrees in business and economics and a master of business administration from Duke University.
Kevin E. Wale
President and Managing Director
GM China Group
Kevin E. Wale was appointed president and managing director of the GM China Group, effective May 1, 2005. Based in Shanghai, Mr. Wale is responsible for the overall coordination of GM's extensive operations in mainland China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong.
Mr. Wale most recently served as vice president of General Motors Europe and chairman and managing director of Vauxhall Motors Ltd., responsible for GM's U.K. operations, since November 2002. He had additional responsibilities leading GM Europe's commercial vehicle activities, since October 2004.
Wale began his GM career with Holden, the automaker's Australian unit, in 1975, working in various roles within the company's finance department. After completing studies at the General Motors Institute (GMI) in the United States, he moved to the GM Financial Staff in New York, where he worked between 1983 and 1985.
Returning to Australia in 1985, Mr. Wale took up the first of a series of posts in the finance division of Holden, ultimately assuming the position of director of finance and strategic planning. In 1993, he became director of sales, marketing, and aftersales, a position he held until 1998.
He was appointed executive in charge of operations for GM Asia Pacific in September 1998. Based in Singapore, Mr. Wale was responsible for the general management of GM's operations across the region.
In August 2001, he moved to Vauxhall Motors as managing director and was appointed vice president of GM Europe. He also served as a member of the GM Europe Strategy Board.
Mr. Wale has a bachelor of commerce degree with honors from Melbourne University and did additional study at GMI, now Kettering University.
Rodney O'Neal
Chief Executive Officer and President
Delphi Corporation
Rodney O'Neal is chief executive officer and president of Delphi. Mr. O'Neal began his automotive career at General Motors (GM) in 1971 as a student at GMI (currently Kettering University). In 1976, he joined the inland division where he held a number of engineering and manufacturing positions in Dayton, Portugal and Canada. He was named director of industrial engineering for the former Chevrolet-Pontiac-GM of Canada Group in 1991 and the following year became a director of manufacturing for Delphi.
Mr. O'Neal was named general director of warehousing & distribution for GM service parts operations in 1994. In 1997, he was elected a GM vice president and named general manager of Delphi Interior Systems. He was elected a Delphi vice president and president of Delphi Interior Systems in November 1998. In 2000, Mr. O'Neal was named executive vice president of the former safety, thermal & electrical architecture sector. Three years later, Mr. O'Neal was named president of the dynamics, propulsion, and thermal sector. He was named president and chief operating officer in 2005. He was named to his current position in January 2007.
Mr. O'Neal earned a bachelor's degree from Kettering University and a master's degree from Stanford University. He serves on the board of directors for the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company and the board of directors of Sprint/Nextel. He is a member of the Executive Leadership Council and former member of the Board of Directors for Inroads, Inc., the Michigan Manufacturers Association, the Woodward Governor Company and the Advisory Board for Focus: HOPE.
Don Walker
Co-Chief Executive Officer
Magna International Inc.
Don Walker was named co-chief executive officer and a member of the Board of Directors for Magna International on April 3, 2005. As co-CEO, Mr. Walker leads Magna, a $24-billion global automotive supplier that designs, develops and manufactures components and systems for the world's leading auto makers.
Prior to being named co-CEO, Mr. Walker was chairman and CEO of Intier Automotive, a public company majority-owned by Magna International. Prior to taking Intier public, Mr. Walker was president and CEO of Magna from 1994-2001.
Mr. Walker joined Magna in 1987. Before joining Magna, he spent seven years at General Motors in various engineering and manufacturing positions, including involvement in a new vehicle launch and new assembly plant.
Mr. Walker graduated from the University of Waterloo with a BA science mechanical engineering degree in 1980.
Mike Jackson
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
AutoNation
Mike Jackson is AutoNation's chairman and chief executive officer. He has served as CEO and as a director of the board since September 1999 and chairman of the board since January 1, 2003.
Previously, he served as president and chief executive officer of Mercedes-Benz USA, LLC, a North American operating unit of DaimlerChrysler AG, a multinational automotive manufacturing company. At Mercedes-Benz, he led a renaissance in the luxury vehicle brand's sales and marketing efforts.
He also has been a dealer, operating as managing partner of Euro Motorcars of Bethesda, Maryland from March 1979 to July 1990. The group owned and operated eleven automotive dealership franchises. Most recently named again in 2007, Mr. Jackson is a five-time member of the Automotive News "All-Star Team" of automotive executives and a four-time member of Advertising Age's "Marketing 100." In 2003, Mr. Jackson was named "Industry Leader of the Year", by the Automotive Hall of Fame. Mr. Jackson is currently the chair of the Museum of Art Fort Lauderdale.
Mr. Jackson is one of the nation's leading speakers on energy. He has spoken recently to Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College, William J. Clinton School of Public Policy, Association of Metropolitan Planning Organizations and the North American International Powertrain Conference.
Henrik Fisker
Chief Executive Officer
Fisker Automotive, Inc.
With the creation of Fisker Automotive, Inc., Henrik Fisker has fulfilled a lifelong dream of designing and creating a range of beautiful cars that make environmental sense without compromise. In 20 years of auto design, Mr. Fisker has left his thumbprint on some of the most highly regarded automobiles. His creations range from the BMW Z8, Aston Martin DB9 and the Aston Martin V8 Vantage to the Fisker Tramonto and Fisker Latigo CS coachbuilt automobiles.
In 2005, Henrik Fisker launched Fisker Coachbuild, LLC with partner Bernhard Koehler, where they revived the lost art of coachbuilding by combining beautiful design with existing world-class engineering. The result was the creation of the Fisker Tramonto, a two-seat convertible sports car, and the Fisker Latigo CS, an elegant coupe.
From 2001 to 2005 Mr. Fisker held prominent positions at Ford Motor Company. He was creative director for Ingeni, Fords London-based design and creativity center, board of directors member and design director for Aston Martin, and director of Fords global advanced design studio (CAPC) in Irvine, California. Designed under his direction were the Lincoln Zephyr concept -- now in production -- and the Shelby GR1, showcased at the 2005 Detroit Auto Show.
In January 2001 Mr. Fisker became president and chief executive officer of BMWs California-based industrial design subsidiary, Designworks/USA. Some of his most notable works include the Z07 concept (1997) and the Z8 roadster (1999). Upon graduating from The Art Center College of Design in 1989, Mr. Fisker began his career in Germany at BMWs advanced design studio, BMW Technick GmbH.
Victor R. Muller
Chief Executive Officer and Founder
Spyker Cars
In 2000, Victor R. Muller revived the previously dormant Spyker brand, which had manufacturered both cars and aircraft between 1898 and 1925. The new company, relaunched as Spyker Cars, began business on January 1, 2000.
Now, as Spyker's chief executive officer, Mr. Muller is responsible for developing and overseeing the strategic direction of the company, and also serves as the designer of Spyker's hand-built sports cars, including the C8 Aileron, C8 Laviolette, C8 Spyder and the upcoming D8 Peking-to-Paris SSUV. Each of these vehicles exemplify Spyker's five brand pillars: heritage, design, craftsmanship, performance and exclusivity.
Under his guidance, Spyker Cars became a public company, listed at the Amsterdam Stock Exchange Euronext (ticker symbol SPYKR) with its initial public offering on May 27, 2004. He has also overseen Spyker's growth, and the company now has more than 35 dealerships around the world in 21 countries: Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, Czech Republic, Germany (2), Hong Kong, Jordan, Kuwait, Latvia, the Netherlands (headquarters), Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Switzerland, Thailand, Ukraine, the United Kingdom, the United States (16) and the United Arab Emirates.
Mr. Muller began his professional life as an attorney in 1984, working at the Caron & Stevens /Baker & McKenzie lawfirm of Amsterdam. In 1989, he became a member of the Management Board team of the offshore construction company Heerema in Leiden and was involved in several acquisitions. He became part owner of Wijsmuller Salvage and Towage, IJmuiden, as a member of a consortium through a management buy-out in 1991 and continued his career as an entrepreneur.
Mr. Muller has managed and restructured numerous companies, including Emergo Fashions Group B.V., which went public under the name McGregor Fashion Group N.V. in April 1999. Today, McGregor provides much of Spyker Cars' team apparel and merchandise.
Mr. Muller studied law at the University of Leiden in the Netherlands, graduating in 1984.
Michael Brylawski
Vice President of Corporate Strategy
Bright Automotive, Inc.
Michael Brylawski brings fifteen years of experience in green mobility as an entrepreneur, consultant to Fortune 500 companies, and published researcher. In 2007, he helped CEO John Waters create Bright Automotive, managing the original consortium of Google, Alcoa, and Johnson Controls and writing the first business plan. At Bright Automotive, Mr. Brylawski works with the Leadership Team on key market, technology, and financial strategy decisions. He is also responsible for developing ancillary growth opportunities including future product portfolios, telematics, energy storage, and grid services.
Previous to Bright Automotive, Mr. Brylawski's diverse work experience included roles as vice president at Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI), where he is currently a senior fellow, and positions at Boston Consulting Group (BCG) and Boeing Aerospace. He was co-founder and vice president at Hypercar, Inc. (now operating as Fiberforge), one of the first green automotive startups. Other work experience includes tenures at the Environmental Protection Agency's Future Studies Group and North Carolina's Advanced Energy Corporation.
Among his accomplishments at RMI, where he led its transport practice, Mr. Brylawski convened over 25 diverse companies, from GM and Ford to IBM and Cisco, on vehicle-to-grid infrastructure and co-authored a definitive primer on the subject. He led an engagement with a major global automaker on lightweight vehicle strategy, collaborated with the Brookings Institute on an ambitious oil-policy initiative, and published numerous technical papers on advanced-materials design and manufacturing.
Mr. Brylawski was among the first to publish in the 1990s on the emergence of lightweighting and electrification as dominant trends in the automotive sector. He has been cited extensively in the press and has spoken widely. Mr. Brylawski is a featured correspondent for the Discovery Planet Green network and was featured in the Discovery Science series Eco-Tech. and the forthcoming "Big Green Lies" on the Fine Living Network.
Mr. Brylawski received a MS in mechanical engineering from MIT and an MBA from MIT Sloan, and he received a BS in earth systems science with honors from Stanford University.
Sheldon Sandler
Founder and CEO
Bel Air Partners
Sheldon Sandler founded Bel Air Partners in response to the need of the dealership community for sophisticated financial services tailored for the retail automotive industry. Mr. Sandler is a leading authority on the role of financial markets in automobile distribution, dealership valuations and automobile dealership consolidation.
As senior managing director of Bel Air Partners, Mr. Sandler leads a group of talented and experienced financial experts. In the past several years, Bel Air has acted as exclusive representatives to numerous private auto dealers in the sale of their automotive assets. Transactions have ranged from $20 million to an excess of $100 million. Bel Air accepts assignments from all parts of the country.
Mr. Sandler is widely quoted in publications such as the Wall Street Journal, Automotive News, Fortune, Business Week, USA Today, Car Dealer Insider, and the London Daily Telegraph and has been a featured speaker at the Automotive News World Congress and the J.D. Power Roundtable.
Before founding Bel Air in 1998, Mr. Sandler spent eight years as managing director with the NYSE member firm Ladenburg Thalmann where he successfully completed over a dozen IPOs and numerous private placements, including the IPO for Rush Enterprises, the first franchised vehicle dealer to go public and one of the country's largest heavy truck dealers.
Previously Mr. Sandler served eleven years with the Securities and Exchange Commission, rising to chief examiner of the Philadelphia branch office. He is a CPA, with a BS from Penn State and an MBA from Temple University.
Charles Gassenheimer
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
Ener1, Inc.
Over his career, Mr. Gassenheimer has forged a reputation as a dynamic businessman with a proven track record in structuring and managing complex capital markets transactions, as well as in transforming failing companies into highly competitive businesses.
Before joining Ener1, Mr. Gassenheimer was managing director and portfolio manager of both the Convertible Arbitrage Division & Private Investment Group of Satellite Asset Management, a hedge fund with approximately $6 billion in assets. Prior to that, he was portfolio manager and head of the distressed securities investment group of Tribeca Investments, the hedge fund division of Citigroup Global Investments. Mr. Gassenheimer has also served as a vice president at Credit Suisse First Boston. He began his career with Coopers & Lybrand in the field of operational and financial turn-around management services.
Mr. Gassenheimer graduated with a degree in economics from the University of Pennsylvania.
Walter E. Huizenga
Chief Operating Officer
Gezon Motors
Walt Huizenga is a thirty five year veteran of the automobile business holding leadership and legal positions in a variety of businesses and organizations.
In 2003 he and his wife Mary, purchased Gezon Motors in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Gezon Motors is a franchised new car operation, operating dealerships for Nissan, Volkswagen and Mitsubishi. He is currently the chief operating officer for Gezon Motors and president of Rogue River Financial.
Prior to Gezon Motors, Mr. Huizenga was president of the American International Automobile Dealers Association. In that capacity he lead the association's efforts on such matters as the 25% duty on minivans and SUVs, CAFE, the Luxury tax, the Trade Sanctions War of 1995, and lead delegations to Japan, Europe and Korea seeking enhanced trade relations between the US and those nations in automobiles and auto parts. For those efforts he was twice selected as one of the fifty "Top Guns" in Washington.
From 1985 to 1989 Mr. Huizenga served as the president of General Risk Management Corporation, a private label aftermarket supplier to various importers, rental car firms and used vehicle resellers. There he developed the first used car certification program and first used car limited warranty/vehicle service agreement wrap.
Mr. Huizenga joined NADA in 1975 as legal counsel and served as counsel, as the first executive director of industry relations, executive director of regulatory affairs and chief counsel.
Mr. Huizenga received a B.A. and M.B.A. from the University of Missouri. He received law degrees from the University of Missouri and Georgetown University. He clerked for Senior Judge Marvin Jones in the United States Court of Federal Appeals.










