Mary Barra 
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
General Motors

Mary Barra is chairman and chief executive officer of General Motors Company. She was elected chairman of the GM Board of Directors on January 4, 2016, and has served as CEO of GM since January 15, 2014.

Under Ms. Barra’s leadership, GM envisions a world with zero crashes, to save lives; zero emissions, so future generations can inherit a healthier planet; and zero congestion, so customers get back a precious commodity -- time. She’s focused on strengthening GM’s core business of great cars, trucks and crossovers, while also working to lead the transformation of personal mobility through advanced technologies like connectivity, electrification, autonomous driving and car sharing. Barra has also established a strategic direction based on putting the customer at the center of everything the company does.

Prior to becoming CEO, Ms. Barra served as executive vice president, global product development, purchasing & supply chain since August 2013, and as senior vice president, global product development since February 2011. In these roles, Ms. Barra and her teams were responsible for the design, engineering and quality of GM vehicle launches worldwide.

Previously, she served as vice president, global human resources; vice president, global manufacturing engineering; plant manager, Detroit Hamtramck Assembly; and in several other executive engineering and staff positions.

Ms. Barra began her career with GM in 1980 as a General Motors Institute (Kettering University) co-op student at the Pontiac Motor Division. She graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering in 1985, followed by a Masters in Business Administration from the Stanford Graduate School of Business (GSB) in 1990.

Ms. Barra is a member of the Stanford University Board of Trustees and the Stanford GSB Advisory Council. She also serves on the Board of Directors of the Walt Disney Company; the Detroit Economic Club; and the Board of Trustees for Detroit Country Day School.

She is a member of The Business Council and an At-Large Board Member of the Business Roundtable, where she also serves on the Social Issues Committee.

Linda Hasenfratz  
CEO
Linamar Corporation

Linda Hasenfratz is the chief executive officer of Linamar Corporation, a diversified global manufacturing company of highly engineered products powering vehicles, motion, work and lives. Linamar Corporation (TSX:LNR) is a diversified global manufacturing company of highly engineered products powering vehicles, motion, work and lives. The company is made up of 2 operating segments – the powertrain/driveline segment and the industrial segment, which are further divided into 5 operating groups – machining & assembly, light /metal casting, forging, skyjack and agriculture, all world leaders in the design, development and production of highly engineered products. Linamar has more than 28,600 employees in 60 manufacturing locations, 8 R&D centers and 25 sales offices in 17 countries in North and South America, Europe and Asia which generated sales of $6.5 billion in 2017.

Strengthening her position as a Canadian and global leader, Ms. Hasenfratz was appointed to the CIBC Board of Directors in 2004 and appointed chair of their Management Resources Compensation Committee in the fall of 2015. She was Canadian chair of the North American Competitiveness Council in 2008, a trilateral group of executives from Canada, the US and Mexico convened by the countries’ leaders to debate and advise on key recommendations regarding enhancement of the NAFTA region. Ms. Hasenfratz became a member of the Board of the Business Council of Canada (formerly the Canadian Council of Chief Executives) in 2010 and was appointed chair in early 2016. Her contribution to this important policy and advisory group has assisted her in developing relationships and advancing ideas to key business and government leaders.

In recognition of her and Linamar’s support and focus on international growth Ms. Hasenfratz has received 2 international honours. The French Government honoured her in June of 2015 with the Chevalier dans l’Ordre National de la Légion d’Honneur, one of the highest honours bestowed upon a non-civilian in France. In October 2016 Ms. Hasenfratz was honoured by the Hungarian government and was awarded the Knight’s Cross of the Order of Merit of Hungary.

Ms. Hasenfratz supports one of Linamar’s key industries, the automotive industry, through her appointment as the first female director to the Faurecia Board of Directors, a French automotive supplier, in 2011. Ms. Hasenfratz has been named one of the Automotive News 100 Leading Women in each year of its publication in 2000, 2005, 2010 and 2015.

Linda Hasenfratz was recognized for her contributions to Canadian business through an honorary degree from Ryerson University in Toronto in 2003, an honorary degree from Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo in 2011 as well as the Outstanding Leader Award from the same institution in 2007. She also holds an honorary degree from Fanshawe College in 2016.

James Lentz  
Chief Executive Officer
Toyota Motor North America
Senior Managing Officer
Toyota Motor Corporation

Jim Lentz is chief executive officer of Toyota Motor North America, Inc. (TMNA) and a senior managing officer of parent company Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC), located in Japan.

In this role, Mr. Lentz oversees all business for Toyota’s North America region, including manufacturing, research and development, sales, marketing, product support and corporate resources.

Mr. Lentz's vision of uniting all of Toyota’s affiliates across the U.S., culminated in moving the company’s regional headquarters to Plano, Texas in 2017.

Most recently, Mr. Lentz was president and chief executive officer of Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc., (TMS), president of Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing, North America, Inc. (TEMA), senior vice president of Toyota North America (TMA), and served in a global advisory capacity as managing officer for TMC. Prior to that, Mr. Lentz served as president and chief operating officer and executive vice president of TMS.

Mr. Lentz previously held several executive positions, including Toyota division group vice president and general manager, where he oversaw all sales, logistics and marketing activities for Toyota and Scion regional sales offices and distributors. He also served as group vice president of marketing for the Toyota division and vice president of Scion, responsible for the initial launch of a new line of vehicles designed for the next generation of new-car buyers.

Mr. Lentz joined Toyota in 1982 as the merchandising manager for its Portland region, where he later became the distribution manager and field operations manager.

Mr. Lentz serves as secretary on the board of directors for The Global Automakers, chair of the American Automotive Alliance, and is a member of the executive advisory board for Daniels College of Business at the University of Denver (DU), his alma mater.

He was named “Marketer of the Year” by Advertising Age in 2006, an Automotive News “All Star” in 2007, honored at “Industry Leader of the Year” in 2014 by the Automotive Hall of Fame, and recently was named an All Star by Automotive News in 2017.

Mr. Lentz earned a bachelor's degree in marketing and economics and a M.B.A. in Finance from DU.

John J. Murphy, CFA  
Managing Director, Automotive Equity Research
Bank of America Merrill Lynch Global Research

John Murphy is a managing director and the lead US auto analyst in equity research. He advises clients on investments in automobile manufacturers, suppliers, dealers and related businesses. Key pillars of his research portfolio include: Car Wars, Who Makes the Car, the Dealer Manual, the Big Bang Series, and the Annual New York Auto Summit.

He has earned high rankings in industry surveys, including the Institutional Investor All America Research Team, the Wall Street Journal Best on the Street, the Financial Times/Starmine World’s Top Analysts, and Bloomberg Markets World’s Top Analysts.

Mr. Murphy has presented to numerous boards and senior management across the automotive value chain. He has also addressed a number of industry conferences including: the Automotive News World Congress, the Original Equipment Suppliers Annual Conference, the World Economic Forum Automotive Industry Sessions, the National Automobile Dealers Association Symposium, the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago’s Automotive Outlook Symposium, and many others.

He joined the Merrill Lynch Auto group in 1999. Prior to that, Mr. Murphy worked at the National Economic Research Associates (NERA) in the banking and finance practice.

John Murphy has a BA in quantitative economics from Tufts University, and is a CFA charter holder.

Dr. Andy Palmer  
President and Chief Executive Officer
Aston Martin Lagonda Ltd.

Dr. Andy Palmer, CMG, is the president and chief executive officer of Aston Martin. He joined the business on October 1, 2014.

Dr. Palmer is a British-born chartered engineer, chartered manager and businessman with 37 years of automotive industry experience. He is an indentured apprentice and graduated from Warwick University with a master’s degree (MSc) in product engineering in 1990, and acquired a doctorate (PhD) in management from Cranfield University in 2004. He is a chartered engineer and a fellow of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers. In 2010, Coventry University awarded Dr. Palmer an honorary doctorate of technology and in 2014 he was appointed professor, advising the university in the automotive field. Dr. Palmer is also and industrial professor at Warwick University (2015), a Companion of the Chartered Management Institute CCMI (2105) and the first winner of the Cranfield Univeristy “The Distinguished Manufacturing Alumnus/a of the Year Award” (2106).

Prior to joining Aston Martin, Dr. Palmer held the post of chief planning officer at Nissan Motor Co and was a member of the Nissan executive committee. He held a number of senior positions with the Japanese car manufacturer over the course of a 23-year career with the firm. These roles included corporate planning, product planning, marketing, sales & IT leadership and chairman of Infiniti from 2011.

Dr. Palmer started his professional career in 1979 as an apprentice at Automotive Products Limited (UK). After six years with Austin Rover, he joined Nissan.

In the 2014 New Year’s Honours list he was named a Companion of the Order of St. Michael and St. George (CMG) in recognition of services to the British automotive industry.

After completion of his first 150 days as chief operating officer of Aston Martin, Dr. Palmer announced the company’s six year “Second Century” plan. A comprehensive strategy for the transformation and growth of Aston Martin, the plan laid out a series of mid-term actions, particularly in the area of new product development that will drive the growth of the company. The plan will see the entire range of current models replaced and expanded with the introduction of a new car every nine months through 2020. The first car to be launched from the “Second Century” plan, the DB11, was unveiled at the 2016 Geneva motor show, followed by the new Vantage and the DBS Superleggera. In addition to the new product plan, Dr. Palmer has secured new investment for the company, announced a second manufacturing facility at St. Athan in Wales to build a new SUV and created a breakthrough partnership with Red Bull Advanced Technologies that will co-create the Aston Martin Valkyrie.

RJ Scaringe  
Founder and Chief Executive Officer
Rivian

RJ Scaringe founded Rivian in 2009 and led the company through a tough economic climate to secure substantial financing, recruit and scale an exceptional team, and establish the company’s product and technology platform. Mr. Scaringe excels in analyzing highly complex systems, combining deep analytical capabilities with a system-based development methodology.

Mr. Scaringe earned his MS and PhD in mechanical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology where he was a member of the research team in the Sloan Automotive Laboratory. In leading Rivian, Mr. Scaringe works to maintain a highly collaborative environment and his hands-on approach drives innovative thinking into all aspects of the business and company culture.

Jonathan Smoke  
Chief Economist
Cox Automotive

Jonathan Smoke leads Cox Automotive’s economic industry insights team, which leverages data to expand Cox Automotive’s deep expertise in all aspects of the automotive industry. The industry insights team tracks new and used vehicle sales, supply, prices, retail and fleet demand, consumer credit and auto financing, and dealer sentiment to understand the key trends impacting both the wholesale and retail markets for vehicles informed by the proprietary data from all of the company’s businesses and platforms including Manheim, Autotrader, Kelley Blue Book, and Dealertrack.

For more than 23 years, Mr. Smoke has focused on translating data and trends into relevant, actionable insights for the industries that represent the biggest purchases that consumers make in their lifetimes: real estate and automotive.

Prior to joining Cox Automotive, Mr. Smoke served as Realtor.com’s chief economist. Before that, he was the chief economist for Hanley Wood, a media and market intelligence company, and also served in a variety of roles at Beazer Homes, including senior vice president of strategy and innovation.

Mr. Smoke is an executive member of the board for the Atlanta Economics Club and an active member of the Harvard Industrial Economists and the National Association of Business Economists. He has spoken at major industry conferences such as the NADA and NIADA conventions, Automotive News World Congress, and Used Car Week. His views on the economy and the auto industry are featured regularly in industry and national news outlets such as Automotive News, Auto Remarketing, The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Bloomberg, and CNBC. Follow him on Twitter @SmokeonCars to keep up with the latest industry insights.

Mr. Smoke holds a bachelor’s degree in economics and religious studies from Rhodes College and a master’s degree in business from The University of Texas at Austin.

Donald Walker  
Chief Executive Officer
Magna International Inc.

Donald Walker was named chief executive officer on September 13, 2010. Magna is a U.S. $40 billion global automotive supplier that designs, develops and manufactures components and systems for the world’s leading auto makers. Magna has over 173,000 employees, 339 plants in 28 countries.

Mr. Walker was co-CEO from 2005 – 2010 and was chairman and CEO of Intier Automotive from 2001 – 2005. Prior to taking Intier public, he 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.

He graduated from the University of Waterloo with a BA science mechanical engineering degree in 1980.

In July 2002, Mr. Walker became co-chair of the Canadian Automotive Partnership Council (CAPC) with the Federal and Provincial Governments to identify both short- and long-term priorities that will help ensure the future health of the automotive industry in Canada. In 2007, he became a member of the Dean's Advisory Council, Faculty of Engineering, University of Waterloo. Mr. Walker was the past chairman of the APMA.

Throughout his career, Mr. Walker has been honored with several notable recognitions. A few recent examples include being named Canada’s Outstanding CEO of the Year in 2014, selected to Fortune magazine’s Global Business Person of the Year list in 2015, and featured on Financial Post Magazine’s first annual Power List in 2016. Mr. Walker was also named #25 on Motor Trend magazine’s Power List 2017 and the Toronto Star’s Top Five Newsmakers to watch in 2017. Most recently, he ranked among the top CEOs in Canada in the Glassdoor Employees’ Choice Award 2018 which is based on feedback provided by employees.

Peter Welch  
President & CEO
National Automobile Dealers Association

Peter K. Welch became NADA's president & CEO on Feb. 1, 2013. He previously served as president and chief executive officer of the California New Car Dealers Association (CNCDA) since 2003. CNCDA is the country's largest state association of franchised new car dealers. Prior to joining CNCDA in 1990 as its director of government and legal affairs, Mr. Welch was a partner with a Los Angeles law firm.

A native of Detroit, Mich., Mr. Welch holds a bachelor's degree from the University of Michigan, a master's degree from the University of Durham, England, and a juris doctor's degree from Loyola Marymount University of Law, Los Angeles.

Kumar Galhotra  
Group Vice President and President
Ford North America

Kumar Galhotra is group vice president and president, Ford North America, effective March 1, 2018. In this role, Mr. Galhotra is responsible for leading all aspects of Ford’s North American business. He reports to Jim Farley, Ford executive vice president and president, global markets.

Previously, Mr. Galhotra was group vice president, Lincoln and chief marketing officer for Ford Motor Company, a position he was named to in 2017.

In this role, Mr. Galhotra was responsible for leading the continued transformation of Lincoln as a world-class luxury brand, a role he was named to in September 2014. He oversaw all Lincoln operations globally, including product development; marketing, sales and service; and all team members supporting the brand.

He also led the company’s marketing function and efforts to connect more closely with customers by identifying new opportunities to serve them. His focus included shifting investments towards product categories that played to the company’s strengths, and developing more effective brand communications including digital services, emobility and autonomy.

Prior to Lincoln, Mr. Galhotra was vice president, engineering, a position he assumed on Aug. 1, 2013. In this global role, he was responsible for the engineering of all cars, trucks, SUVs and crossover vehicles for Ford and Lincoln brands.

Mr. Galhotra became vice president, product development for Asia Pacific and Africa in 2009. In that role, he led the team that developed Ford’s aggressive plan to bring more than 50 new vehicles and powertrains to its Asia Pacific and Africa region by mid-decade. He was appointed a corporate officer on June 1, 2012.

Since joining the company in 1988, he has served in various positions in product development and product strategy. Among the assignments, he led the introduction of the Ford Ranger into South American markets in 1998; was the chief engineer for the Ford Escape, Mazda Tribute and Mercury Mariner in the early 2000s; and was vehicle programs director for five vehicle lines in the mid-2000s. In addition, his team oversaw the development of the all-new global compact pickup truck, the Ford Ranger.

Between 2005 and 2008, he was assigned to Mazda’s headquarters in Hiroshima, where he was responsible for program management and product planning worldwide.

Mr. Galhotra has a bachelor of science in mechanical engineering from the University of Michigan.

Roger S. Penske 
Founder and Chairman
Penske Corporation

Roger Penske is the founder and chairman of Penske Corporation, a closely-held, diversified transportation services company whose subsidiaries operate in a variety of industry segments, including retail automotive, retail commercial truck dealerships, truck leasing, transportation logistics and professional motorsports. Penske Corporation manages businesses with consolidated revenues of more than $32 billion, operating in over 3,660 locations and employing more than 60,000 people worldwide.

David Twohig
Chief Vehicle Engineer
BYTON

Mr. David Twohig is a seasoned automotive engineering executive with over 25 years of international experience in automotive design and development. He has developed a strong leadership and accumulated solid technical know-how and engineering capability.

At BYTON, he serves as chief vehicle engineer, focusing on the core automotive engineering disciplines of body structures, body equipment, chassis and thermal management, as well as ensuring that the different engineering disciplines co-operate smoothly to ensure that BYTON’s future products have a consistent engineering philosophy.

Before joining BYTON, Mr. Twohig was chief engineer at Alpine, and head of vehicle engineering at Renault Sport. Through his leadership and team efforts, he successfully developed a truly groundbreaking sports car - the new Alpine A110, that spearheads the rebirth of the Alpine brand, and has even been favorably compared with established segment leaders like the Porsche Cayman. For these efforts, Mr. Twohig was named Engineer of the Year by Autocar Magazine in 2018. Prior to Alpine and Renault Sport, from 2009 to 2013 Mr. Twohig led the engineering team responsible for the Renault ZOE as the key pillar of Renault’s ambitious Zero Emissions program, and currently Europe’s best-selling BEV. He also steered the development of the first generation Nissan Qashqai, a highly profitable model for Nissan, launching the dominant compact SUV segment in Europe.

John Wall  
Senior Vice President & Head
QNX Software Systems

As senior vice president and head of QNX Software Systems, John Wall is responsible for the direction and overall activities for the company. He oversees the planning, design, and development of QNX Software Systems’ products, and the direction of its engineering services programs, including design consulting and custom engineering, to support QNX customers in bringing their products to market.

Mr. Wall has been an integral member of the QNX team since 1993. He has held a variety of roles within the organization, including vice president of engineering and services. He is a graduate of Carleton University in Ottawa and holds a bachelor’s of engineering in electrical and electronics engineering.

Arndt Ellinghorst 
Senior Managing Director, Head of Global Automotive Research
Evercore ISI

Arndt Ellinghorst is a senior managing director, head of global automotive research, and runs the London office. With over 12 years' experience covering the sector, Mr. Ellinghorst and his team have been consistently ranked top 3 in major investor surveys, and have earned a reputation for cutting edge, bottoms-up analysis and thought provoking, thematic research.

Prior to joining Evercore ISI, Mr. Ellinghorst was managing director at Credit Suisse where he served as head of European automotive research. His other positions at Credit Suisse included global automotive sector coordinator, and co-head of EMEA equity research. While at Credit Suisse, his team was consistently ranked #1 or #2 in external and internal client surveys. Mr. Ellinghorst also spent time at Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein and WestLB Panmure, as well as working for Volkswagen and Audi.

Mr. Ellinghorst graduated in 1998 with a degree in business administration from University in Osnabrueck.

Samir Salman 
Chief Executive Officer, North America
Continental AG

Samir Salman was appointed chief executive officer, North America effective June 1, 2008. In this role, he coordinates the North American activities of the three automotive divisions – chassis & safety, powertrain, and interior; and central functions such as engineering, finance, quality, information technology, human resources, purchasing, communications and marketing. He retained his role of senior vice president of vehicle dynamics business unit and division coordination chassis & safety in North America, to which he was appointed in January, 2008.

Prior to this appointment, Mr. Salman was senior vice president, purchasing for Continental’s automotive divisions based in Frankfurt. He also served as vice president for Continental’s worldwide aftermarket business.

Mr. Salman joined Continental through the company’s acquisition of ITT Automotive in 1998. During his five-year career with ITT Automotive, he held both European and worldwide sales positions. Mr. Salman began his career with Bosch in 1989 as a product manager.

Samir Salman earned a mechanical engineering degree and a master of business administration degree from the University of Giessen in Germany.

Ray Scott 
President and CEO
Lear Corporation

Ray Scott is president and chief executive officer of Lear Corporation. He is responsible for the strategic direction and operational leadership of the company.

Mr. Scott started his career at Lear in 1988. He held various positions of increasing responsibility in program management and sales before becoming senior vice president in 2009, and then president of Lear’s global Electrical Power Management Systems division—now referred to as E-Systems. In 2011, he became executive vice president and then president of the global Seating division. As president of Seating, Mr. Scott was responsible for developing and leading global initiatives to grow and diversify sales, accelerate innovation efforts, improve financial results and sustain world-class competitiveness in the Seating business.

In addition to serving as president of both the Seating and E-Systems business segments at Lear, Mr. Scott has held other executive positions in both Europe and the U.S. These positions include president of Lear's North American Seating Systems, president of Lear's European Customer-Focused division, president of the General Motors and Fiat Customer-Focused divisions, vice president and general manager of Lear GM Europe, vice president of Operations for Lear-Saab, and sales director for Lear's GM division.

Mr. Scott holds a bachelor of science degree in economics from the University of Michigan and a master of business administration degree from Michigan State University's Advanced Management Program. He also attended executive education programs at Stanford University and the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania.

Mr. Scott serves on the Board of Trustees for Kettering University in Flint, MI, and the Michigan State University Eli Broad College of Business Alumni Board and Business Leader of MI.

Adrian Hallmark
Chairman and CEO
Bentley Motors

Adrian Hallmark joined Bentley Motors in February 2018 as chairman and CEO. Prior to this, Mr. Hallmark was global strategy director at Jaguar Land Rover.

Mr. Hallmark has 18 years automotive board-level experience from the US, Europe and Asia with Porsche, Volkswagen SAAB and Bentley Motors.

During his first term at Bentley he held the role of board member for sales, marketing and PR and played an integral role in the introduction of the sector-defining Continental GT in 2003.

Mr. Hallmark studied mechanical engineering at Wolverhampton University, UK and has a management diploma.

Jack Cheng
Chief Executive Officer
XPT
Co-Founder
NIO

Jack Cheng is the chief executive officer of XPT and co-founder of NIO. Known as a pioneer in the automotive industry, his focus is to empower a joyful future and mobilize the world through affordable autonomous electric cars.

With China as the world’s largest EV market, XPT is uniquely positioned to be the first advanced technology company that can provide global quality and technology with a local presence. The partnership with NIO addresses the growing electric vehicle demand, while XPT as the provider of advanced technology components and solutions, will be the “head and heart” of the vehicle.

Mr. Cheng’s sights are set on making XPT and NIO the number one provider of electric autonomous vehicles in the world.

Prior to XPT, he was also the China country manager of Magneti Marelli and chairman of Fiat Automobiles, Co. Ltd. His leadership on a global level began at Ford in 1981 where he started in components design engineering and later moved to product planning and product development. With the Ford and Mazda partnership, Mr. Cheng was instrumental in the orchestration and export of a Taiwan built Tracer (Mazda3) to Canada in 1986.

Mr. Cheng’s success can be attributed to his ability to create and foster international business and government relationships, while his instincts allow him to see what’s next and blaze the trail to get there.

He believes that the next phase of the mobility and electric vehicle industry —will be the greatest opportunity yet. The future is in smart, electric and autonomous vehicles and XPT is placing their bets in this market.

Mr. Cheng graduated from Taiwan National Cheng Kung University where he received a degree in mechanical engineering.

Jim Farley
Executive Vice President and President, Global Markets
Ford Motor Company

James “Jim” D. Farley, Jr. is executive vice president and president of Global Markets, Ford Motor Company, effective June 1, 2017. In this role, he is responsible for overseeing Ford’s business units, The Americas; Europe, Middle East & Africa and Asia Pacific. In addition, Mr. Farley oversees The Lincoln Motor Company, global Marketing & Sales and the strategy and business model development for electrified vehicles. He reports to Jim Hackett, Ford president and CEO.

Previously, Mr. Farley served as executive vice president and president, Ford Europe, Middle East and Africa, a position he held since Jan. 1, 2015. In this role, he led Ford’s business transformation in Europe, executing the plan to achieve profitable growth through an unprecedented focus on new products, a strong brand and increased cost efficiency. In 2016, he led Ford’s European operations to record profitability, record margins and increased sales.

Prior to his position in Ford Europe, Middle East and Africa, Mr. Farley served as executive vice president of Global Marketing, Sales & Service where he led the company’s drive to connect more closely with customers through integrated global marketing, advertising, digital communications, brand development and research. He also was instrumental in leading the ongoing reinvention of the Lincoln brand, setting it on a path for growth as a world-class luxury brand and customer experience, including the launch of the all-new Lincoln MKC and Lincoln’s introduction in China.

Prior to that, Mr. Farley was group vice president, global marketing and Canada, Mexico and South America. He had added responsibility for Ford’s operations in Canada, Mexico and South America in September 2009

Before joining Ford in November 2007, Mr. Farley was group vice president and general manager of Lexus, responsible for all sales, marketing and customer satisfaction activities for Toyota’s luxury brand. Before leading Lexus, he served as group vice president of Toyota Division marketing and was responsible for all Toyota Division market planning, advertising, merchandising, sales promotion, incentives and internet activities.

Jim Farley attended Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. where he earned a bachelor’s degree in economics and computer science, and the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), where he completed his MBA with a focus in finance.

David (Yaping) Wang
Vice President, Deputy General Manager North America
Yanfeng Automotive Interiors

David Wang is vice president and deputy general manager, North America for Yanfeng Automotive Interiors (YFAI), a joint venture between Yanfeng Automotive Trim Systems and Adient. Established in 2015, YFAI is the world’s largest automotive interiors supplier. In this role, he is responsible for co-leading the region, and also has global responsibility for the company’s General Motors and FCA business units.

Prior to this, Mr. Wang served as president of Yanfeng USA, a company he helped build, when he came to the U.S. in 2010. Under his leadership and business vision, Yanfeng USA enacted upon a growth strategy by aggressively pursuing new customers and new business wins. This company generated $300 million annual sales to two major automotive OEMs and employed nearly 1,000 people with two manufacturing locations.

David Wang has more than 20 years of automotive industry experience. Prior to his role with Yanfeng USA, he was senior program manager with Yanfeng, in Shanghai. Throughout his career with Yanfeng, Mr. Wang has held multiple leadership positions of increasing responsibility, including general manager of Yanfeng’s start-up tooling company.

Mr. Wang holds a bachelor’s of science degree from Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China. He also has a master’s of business administration degree from Fudan University, Shanghai, China, as well as an executive master’s degree of business administration from the University of Michigan.

Michael J. Dunne
CEO
ZoZo Go LLC

Michael J. Dunne is an entrepreneur, author and keynote speaker with special expertise in China and mobility. He has a talent for sensing what’s coming next – and then building successful enterprises around that. Mr. Dunne is currently CEO of ZoZo Go, an investment advisory firm with expertise in China and mobility. The company operates in Hong Kong, Shanghai and San Diego.

Mr. Dunne’s strong abilities in foreign languages – he reads and writes Chinese, Thai and Indonesian – have proven instrumental in navigating the distinctly different Asian business cultures.

Mr. Dunne established his first company, Automotive Resources Asia Ltd (ARA) in 1990. Operating offices in Bangkok, Shanghai, Hoi Chi Minh City and Beijing, ARA assisted Chrysler, GM and Ford, Mercedes and Volkswagen and many global parts suppliers with entry into the key markets of China, Thailand, Indonesia and Vietnam. ARA began shifting it services to customer perceptions about quality and value around 2000 and started working closely with JD Power, who acquired the company outright in 2006 and appointed Mr. Dunne to lead China operations of the combined ARA-JD Power firm.

In 2010, Mr. Dunne left JD Power and in 2011 he founded Car Keys Asia Ltd, an independent Internet portal based on the Cars.com and TrueCar.com business models. Car Keys Asia Ltd. was acquired by Chinese and Australian investors in 2013.

Mr. Dunne was then recruited by General Motors to run its revamped Indonesian operations, which included both manufacturing and sales. He was appointed president in September, 2013, a position he held until 2015.

In 2015, Mr. Dunne moved to California to be part of the most important changes confronting the auto industry in our lifetimes – the emergence of autonomous vehicles, EVs and mobility services. He started ZoZo Go, to advise companies on future trends in China, electrics, autonomous vehicles and mobility.

Mr. Dunne graduated from the University of Michigan with an MA in Chinese studies and an MBA in 1990.

Tiger Lu  
President
Sanhua Automotive America

As president of Sanhua Automotive USA Inc. in the Detroit suburb of Auburn Hills, Mich., Tiger Lu launched U.S. operations for the Chinese supplier of thermal management components in 2006. A decade later, he added the role of president of Sanhua Automotive Mexico, where the company built a factory in Saltillo.

Sanhua Automotive sells climate control components for passenger cabins, cooling systems for electric-vehicles batteries and motors, and temperature control parts for transmissions. Under Mr. Lu’s direction, in 2017, the company won an Automotive News PACE award for designing an electronic valve that can handle carbon dioxide refrigerant, which is considered environmentally friendly.

With this and other products, Lu hopes to boost Sanhua’s North American automotive sales to $100 million in four or five years, up from $50 million in 2018.

Before establishing Sanhua’s North American operations, Lu was secretary to the president of Sanhua Holding Group, sales manager for Zhejiang Sanhua Climate Control Co. Ltd., manager of the engineering division of Shanghai Sanhua Electric Co. Ltd. and program manager and a design engineer for Shanghai Sanhua Electric Co., Ltd.

Mr. Lu received a degree in mechatronics engineering from the Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics in 1996.

Qing Lu
CFO, President & Co-Founder
WeRide

Qing Lu is the CFO, president and co-founder of WeRide.ai. WeRide was founded in Silicon Valley in April 2017 and established its global headquarters in Guangzhou, China. It has emerged as the leading autonomous driving company aiming to achieve large-scale, commercial deployment of fully L4 autonomous vehicles for the public

Prior to WeRide, Mr. Lu was the CFO of Velodyne LiDAR, a global leader in LiDAR development and manufacturing, used by nearly all autonomous driving companies. He was also the former CFO of multiple Silicon Valley startups, including Symbio, LitePoint, PortalPlayer, and others with successful exits in one IPO and two acquisitions.

Mr. Lu received a bachelor’s of science degree from Beijing Jiaotong Univeristy in 1992, an MBA in finance from the Sino-Euro Business School in 1997 and master’s degree in business accounting from the University of Southern California in 2000.

Howard A. Tullman
Executive Director, Ed Kaplan Family Institute for Innovation and Tech Entrepreneurship
Illinois Institute of Technology

Howard Tullman is the executive director of the Ed Kaplan Family Institute for Innovation and Tech Entrepreneurship at the Illinois Institute of Technology. Mr. Tullman is the former CEO of 1871 – where digital startups get their start and the general managing partner of G2T3V, LLC and of Chicago High Tech Investment Partners, which are Chicago-based early-stage venture funds. He is a member of Mayor Emanuel’s Chicago NEXT and Cultural Affairs Councils; the Innovate Illinois Advisory and Arts Councils; an Adjunct Professor at Kellogg; and an advisor to many start-ups. He is the former CEO of Tribeca Flashpoint College and Kendall College. Over the last 50 years, he has successfully founded more than a dozen high-tech companies.

Avery Ash
Head of Autonomous Mobility
INRIX

Avery Ash serves as head of autonomous mobility for INRIX, the global leader in connected car services and intelligent movement. Mr. Ash leads the company’s global policy engagement and helps shape business strategy in the connected car and autonomous vehicle space.

Prior to INRIX, Mr. Ash served as director of federal relations for AAA, where he was responsible for the Association’s federal advocacy on transportation, vehicle technology, mobility and energy issues. He also led development and deployment of the Association’s engagement strategy on advanced vehicle technology issues including connected, driverless and electric vehicles. Mr. Ash has served on the board of directors of the Electric Drive Transportation Association and the Fuels Institute’s board of advisors, and been selected as an Aspen Institute Socrates Scholar and SAFE Energy Security Fellow. He currently serves on the World Economic Forum’s executive working group for Autonomous and Urban Mobility.

Tim Piastrelli
Vice President of Security
Cruise Automation

Tim Piastrelli is the director of security of Cruise Automation, the self-driving technology company that was founded in 2013 and is headquartered in San Francisco, CA. As a leading industry expert in security, he oversees the company’s security teams and researchers focusing on threat intelligence, security architecture, automation, and adherence to core security principles. Mr. Piastrelli’s approach to security stems from building self-aware architecture and systems to reduce attack surface and decrease adversarial ROI. He believes that security is never "done." It requires an iterative approach given that technology changes so rapidly and adversaries are constantly shifting their tactics. He guides his teams to build with imperfect solutions and improve upon them rather than delay indefinitely, trying to do it perfectly.

Dr. Lance Zhou
Chief Executive Officer
Karma Automotive

Dr. Lance Zhou was named Karma Automotive’s chief executive officer in December 2017 after serving more than 25 years in the automotive industry, most recently as CEO and president of Beijing Foton-Daimler Automotive, in addition to Daimler global VP (level 1 of Daimler AG).

He began his career as an engineer, progressed into sales and marketing, and then into general management, where he held a variety of progressively responsible executive positions. Prior to joining Daimler, Dr. Zhou was at Naveco, a joint venture of Iveco of Fiat and Nanjing Auto, where he was chief executive officer and served on the venture’s board of directors.

Dr. Zhou earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in engineering from Northwester Polytechnical University and a PhD from Nanjing University of Science and Technology. He has an outstanding record of success in creating new business, driving growth, and over-delivering results and is recognized by the auto industry as a strong business leader who is results-focused, determined, systematic and pragmatic.

Dr. Mary Gallagher
Director, Lieberthal-Rogel Center for Chinese Studies
University of Michigan

Mary Gallagher is the Amy and Alan Lowenstein Professor of Democracy, Democratization, and Human Rights Professor at the University of Michigan where she is also the director of the Kenneth G. Lieberthal and Richard H. Rogel Center for Chinese Studies. Professor Gallagher received her Ph.D. in politics in 2001 from Princeton University and her B.A. from Smith College in 1991. She was a foreign student in China in 1989 at Nanjing University. She also taught at the Foreign Affairs College in Beijing from 1996-1997. She was a Fulbright Research Scholar from 2003 to 2004 at East China University of Politics and Law in Shanghai, China. In 2012-2013, she was a visiting professor at the Koguan School of Law at Shanghai Jiaotong University. Her most recent book is Authoritarian Legality in China: Law, Workers and the State, published by Cambridge University Press in 2017. She is also the author or editor of several other books, including Contagious Capitalism: Globalization and the Politics of Labor in China (Princeton 2005), Chinese Justice: Civil Dispute Resolution in Contemporary China (Cambridge 2011), From Iron Rice Bowl to Informalization: Markets, Workers, and the State in a Changing China (Cornell 2011), and Contemporary Chinese Politics: New Sources, Methods, and Field Strategies (Cambridge 2010).

Dr. Lance Zhou
Chief Executive Officer
Karma Automotive

Dr. Lance Zhou was named Karma Automotive’s chief executive officer in December 2017 after serving more than 25 years in the automotive industry, most recently as CEO and president of Beijing Foton-Daimler Automotive, in addition to Daimler global VP (level 1 of Daimler AG).

He began his career as an engineer, progressed into sales and marketing, and then into general management, where he held a variety of progressively responsible executive positions. Prior to joining Daimler, Dr. Zhou was at Naveco, a joint venture of Iveco of Fiat and Nanjing Auto, where he was chief executive officer and served on the venture’s board of directors.

Dr. Zhou earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in engineering from Northwester Polytechnical University and a PhD from Nanjing University of Science and Technology. He has an outstanding record of success in creating new business, driving growth, and over-delivering results and is recognized by the auto industry as a strong business leader who is results-focused, determined, systematic and pragmatic.

Mike Fenlon
Chief People Officer
PwC

Bio coming soon...

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Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text of the printing and typesetting industry. Lorem Ipsum has been the industry's standard dummy text ever since the 1500s, when an unknown printer took a galley of type and scrambled it to make a type specimen book.

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Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text of the printing and typesetting industry. Lorem Ipsum has been the industry's standard dummy text ever since the 1500s, when an unknown printer took a galley of type and scrambled it to make a type specimen book.

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Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text of the printing and typesetting industry. Lorem Ipsum has been the industry's standard dummy text ever since the 1500s, when an unknown printer took a galley of type and scrambled it to make a type specimen book.

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Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text of the printing and typesetting industry. Lorem Ipsum has been the industry's standard dummy text ever since the 1500s, when an unknown printer took a galley of type and scrambled it to make a type specimen book.

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Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text of the printing and typesetting industry. Lorem Ipsum has been the industry's standard dummy text ever since the 1500s, when an unknown printer took a galley of type and scrambled it to make a type specimen book.

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