Speakers
Wilbur L. Ross, Jr., Robert L. Nardelli |
Dr. Bernd Bohr Robert A. Lutz |
Alan Mulally |
Maureen Bickford Walter P. Czarnecki
Dr. Pawan Goenka Dean Harlow Jim Hudak Roland Hwang Stefan Jacoby Scott Keogh William Kozyra Derrick M. Kuzak Chris Lacey Dr. Byron McCormick Kim McCullough |
Mark C. McNabb Deborah Wahl Meyer Margo Oge Randy Ortiz Bill Reinert Sanjay Rishi Sheldon Sandler Russ Sapienza Dave Schembri Mark S. Templin Dale Willey Mary Ann Wright David L. Zuchowski |
Wilbur L. Ross, Jr.
Chairman and CEO
W.L. Ross & Co. LLC and 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, LTV, Weirton, Acme, Georgetown and U.S. Steel's plate operation, ISG became the largest integrated steel company in North America. Mr. Ross remains a director of Mittal and was a member of the three-director committee responsible for the recent successful bid for Arcelor.
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, Viet Nam 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.
In 2005, WL Ross formed International Automotive Components ("IAC") to acquire Collins & Aikman's European operations and Lear's European interior plastics division. More recently, the firm acquired control of PLASCAR, the leading Brazilian automotive plastics company, Mitsuboshi in Japan, Lear Corporation's U.S. and European interior plastics businesses and certain North American plants of Collins & Aikman. IAC now has revenues of $5 billion and 21,000 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 serves on the executive committee of the New York City Partnership and of the Japan Society and is a member of the Chairman's Circle of the U.S.-India Business Council. He is a member of the business roundtable and is a board member of the Yale University School of Management, which has presented him with its Legend of Leadership Award. He is also a member of the Committee on Capital Markets Regulation. The China Institute recently presented him with its 2007 Blue Cloud Award.
Mr. Ross holds an A.B. from Yale University and an M.B.A., with distinction, from Harvard University.
Robert L. Nardelli
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
Chrysler LLC
Robert L. Nardelli joined Chrysler LLC in August 2007 as chairman and chief executive officer and as a member of the Board of Directors, Chrysler LLC.
Prior to joining Chrysler, Mr. Nardelli served as chairman, president and CEO of The Home Depot beginning in 2000. Mr. Nardelli began his career at GE in 1971, and advanced through a series of leadership positions in the company's Appliances, Lighting and Transportation Systems business units. In 1988, he left GE to join Case Corporation in Racine, Wis., where he led Case Construction Equipment's global business. He returned to GE in 1992 and was ultimately named president and CEO of GE Power Systems and senior vice president of General Electric.
Mr. Nardelli chairs the Atlanta Board of Visitors of the Savannah College of Art and Design, and has also served on President Bush's Council on Service and Civic Participation. He has received the Distinguished Pennsylvanian Award from Gannon University (1995) and the Distinguished Alumni Award from the College of Business and Technology at Western Illinois University (1997 and 1999). He is an alumni fellow and 2001 Alumnus of the Year of the University of Louisville, and serves on the Board of Advisors, University of Louisville Graduate School of Business, as well as on the College of Business & Technology Advisory Board for Western Illinois University, and is a member of The Business Council.
Mr. Nardelli received a bachelor of science degree from Western Illinois University in 1971 and earned a master of business administration degree from the University of Louisville in 1975.
Dr. Bernd Bohr
Chairman, Automotive Group and Member of the Board of Management
Robert Bosch GmbH
Dr. Bernd Bohr has been a member of the Board of Management of Robert Bosch GmbH since July 1, 1999, and chairman of the Automotive Group since mid-2003. He has corporate responsibility for quality, and divisional responsibility for the Chassis Systems Brakes, Chassis Systems Control, Diesel Systems, and Gasoline Systems divisions. He also has regional responsibility for India.
His career at the Bosch Group has had many milestones including operations scheduling at the Reutlingen Plant in 1983 and head of operations scheduling department at the same plant in 1986. In 1989, he became personal assistant to the Board of Management of Robert Bosch GmbH. He followed that in 1993 by being named executive vice president manufacturing for Nippon ABS Ltd. in Japan and in 1996 was appointed executive vice president manufacturing for Semiconductors and Electronic Control Units Division. In 1998, he became executive vice president global development for the ABS and Braking Systems Division before his appointment to the Board of Management in 1999.
Dr. Bohr studied Production Engineering at the University of Aachen, taking his diploma examination in 1982, and receiving his doctorate in Engineering (Dr. Ing.) at the same university in 1983.
Robert A. Lutz
Vice Chairman, Global Product Development
General Motors
Robert A. Lutz was named General Motors vice chairman of product development on September 1, 2001. On November 13, 2001, he was named chairman of GM North America and served in that capacity until April 4, 2005, when he assumed responsibility for Global Product Development. He also served as president of GM Europe on an interim basis from March to June 2004.
Prior to rejoining GM as vice chairman, Mr. Lutz was chairman and chief executive officer of Exide Technologies. He served as chairman until his resignation on May 17, 2002, and as a member of Exide's board of directors until May 5, 2004.
Mr. Lutz joined Exide after a distinguished career with the former Chrysler Corporation from 1986 to 1998, where he reached the position of vice chairman. Mr. Lutz also served as president and chief operating officer, responsible for Chrysler's car and truck operations worldwide.
Mr. Lutz led all of Chrysler's automotive activities, including sales, marketing, product development, manufacturing, and procurement and supply. He began his service with Chrysler in 1986 as executive vice president and was shortly thereafter elected to the Chrysler Corporation board. His 12 years with the company are chronicled in his 1998 book, Guts: The Seven Laws of Business That Made Chrysler the World's Hottest Car Company. Guts was revised and updated in 2003 and retitled, Guts: 8 Laws of Business from One of the Most Innovative Business Leaders of our Time.
Before Chrysler, Mr. Lutz spent 12 years at Ford Motor Company, where his last position was executive vice president of truck operations. He also served as chairman of Ford of Europe and as executive vice president of Ford's international operations. From 1982 to 1986, Lutz was a member of Ford's board.
Mr. Lutz began his automotive career in September 1963 at GM, where he held a variety of senior positions in Europe until December 1971. For the next three years, he served as executive vice president of sales at BMW in Munich and as a member of that company's board of management.
He serves as chairman of The New Common School Foundation and as a trustee of the Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute. He is also a member of the board of trustees for the U.S. Marine Corps University Foundation and vice chairman of the board of trustees for the Marine Military Academy in Harlingen, Texas.
Mr. Lutz received his bachelor's degree in production management from the University of California-Berkeley in 1961, where he earned distinction as a Phi Beta Kappa. He received a master's degree in business administration, with highest honors, from the University of California-Berkeley in 1962. He received an honorary degree of doctor of management from Kettering University on June 21, 2003, and an honorary doctorate of law from Boston University in 1985. The SAE (Society of Automotive Engineers) Foundation named him the recipient of its 2006 Manufacturing Leadership Award, which recognizes individuals who have made meaningful contributions to the development of the automotive industry.
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 of The 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.
Mr. Mulally joined Boeing in 1969 and progressed through a number of significant engineering and program-management assignments, including contributions on the 727, 737, 747, 757 and 767 airplanes.
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.
Walter P. Czarnecki
Executive Vice President
Penske Corporation
Walter P. Czarnecki is executive vice president, a member of the Executive Committee, and a director of Penske Corporation.
After completing his studies at Wayne State University, he began his business career with a Detroit-based advertising agency before joining Hurst-Campbell, Inc., an automobile accessory firm, in 1966. Mr. Czarnecki joined American Motors Corporation in 1968 where he directed that firm's participation in a variety of retail and dealer-oriented automotive marketing programs including its professional motorsports activities.
Mr. Czarnecki became associated with Penske Corporation in 1970 after working with the firm as part of his American Motors duties. His first responsibility was to build and operate a Chevrolet dealership in Southfield, Michigan. Mr. Czarnecki was general manager there until 1975 when he purchased the company. It was during this time that Penske Corp. purchased Michigan International Speedway where he served as its president. In subsequent years, he was president of Penske Speedways which owned five major racing facilities in the U.S. Penske Speedways became a publicly traded company in 1996 and he was its vice chairman.
Mr. Czarnecki sold the dealership in 1978 to rejoin Penske Corporation as it expanded its national presence in the energy and on-highway transportation industries. He managed the company's Detroit Diesel engine and Allison industrial gas turbine distributorship subsidiaries and had responsibility for the firm's on-highway tank/trailer manufacturing and service operations. He was instrumental in the establishment and growth of Penske Corporation's retail automotive and motorsports subsidiaries and still holds senior management positions in both. He serves as vice chairman of Penske Motor Group and Penske Performance, Inc. He is involved in virtually all aspects of Penske Corporation's current transportation services, retail automotive, motorsports and investment interests.
Dr. Pawan Goenka
President, Auto Sector & Member of the Group Management Board
Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd.
Dr. Pawan Goenka is president, auto sector & member of the group management board at Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. He joined the Mahindra Group in October 1993 as general manager research & development, following a successful14 year career with General Motors. His immediate task was to scale up the Auto Sector research & development, which was in a nascent stage, to a powerful product development organization. Under his leadership, Mahindra & Mahindra launched a slew of new products such as Pik-Up, Marshal, Armada 98, Bolero and Loadking. His best known contribution is his leadership of the Scorpio project, which brought laurels to Mahindra & Mahindra, both in India and abroad. He became executive vice president - product development in September 2001, and was promoted to chief operating officer of the Automotive Sector in April 2003. In this role, Dr. Goenka is responsible for day to day operations of the Automotive Sector. He has also played a key role in the formation of both the Renault and International Truck joint ventures. Dr. Goenka took over as president of the Automotive Sector on September 26th 2005.
Dr. Goenka is an internationally acknowledged scientist - manager with several citations to his credit. He received the Distinguished Alumni Award from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur, in 2004 and is a Fellow of the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) and of the Indian National Academy of Engineers. He has been honored by General Motors through the Charles L. McCuen Achievement Award twice, and the Extraordinary Accomplishment Award. Dr. Goenka is a member of the SIAM Executive Council and chairman of the Committee on Frontier Technologies. He is president of SAE India and chairman of the management board. He holds the position of vice president of the ARAI Governing Council.
A Mechanical Engineer with a B.Tech from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur, and a Ph.D. from Cornell University, Dr. Goenka also graduated from the Advanced Management Program (AMP) at the Harvard Business School.
Dean Harlow
President
Ricardo, Inc.
Dean Harlow is president of Ricardo, Inc. - the North American operations of Ricardo plc, one of the world's foremost independent technology development, strategic consulting, and innovative engineering companies.
Prior to joining Ricardo, Mr. Harlow spent over 20 years with General Motors in a variety of capacities including engineering, finance, planning and corporate business development.
Mr. Harlow has proven strategic management experience in technology, operations, manufacturing and sales and marketing. He also has extensive international business experience having lived in Beijing and Shanghai, China from 1996 to 2000, serving as GM China vice president of new business development, chief technology officer and planning director. His most recent GM position was as director, global planning for GM Powertrain, where amongst other achievements he led GM's first global hybrid program and negotiated a major transmission deal with Ford. Prior to GM Powertrain, he served as executive-in-charge of new business development for GM's corporate eCommerce Group where he developed and implemented strategic alliances with AOL, NetZero, Kelly Blue Book and Edmunds.
Mr. Harlow was awarded a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from GMI (now Kettering University) and also an MBA from the University of Michigan.
Jim Hudak
Vice President - Sales & Engineering,
Asia Pacific
Metaldyne
In his role as vice president, sales and engineering, Asia, Jim Hudak leads the plan to build a regional Metaldyne Technical Center in Japan, increasing Metaldyne's business with Asian automakers, and building and leading a team of engineering and commercial resources covering Japan, China, Korea, India and the ASEAN countries to support Metaldyne's Asian growth plans. He is also responsible for development and implementation of customer technical and commercial synergies between Metaldyne and its parent company Asahi Tec, in Asia.
Mr. Hudak is also the executive in charge of the Asia Pacific region. In this role, he represents the company regionally in its relationships with major customers, suppliers, media, government and professional agencies and is also responsible for the research and evaluation of commercial, business and regulatory trends in the region to assist the company's growth strategies.
In his previous role, Mr. Hudak served as managing director, Metaldyne Asia Pacific, where he was responsible for leading the development and implementation of Metaldyne's growth strategy in the Asia Pacific region.
Earlier, he has served in a variety of sales and program management positions responsible for both domestic and Asia Pacific customers across Metaldyne's Powertrain and Chassis Groups.
Mr. Hudak has worked for Metaldyne since 1995, when he joined the company as account manager for Asia Pacific customers.
He received his bachelor's degree in international relations from Michigan State University's James Madison College. Upon graduation, he lived in Japan for more than two years while working in the Japanese public school system and studying Japanese language and arts at the Kawaiijuku School in Nagoya, Japan. He also served as a research analyst at the United Nations.
Mr. Hudak is located at Metaldyne's Tokyo, Japan, sales and engineering office.
Roland Hwang
Vehicles Policy Director
Natural Resources Defense Council
Roland Hwang is currently working on transportation energy issues for the Natural Resources Defense Council's San Francisco office as the vehicles policy director. Mr. Hwang has been with NRDC since October 2000. He is an expert on clean vehicle technologies, fuels and policies. He served on the California Hydrogen Highway Network Advisory Panel. He is currently serving on the technical advisory panel for the Automotive X Prize. He is the author or contributing author of eleven NRDC reports including In the Tank: How Oil Prices Threaten Automakers' Profits and Jobs, Securing America: Solving Our Oil Dependence Through Innovation, Creating the California Cleantech Cluster, Smog in the Forecast: Global Warming, Ozone Pollution & Health in California, Hybrid Electric And Fuel Cell Vehicle Technological Innovation, Dangerous Addiction 2003: Breaking the Chain of Oil Dependence, Fueling the Future: A Plan to Reduce California's Oil Dependence.
Mr. Hwang also brings to NRDC experience in energy demand forecasting and air pollution regulation. Before joining NRDC, Mr. Hwang was the director of the Transportation Program for the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) in the Berkeley, California office. Mr. Hwang has also worked for the United States Department of Energy at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) in Berkeley, California and the California Air Resources Board (CARB) as an Air Pollution Engineer. At LBNL, he developed computer models to forecast energy demand in the U.S. residential and industrial sectors. At CARB, Mr. Hwang was involved in the permitting process for hazardous waste incinerators and developed procedures to assist air districts in evaluating toxic air emissions from landfills.
Mr. Hwang received a Bachelors from the University of California at Davis in 1986 and Masters of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the same institution in 1988. He received a Masters degree in Public Policy from the University of California at Berkeley in 1992.
Stefan Jacoby
President & CEO
Volkswagen of America, Inc.
Stefan Jacoby is the president and CEO of Volkswagen of America, Inc. He studied at the University of Cologne, graduating with a master's degree in business administration in 1985.
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 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 of Volkswagen AG for the Marketing and Sales Department in mid-2004. Since October 2007, Stefan Jacoby has been the President and CEO of Volkswagen of America, Inc., taking responsibility for the Group's automobile business in the US.
Scott Keogh
Chief Marketing Officer
Audi of America
Scott Keogh assumed the newly created role of Chief Marketing Officer on June 5, 2006. In this position he oversees all marketing strategy and department responsibilities, including leading the company's marketing effort to further elevate the positioning of the Audi brand in the United States.
Prior to joining Audi, Mr. Keogh worked at Mercedes-Benz USA for more than a decade. Most recently, he was general manager, marketing communications, where he was responsible for developing all strategic marketing communications plans, including brand and product positioning. Previous positions at Mercedes-Benz included general manager, Smart USA where he was responsible for sales, marketing, product planning and retail development for the new automotive brand. Prior to leading Smart USA, Mr. Keogh was responsible for corporate communications for MBUSA.
Scott Keogh has a Bachelor of Arts from Hobart and William Smith Colleges in upstate New York.
William Kozyra
President and CEO, Continental Automotive Systems North America
Continental AG
William (Bill) Kozyra received a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Detroit in 1980, and a master's degree in business administration from Michigan State University's Executive Advanced Management Program in 1988.
Kozyra began his career with the Budd Company as a project engineer, advanced to a chief engineer position, and later became president of its Wheel and Brake division. He then moved on to become vice president and general manager of Bosch Braking Systems' Brake Products division. Following Bosch Braking Systems, Mr. Kozyra joined ITT Automotive where he served as vice president and general manager Brake and Chassis Systems North America.
In 1998, Mr. Kozyra was named president and CEO of Continental Automotive Systems, North America, located in Auburn Hills, Michigan. He is also deputy member of the Executive Board, Continental AG, Hanover, Germany, responsible for the Automotive Systems division's NAFTA business.
The Automotive Systems operation in North America is a $1.2 billion unit of Continental's Automotive Systems Division. Mr. Kozyra oversees the division's product lines, engineering, finance, quality, human resources, and sales and marketing functions, as well as its manufacturing plants in North Carolina, Virginia and Mexico and a development center in northern Michigan.
Mr. Kozyra has been awarded five U.S. patents for vehicle brake and suspension components. He is on the Board of Directors of the Original Equipment Suppliers Association (OESA); a member of the Board of Directors of Piston Automotive; a member of the Board of Directors of NIBCO; a member of the Board of Trustees of Notre Dame Preparatory School; and holds memberships in the Boy Scouts of America Executive Board in Detroit; the University of Detroit Alumni Council; and the Society of Automotive Engineers. He also sits on the prestigious Ford Motor Company and Chrysler Supplier Roundtables, peer groups of top suppliers and OEM executives who come together to discuss and address issues and concerns.
Derrick Kuzak
Group Vice President,
Global Product Development,
The Americas
Ford Motor Company
Derrick Kuzak is group vice president, Global Product Development, The Americas. He has overall responsibility for all aspects of the Company's Product Development System and reports to Alan Mulally, president and chief executive officer of the company. He also reports to Mark Fields, executive vice president of the company and president of the Americas for North American product development.
In this role, Mr. Kuzak leads a team responsible for delivering on the Company's promise of delivering more products people want with greater efficiency for Ford around the world.
Mr. Kuzak began the global role in December 2006. Prior to that, he joined The Americas leadership team in August 2005, when he was named vice president, North America Engineering. In this role, he was responsible for engineering signoff of all North American vehicles and had direct responsibility for key commodities and common platform parts.
Preceding that assignment, Mr. Kuzak served as vice president, Product Development, Ford of Europe, where he led the design and engineering of vehicles that accounted for the major proportion of the European market and significant growth areas in the world's emerging markets.
Before that, he was Ford of Europe's executive director, responsible for current and future medium car programs. Mr. Kuzak moved to that position in 2000, leading development processes for the most important vehicle segment in Europe, which included the Ford Focus.
Derrick Kuzak was vehicle line director for Ford's Compact Pickup and SUV family in the U.S. from 1997-1999, including development of the Ford Escape.
He joined Ford in 1978 as a research engineer. He holds both B.S. and M.S. degrees in electrical engineering from the University of Detroit, where he also achieved a doctorate in systems engineering.
Chris Lacey
Executive Director,
Central & Eastern Europe
General Motors
Chris Lacey is the executive director, Central and Eastern Europe for General Motors. He is responsible for the management of Central & Eastern Europe including both the GM and Chevrolet companies in Poland, Russia, Turkey and Southeast Europe (Hungary), as well as GM Southeast Europe branch offices in 9 countries. The GM brands are primarily Opel, Chevrolet and SAAB but also include Cadillac, HUMMER and Chevrolet North American vehicles in certain non EU markets & Russia. In 2007, he will oversee over 500,000 vehicles, a 250 million Euro parts business, 800 employees and 800 GM Dealer locations in 29 countries.
Mr. Lacey began his career at GM in 1969 at Vauxhall Motors where he had a three year commercial apprenticeship in sales marketing and aftersales. In 1985, he was appointed regional operations manager - Scotland, Ireland and North England where he was responsible for 300 Dealers and 25% of Vauxhall's sales. In 1987, he became regional fleet director and managed 35% of Vauxhalls key account fleet customers. In 1989, he was promoted to general manager - Vauxhall aftersales. While in this position, he introduced the Vauxhall Trade club partners program and GM's "Masterfit" after market" fast fit operations. He was also responsible for AC Delco in the UK & Worldwide Bedford Truck Parts.
By 1992, Mr. Lacey was named marketing director at Vauxhall and introduced GM's Network Q strategy for used vehicles as well as the GM credi card to the UK market. He also oversaw the launch of several new Vauxhall models into marketplace and managed Vauxhall's Race & Rally teams.
In 1995, Chris Lacey became the general commercial director for Opel Southeast Europe - Hungary and established GME's first cluster operation in Europe, which included a major initiative to sell Hungarian produced vehicles into China.
Prior to his current position, Mr. Lacey was the general commercial director - GM CIS in Moscow where he established GM business companies and Russia and was a team member of the GM AutoVaz JV project.
Dr. Byron McCormick
Executive Director - Fuel Cell Activities,
GM Powertrain
General Motors
Dr. Byron McCormick is executive director of the Fuel Cell Activities group for General Motors. He has been leading GM fuel cell activities since 1997. Dr. McCormick joined GM Delco Electronics in 1986, at Delco Systems Operations in Santa Barbara, California, where he held various technical and business leadership positions. From 1994 to 1997, Dr. McCormick was managing director of Delco Propulsion Systems (DPS).
Prior to joining GM (1975-1986), Dr. McCormick was a deputy division leader at Los Alamos National Laboratory in the Electronics Division. He led R&D activities that included basic fuel cell and fuel processors, as well as fuel cell propulsion system evaluation.
Dr. McCormick earned a B.S., M.S. and Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Arizona.
Kim McCullough
Corporate Manager,
Marketing Communications
Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc.
Kim McCullough is corporate manager, marketing communications for Toyota Motor Sales (TMS), U.S.A., Inc.
Ms. McCullough is responsible for managing advertising and interactive marketing for Toyota's 18 models of cars, trucks and sport utility vehicles. She works with a number of Toyota's advertising agencies, including Saatchi & Saatchi; Hispanic agency, Conill Advertising; African American agency, Burrell Communications; and Asian agency, Inter Trend.
Prior to joining Toyota in June 2005, Ms. McCullough spent over 20 of years developing brand and marketing strategies for various automotive nameplates.
She is a graduate of Florida International University.
Mark C. McNabb
Senior Vice President, Sales and Marketing
Nissan North America Inc.
Mark C. McNabb is senior vice president, sales and marketing for Nissan North America, Inc. (NNA) and oversees all marketing and sales functions for the Nissan and Infiniti divisions, including direction of the planning and implementation of all sales and marketing strategies. He is a member of Management Committee-Americas (MC-A), the key decision making body for Nissan in North and Central America and Mercosur.
Mr. McNabb also is corporate vice president in charge of global operations for the Infiniti brand.
Mr. McNabb joined Nissan in 1986 and for nearly 20 years worked in numerous sales, marketing and business leadership roles in North America and Japan. Between February 2006 and January 2007, Mr. McNabb worked for Mercedes-Benz of America first as vice president of marketing and then as vice president of sales and marketing.
Prior to joining Mercedes-Benz, he was vice president and general manager of the Nissan Division for Nissan North America and was responsible for all activities within the Nissan Division, including overall operations in regards to sales, marketing, fixed operations, and administration. He held a similar position at Infiniti Division.
In 1984, Mr. McNabb received his bachelor's of science degree in marketing and entrepreneurial studies from Babson College in Wellesley, MA.
Deborah Wahl Meyer
Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer
Chrysler LLC
Deborah Meyer was named vice president and chief marketing officer of Chrysler in August, 2007. In her position, Ms. Meyer is responsible for the marketing and advertising initiatives for the Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep® brands globally. In addition, she oversees all sales promotions and brand events. She also provides strategic direction for the company's marketing efforts around the world.
Previously, Ms. Meyer served as vice president of marketing for Lexus, the luxury division of Toyota Motor Sales. She oversaw all aspects of Lexus' marketing efforts to support dealers and reach customers with key information about Lexus vehicles and the Lexus brand.
Before that, Ms. Meyer served as corporate manager of marketing communications for Toyota Motor Sales and was responsible for managing all marketing and advertising for Toyota's vehicles.
Prior to joining Toyota in 2001, Ms. Meyer spent a number of years developing brand and marketing strategies for various automotive nameplates, including Lincoln-Mercury and Mazda. At Lincoln-Mercury she was responsible for advertising, promotions, Internet commerce, dealer meetings and auto shows. Prior to Lincoln-Mercury, Ms. Meyer worked for Mazda as the group manager of brand strategy and communications. She also held the positions of brand manager for Ford do Brazil in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Prior to joining the automotive industry, Ms. Meyer worked on new product launches for W.L. Gore & Associates in France and The Chase Manhattan Bank, NA in New York.
She has a BA in Economics from Wellesley College, an MBA from The Wharton School and an MA in International Studies from The Joseph Lauder Institute at University of Pennsylvania.
Margo Oge
Director, Office of Transportation
and Air Quality
United States Environmental
Protection Agency
Margo Tsirigotis Oge is the director of the Office of Transportation and Air Quality. Under Ms. Oge's leadership the Environmental Protection Agency finalized three of the United States most significant environmental accomplishments; the clean Tier 2 motor vehicle and gasoline sulfur program, the historic 2007 clean diesel truck, bus and diesel fuel rule and the clean off road diesel engine and fuel program. These programs set more than a 90 percent reduction in harmful pollutants emitted from cars, trucks, busses, construction, farming and industrial equipment along with providing cleaner gasoline and diesel fuel. As a result, these three rules alone are estimated to prevent on an annual basis more than 22,000 premature deaths and hundreds of thousands of respiratory illness.
In 2004, Ms. Oge was a recipient of the Presidential Distinguished Executive Rank Award for her outstanding leadership on environmental transportation issues. She is also a previous winner of the Presidential Meritorious Award. In 2002, the Women's Council on Energy and the Environment honored Ms. Oge with its Woman of Achievement Award. Ms. Oge was recognized for her leadership in shepherding the Tier 2 and heavy duty diesel rules to fruition. She was the first nonpolitical appointee to receive this award.
Ms. Oge has been with the Environmental Protection Agency since 1980 and has held various management positions in the Agency. She also served as legislative aide to Senator John Chafee of Rhode Island, the minority ranking member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee supporting various programs and bills relating to environmental issues.
Prior to her current position, Ms. Oge held such positions as director of the Office of Radiation and Indoor Air; director of the Radon Division, Office of Radiation Programs; deputy division director of the Economics and Technology Division under the Office of Toxic Substances; and section chief of the New Chemical Section under the Office of Toxic Substances.
Ms. Oge earned her master's degree in engineering from the University of Massachusetts in Lowell. She also attended George Washington University and the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.
Randy Ortiz
General Manager,
Ford and Lincoln Mercury Sales
Ford Motor Company
Randy L. Ortiz is general manager, Ford and Lincoln Mercury Sales, a position to which he was appointed in January 2007. In this capacity, he is responsible for all U.S. sales for the Ford and Lincoln Mercury brands.
During most of 2006, Mr. Ortiz was general sales manager, Ford Customer Service Division (FCSD). In this assignment, he was in charge of FCSD's U.S. market offices and was responsible for implementing sales, customer satisfaction and marketing strategies to grow Ford's share of the retail service market.
Prior to that, Mr. Ortiz was executive director and general manager, Ford Worldwide Direct Market Operations (WDMO) where he was responsible for the product development, marketing, sales and service in 117 markets around the globe. He was appointed to that position in June 2002, and under his leadership, the WDMO team posted three consecutive sales and profit records for 2003, 2004 and 2005.
Before joining WDMO, Mr. Ortiz directed much of Ford's dealer e-business activity. He was instrumental in developing FordDirect, a highly successful online shopping joint venture with Ford dealers across the U.S. In addition, his group managed Ford's global portal (www.ford.com) and the Ford satellite network (FordStar).
Mr. Ortiz joined Ford in 1982 and has more than 20 years of experience in a variety of sales and marketing positions. He holds a bachelor of science degree from the State University of New York at Buffalo State and has completed the Duke University Executive Marketing program.
Bill Reinert
National Alternative Fuel Vehicle Manager
Toyota Motor Sales USA Inc.
Bill Reinert is national manager, advanced technology vehicle group for Toyota Motor Sales (TMS), U.S.A., Inc.
Mr. Reinert is responsible for the long-range product planning for all alternative fueled Toyota vehicles. His responsibilities include product planning for hybrid vehicles, including the second-generation Prius, and cross car line hybrid issues; fuel cell vehicles using both direct hydrogen and fuel reformation designs; full-featured electric vehicles; city electric vehicles and sustainable transportation systems.
Mr. Reinert also works with the World Wildlife Fund in the Galapagos Islands to establish a global model for cleaner energy use in developing economies.
Among other projects, Mr. Reinert and his group launched the first hydrogen-powered fuel cell vehicles in the US. Part of this effort included working closely with state and local regional code officials as well as emergency response providers to develop codes, standards, and procedures for handling a new automotive propulsion system. In addition, Mr. Reinert oversaw development of the world's first multi-vehicle hydrogen-by-electrolysis station powered by renewable electricity.
Prior to his current role, Mr. Reinert was project director for Project Perseus, a Toyota initiative to investigate markets for distributed power devices including micro-turbines and stationary fuel cells.
Prior to joining Toyota in 1990, Mr. Reinert developed advanced neural network applications and advanced energy systems for Hewlett Packard. In addition, he developed alternative energy solutions for Bell Labs.
Bill Reinert has a master's degree in energy engineering from the University of Colorado, Boulder and did his undergraduate work in biopsychology with the University of Missouri at Kansas City.
Sanjay Rishi
Global Automotive Industry Leader
IBM Global Business Services
Sanjay Rishi is the global automotive leader for IBM Global Business Services. In this role, Mr. Rishi is responsible for managing the global portfolio of clients across automotive OEMs, automotive suppliers, and heavy equipment manufacturers. This responsibility includes client relationships, client satisfaction, and value realization related to the solutions IBM develops and implements with those organizations.
Prior to his current role, Mr. Rishi was an IBM Partner and PricewaterhouseCoopers Partner in the Automotive Supply Chain and Manufacturing practice. Mr. Rishi has managed many large-scale business engagements including enterprise-wide supply chain re-engineering, business transformation outsourcing, strategic sourcing, post merger integration, and product management transformation engagements. He has also led IBM's Automotive Supplier business, responsible for consulting service sales and engagement delivery at many tier 1 and tier 2 automotive supplier accounts.
With over 20 years of consulting and industry experience, Mr. Rishi is recognized as an automotive industry leader in issues affecting manufacturers, suppliers and retailers. He has vast experience leading large, global, multifunctional transformation programs. Mr. Rishi is a frequent speaker at industry conferences.
Prior to joining IBM, Mr. Rishi has had leadership roles in product engineering and manufacturing operations at both automotive OEM and supplier organizations. Noteworthy experiences include the startup of new manufacturing operations and establishment of a new engineering design center.
Mr. Rishi has a BS in mechanical engineering and an MBA from Florida Institute of Technology.
Sheldon Sandler
President and CEO
Bel Air Partners, LLC
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 World Automotive 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. He has served on the Board of Directors of two public companies, M.H. Myerson and Helpmate Robotics.
Russ Sapienza
Senior Partner
PricewaterhouseCoopers
Russ Sapienza is a senior partner in PwC's Advisory Practice with 29 years of experience in the media, entertainment, communications, and financial services industries. He has several distinct roles in the firm:
- Lead Advisory partner for several major client account teams, namely; AT&T Entertainment Services, Publicis Groupe, and IAC/InterActive Corp. Russ recently completed a four-year assignment as the Global Relationship Partner for the PwC account team that served SBC Communications, Inc. and AT&T Inc.
- A senior member of PwC's business planning and performance management practice, focusing in areas such as revenue growth and management, business process controls (in areas such as online commerce), regulatory compliance (in areas such as consumer privacy) and risk management.
During Mr. Sapienza's 20 years with PwC, he has focused on the media, entertainment and communications sectors. His practice works with clients to implement and execute the operational, financial, and management structures necessary to achieve revenue growth objectives.
His recent work has ranged from conducting "Voice of the Market" studies, supporting a Chief Regulatory compliance Officer in an assessment of pre-texting related matters across customer care centers, and reviewing back office practices prior to off-shoring.
Mr. Sapienza has led numerous projects directed at improving the operational readiness of his clients across the three screens (TV, PC, and mobile), especially in the area of revenue management and cost reduction. In addition, he co-founded a practice that has accounted for over $1.5 billion of revenue recovery and improvement opportunities for communications and media industry clients. The practice focuses on providing strategic, analytical, and operational support in areas that focus on maximizing revenues (e.g., billing accuracy, operational systems management, order processing, customer retention and winback).
Mr. Sapienza has also led numerous assignments relating to 'the consumer and disruptive technologies' including the Interactive Advertising industry team that defined audience measurement standards and guidelines. This work served to catapult the growth of online advertising spend because it defined a single 'currency' for marketers and web sites.
Dave Schembri
President
smart USA
David C. Schembri is the president of smart USA, a Penske Automotive Group company. Mr. Schembri is responsible for the distribution of smart vehicles in the USA. This includes establishing and maintaining a retail network, customer relations, advertising, marketing, PR, and all sales, service, parts and aftersale functions.
Mr. Schembri has over 30 years of automotive experience. The majority of his career was realized in various executive positions at Volkswagen and Mercedes Benz. The positions held at Volkswagen included the director of marketing and the director of sales operations. At Mercedes Benz, Dave served as both the vice president of sales and the vice president of marketing. During his tenure, Mr. Schembri was responsible for several successful product launches while the company recorded 11 consecutive record years in new vehicle sales. Mr. Schembri joined Penske Automotive Group as the president of smart USA.
In addition to his corporate responsibilities, Mr. Schembri serves on the Board of Directors for the Boomer Esiason Foundation (BEF) in their effort to raise funds for research to find a cure for cystic fibrosis.
Dave Schembri attended the University of Detroit, where earned both his bachelor's degree and his MBA.
Mark S. Templin
Group Vice President and General Manger, Lexus Division
Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc.
Mark Templin is group vice president and general manager of Lexus, the luxury division of Toyota Motor Sales (TMS), U.S.A., Inc.
Mr. Templin is responsible for all aspects of the Lexus automotive operations, including sales and marketing, retail development, customer satisfaction and product planning. His responsibilities also include coordinating sales activities, dealer relations, parts and service operations, and the marketing operations of four regional offices around the country.
Prior to his current position, Mr. Templin served as vice president of Scion, responsible for all Scion activities.
Since joining TMS in 1990, Mr. Templin has held a number of positions, including Lexus Southern area manager, and assistant area manager for both the Southern and Western area Lexus offices. He also served as sales administration manager and retail operations manager at Lexus' national headquarters in Torrance, Calif., and as vice president of parts, service, customer satisfaction, and training for the Lexus Division. Most recently, Mr. Templin served as vice president of Lexus marketing where he was responsible for all Lexus marketing activities, including advertising, market planning, promotions, direct marketing, interactive marketing, and vehicle accessory pricing.
Before coming to Toyota, Mr. Templin held several positions at the Oldsmobile Division of General Motors.
A graduate of Central Missouri State University in Warrensburg, Missouri, Mr. Templin earned a degree in automotive technology.
Liz Vanzura
Cadillac Global Marketing Director
General Motors
As director of global marketing for Cadillac, Liz Vanzura has responsibility for developing and executing Cadillac's overall marketing strategy, positioning and branding for Cadillac's products worldwide. Ms. Vanzura leads an internal staff and provides direction to Cadillac's advertising agency Modernista! in Boston, Massachusetts.
Prior to her position at Cadillac, Ms. Vanzura was the global director of marketing for HUMMER from 2001- early 2006 and director of marketing at Volkswagen of America from late 1996 through 2000. In that capacity, she directed one of the most recognized and successful advertising campaigns in automotive history, including the historic re-launch of the Beetle as well as all of HUMMER's new product launches to date.
Ms. Vanzura began her career in 1982 as a GMI (General Motors Institute) engineering intern and worked in sales, marketing, engineering and design departments within General Motors. After graduation from GMI with a bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering with honors, she became a product planning manager with GM. She received a scholarship from GM in 1988 (known as a GM fellowship) to pursue an MBA at Harvard University. Following graduation from Harvard in 1990, Vanzura served in a variety of product planning, market research and marketing roles, including the position of assistant brand manager for the Pontiac Sunfire in 1994. She joined Volkswagen of America in 1996 as director of marketing, charged with re-launching the brand with five new car launches over a four-year period.
Highlights of Ms. Vanzura's career include 2005 AAF Advertising Hall of Achievement Inductee, three-time Automotive News All Star for Advertising in 1999, 2000 and 2003, a 2004 Gold ADDY Award/Best in Show TV finalist, 2003 Brandweek Top Marketers of the Next Generation Award, 2003 Wall Street Journal and Chicago Tribune Best Ad of the Year, Advertising Age 2003 Highest Recalled and Most Likeable Advertising, 2002 Business 2.0's 20 Young Execs You Need to Know, 2001 Advertising Age Top Women to Watch Award, 1999 Best Overall Client Clio Award (any industry), Advertising Age 1999 Top 100 Marketing Professionals, 1998 Cannes Grand Prix Winner, 1998 USA Today Best Overall Advertising Campaign and 1998 Advertising Age Marketer of the Year.
Dale Willey
Chairman
National Automobile Dealers Association
Dale Willey, president of Dale Willey Automotive, Lawrence, Kansas, is 2007 chairman of the National Automobile Dealers Association and represents the state's franchised new-car dealers on the association's board of directors.
An automobile dealer and a member of NADA since 1970, Mr. Willey currently chairs the Executive Committee and serves on the Guide Company board of directors. Previously, Mr. Willey was NADA secretary and a member of the Finance Committee as well as chairman of the Dealership Operations Committee and Public Affairs Committee.
Dale Willey is a past president of the Kansas Auto Dealers Association, past chairman of the Kansas Auto Dealers Worker's Compensation Trust, vice chairman of the Kansas Dealer Review Board, and served on the Kansas AUTOCAP Committee.
Mr. Willey has served as chairman of the Lawrence Chamber of Commerce and the O'Connell Youth Ranch. He currently is a member of the Rotary Club and the Cosmopolitan Club.
The recipient of many civic and industry awards, Mr. Willey was a 1993 winner of the Time Magazine Quality Dealer Award, sponsored annually by Time, Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co. and NADA to honor professional excellence and community leadership and was named the Lawrence Chamber of Commerce Businessman of the Year in 1995.
The National Automobile Dealers Association, founded in 1917 and based in McLean, VA, represents more than 20,000 franchised new car and truck dealers holding nearly 43,000 separate franchises, domestic and international.
Mary Ann Wright
Chief Executive Officer
Johnson Controls-
Saft Advanced Power Solutions
Mary Ann Wright was appointed chief executive officer of Johnson Controls - Saft Advanced Power Solutions on March 1, 2007. Ms. Wright is responsible for accelerating the growth and executing the launch of hybrid, plug-in hybrid and electric vehicle battery programs with emphasis on state of the art technology, manufacturing and electronics integration.
In addition to leading JCS, Ms. Wright is the vice president and general manager, hybrid systems for Johnson Controls, Inc.
Ms. Wright most recently served as executive vice president engineering, product development, commercial and program management for Collins & Aikman Corporation. Prior to joining Collins & Aikman, she served as director, sustainable mobility technologies and hybrid vehicle programs at Ford Motor Company. In this capacity she was responsible for all hybrid, fuel cell and alternative fuel technology development. Ms. Wright also served as chief engineer of the 2005 Ford Escape Hybrid, the industry's first full hybrid SUV. She began her career at Ford in 1988, holding a variety of positions in finance, product and business planning, and engineering. She also played a major role in the launch of multiple vehicles at Ford including the initial Mercury Villager and Nissan Quest, and successive versions of the Ford Taurus and Mercury Sable.
Mary Ann Wright has been recognized by Automotive News as one of the "Leading 100 Women in the Automotive Industry." She earned a bachelor's degree in economics and international business from the University of Michigan, a master of science degree in engineering from the University of Michigan and a master of business administration degree from Wayne State University.
David L. Zuchowski
Vice President, National Sales
Hyundai Motor America
David Zuchowski, a 27-year veteran of the automotive industry, joined Hyundai Motor America in February 2007 as vice president of sales. Mr. Zuchowski is responsible for all sales, sales operations, market representation, field operations and overall dealer relations.
Mr. Zuchowski joins Hyundai from Mazda North America where he served as vice president of sales and field operations.
David Zuchowski began his career in 1980 at Ford Motor Company as a sales associate. He has spent 23 years in various executive-level positions including regional manager, product marketing manager, national merchandising manager and field operations manager for the Ford and Lincoln Mercury divisions.
Mr. Zuchowski earned his bachelors of arts in communications from the University of Washington.
Speakers subject to change without notice.
