Ibrahim Baylan
Minister for Enterprise
The Government of Sweden

Bio coming soon...

Ian Callum
Director of Design
Jaguar

Ian Callum, a native of Dumfries, Scotland, attended a course in industrial design at the Glasgow School of Art, followed by a two-year course in automobile design at the Royal College of Art in London. Callum spent the first 12 years of his career at Ford Design Studios, where he contributed to the creation of the Escort RS Cosworth and Ghia Via Concept. Later, as chief designer of TWR Design, he was responsible for the Aston Martin DB7 and Vanquish.

Callum joined Jaguar in 1999 but continued to manage Aston Martin design, developing the DB9 as well as directing Jaguar design—where he and his team created, among other vehicles, the R-Coupe, RD-6 and C-X75 concepts. Heralding an exciting new era for the brand, each car reinforced Jaguar as a creator of “fast, beautiful cars.” The first new model was the XK, followed by the XF and XJ.

In September 2012, Jaguar launched the much-anticipated F-Type, the automaker’s first two-seat sports car since the E-Type. This was followed by the XE, which Callum designed for a competitive segment and in the process made a bold statement for Jaguar using his established design philosophy.

In 2015, Callum and his team launched the second-generation XF, followed by the F-Pace, Jaguar’s first SUV. In 2017, the E-Pace compact performance SUV was unveiled. And March 2018 saw the launch of the I-Pace, Jaguar’s first all-electric vehicle.

Callum continues to lead a team of talented designers at Jaguar’s studios in Coventry, England. He has received six honorary doctorates from universities around the world. In 2005, he was awarded the title of Royal Designer for Industry from the London-based Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce. In 2014, he received the Minerva Medal—the highest accolade bestowed by the Chartered Society of Designers, awarded for a lifetime’s achievement in design. In 2015, Callum was named the most influential person in UK design by The Drum.

Francisco Carranza
Director of Energy Business
Nissan Europe

Since 2016, Francisco Carranza has been in charge of Nissan’s energy business, responsible for the commercialization of products and services related to integrating electric vehicles with the power grid. This includes vehicle-to-grid systems and smart charging as well as the launch of stationary storage products that leverage Renault and Nissan expertise in lithium batteries.

Carranza has been at Nissan since 2008, starting as manager of external affairs. He became manager of corporate planning and business development in 2013 and in 2015 became the overseas program director of strategic partnerships and projects.

Carranza has engineering degrees from the Sevilla Engineering School in Spain and the IFP School in France and MBA degrees from the EM-Lyon Business School in France and the Cranfield School of Management in England. He speaks English, Spanish and French.

Lucas Casasnovas
Director, Global Product Marketing
SEAT

Since August 2016, Lucas Casasnovas has been responsible for worldwide product operations and market intelligence at Seat. Casasnovas has a background in engineering and sales and marketing as well as strategic experience in Asia.

Casasnovas started his automotive career as an engineer in 1996 at the Seat technical center, where he was responsible for platform projects. In 2000 he joined the consultancy Roland Berger, overseeing automotive projects In Japan. In 2002 he joined the sales and marketing operations of the Volkswagen Group in Spain. In 2010, Casasnovas moved to VW headquarters in Germany, where he headed worldwide launch management operations from 2011 to 2014 and global product marketing for the compact segment from 2014 to 2016.

In his current role, Casasnovas is helping the Spanish automaker redefine its product portfolio to adapt to mobility trends. One example: the eXS KickScooter powered by Segway, designed for urban residents who want to move around the city in a sustainable and efficient way. Casasnovas’ vision: a city without noise and pollution where mobility becomes easy, fun and affordable for everyone. Casasnovas earned a degree in industrial engineering from the Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya in Barcelona and an executive MBA from the IESE Business School.

Matthew Harrison
Executive Vice President, Sales
Toyota Motor Europe

Matt Harrison joined Toyota GB as General Manager Vehicle Marketing in 2000, progressing to the post of Marketing Director in 2003.

Subsequently he moved to Toyota Motor Europe in 2005 where he worked as General Manager for Corporate Planning, before becoming General Manager of the Sales Planning Department in 2006.

In 2008, Mr. Harrison was appointed Director of Lexus Europe, returning to Toyota GB in 2011 to take up the role of Commercial Director.

In 2013, he was appointed President and Managing Director Toyota GB PLC.
In 2015, he was appointed Vice President, Sales & Marketing, Toyota Motor Europe

Mr. Harrison was appointed as Executive Vice President, Sales, Toyota Motor Europe in 2019.

His previous motor industry experience includes 10 years with Ford Motor Company, working in sales and marketing in its UK, European and global operations.

Born in Oldham and raised in Lytham St Anne’s, Lancashire, Matt holds a BSc (Hons) degree in Financial Accounting from the University of Kingston upon Hull.

Philippe Houchois
Managing Director
Jefferies International Limited

Philippe Houchois is a global autos analyst at Jefferies in London. After working for an auto supplier in France and Detroit, he became an automotive industry analyst at IHS, moving on to a sell-side career at JP Morgan-Cazenove, UBS and Jefferies.

His coverage spans American and European OEMs from Ferrari to Tesla and the incumbents in between.

Mr. Houchois is a graduate from The Paris Institut d'Etudes Politiques.

Marten Levenstam
Product Strategy & Business Ownership
Volvo Cars

Since 2007, Marten Levenstam has been working with strategy questions, first on environmental issues and later in Volvo Cars’ product planning department. Most recently, he was vice president of overall product strategy.

Levenstam join Volvo in 2000 as a mathematical engineer in the automaker’s safety center, where he was instrumental in developing several safety systems and technologies.

Levenstam has a master’s degree in vehicle engineering and a Ph.D. in fluid mechanics from the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm.

Michael Lohscheller
CEO
Opel Automobile GmbH

Michael Lohscheller has led the tradition-rich automaker Opel since June 2017. Before that, he was responsible for the automaker’s finances.

Before joining Opel in September 2012, Lohscheller was executive vice president and CFO of Volkswagen Group of America, where he led a turnaround that resulted in significant growth and higher profits. During more than 20 years of working for companies such as Daimler AG, Mitsubishi Motors Europe and Volkswagen AG, Lohscheller had broad business responsibilities in finance, information technology, marketing and sales, purchasing and logistics.

The German native received a degree in business administration in 1992 after studying at the University of Applied Sciences in Osnabrueck, Germany, and the University of Barcelona in Spain. From 1993 to 1996, Lohscheller studied European marketing management at Brunel University London while still working, eventually earning a master of arts degree.

Phil Popham
President & CEO
Lotus Cars

Phil Popham was appointed CEO, Lotus Cars on 1 October 2018. He joined from British superyacht maker, Sunseeker International, where he was CEO from 2014, overseeing a notable period of growth and a return to profitability for the UK’s largest boatbuilder.

Popham has led businesses all over the world in a career spanning more than 30 years. He spent many of those years as a senior executive at Jaguar Land Rover, based in South Africa, North America and other regions. He went on to be part of the company’s global executive team that presided over the business’s turnaround, rapid growth and most successful period.

Highly respected in the global automotive industry, as well as in the luxury sector and closely associated with premium British brands, Popham has made a career turning major businesses around. He has specialized in delivering on ambitious growth plans, while promoting and protecting some of the world’s best-known brands.

Jochen Sengpiehl
Chief Marketing Officer
Volkswagen AG

Jochen Sengpiehl has been Volkswagen AG’s chief marketing officer since 2017. Mr. Sengpiehl came to the German automaker from Hyundai Motor Europe, where he was vice president of marketing and chief marketing officer starting in 2014.

Mr. Sengpiehl also has worked at WPP in global automotive brand management, at Daimler AG as director of marketing-communication and at Nissan Motor Co. Ltd. as head of CRM and media. He also previously worked at VW as senior vice president and CMO from 2006 to 2009.

During his 20 years in the automotive industry, Mr. Sengpiehl has developed expertise in strategic brand management, advanced product planning and product strategy, marketing communications and digital transformation. His years in management gave him access to an international network of top executives, opinion leaders and key stakeholders in the automotive sector.

Hakan Samuelsson
President & CEO
Volvo Car Group

Hakan Samuelsson became CEO of the Swedish automaker in October 2012 and today oversees its transformation into a global carmaker and leader in safety, autonomous driving and connectivity.

Samuelsson’s nearly 40 years of industry experience includes serving as chairman and CEO of MAN SE, the Volkswagen Group truck unit, from 2005 to 2009 and before that in executive roles at the Swedish truck manufacturer Scania Group, another VW Group unit and the company where Samuelsson started his career in 1977.

Samuelsson, who has a master’s degree in mechanical engineering from the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, was named an Automotive News All-Star in 2016 in the CEO-Europe category.

Alain Visser
CEO
Lynk & CO

Never afraid to provoke, Alain Visser is a man devoid of restraint when it comes to voicing an opinion or two on the status quo.

Motivated in changing the way global manufacturers and dealership networks work, visionary Visser is pathing the way forward for the world’s fastest growing brand. Aiming to make mobility an accessible, viable and ultra-modern norm.

In the past few years, Visser has been named within the top ten most influential CMOs in the world by Forbes Magazine – for his honest and forthright approach in making big changes within the industry.

Before heading up the charge to change the way the world views mobility forever at LYNK & CO, Visser served as vice president of marketing, sales and customer service at Volvo Cars, globally.

Visser also worked at General Motors for eight years. His roles there included chief marketing officer and vice president of sales, marketing and aftersales at Opel/Vauxhall. Visser was also a member of the board of Adam Opel AG. Before that he spent 17 years at Ford Motor Company.

Born in Belgium, Visser started his career in the automobile industry in 1986, he holds a Masters of Science from the University of Antwerp, as well as an MBA from Duke University in North Carolina, and speaks six languages, including Italian, English, French and German.

Tom De Vleesschauwer
Head of Mobility Research
IHS

Tom De Vleesschauwer is senior director of automotive; and leads the Transport & Mobility practice at IHS Markit Automotive based in London.

Mr. De Vleesschauwer has been involved in the international automotive industry for more than 20 years and is currently responsible for both long-term market research and business consulting projects in the automotive industry.

Prior to IHS Markit, he was with the Automotive Group of Standard & Poor’s DRI, and Euromoney Financial Publications.

Arthur Kipferler
Partner
Berylls Strategy Advisors

Arthur Kipferler is a partner at Berylls Strategy Advisors, UK, where he has been since 2017. He is also a member of the advisory board at ClearMotion.

Prior to joining Berylls, he was the director of corporate planning, business transformation and globalization strategy at Jaguar Land Rover.

His career has also included positions at BMW, Inchcape, Toyota Motor Corporation and The Boston Consulting Group in Germany.

Patrik Illerstig
CEO
Care by Volvo

Patrik Illerstig, VD Care by Volvo AB, joined Volvo Cars on March 5, 2018. He comes comes with solid experience from creating digital products and setting up and launching digital first companies. Since 2012 he has been working for Qliro Group, where he in 2013 founded and thereafter managed the subsidiary Qliro AB. Qliro is an online payments and consumer finance company with more than 2 million end customers across Scandinavia. During his time at Qliro, he gained knowledge in financial regulation, online consumer finance, and digital commerce, but also how to build a completely new business within an existing structure. Before that, as co-founder and CEO of Rocket Internet Scandinavia, he was responsible for starting, managing and developing online ventures in the Scandinavian region and beyond. Most importantly, Illerstig grew up with a red Volvo 240 GL, and has been a Volvo Cars fan ever since.

John Gapper
Journalist
Financial Times

John Gapper is chief business columnist and associate editor of The Financial Times. He contributes columns, features and editorials on business, finance, technology and management. His awards include the Harold Wincott prize for financial journalism and the Gerald Loeb award for business commentary.

He is author of All That Glitters, about the collapse of Barings bank, and two novels: A Fatal Debt and The Ghost Shift. He is based in London and lives in Hackney, having worked in New York from 2005 to 2012.

Before the FT, he worked for papers including the The Daily Mirror, The Daily Mail and The Daily Telegraph. He studied Philosophy, Politics and Economics at Exeter College, Oxford and was a Harkness fellow at the Wharton School.

Thomas Ingenlath
Chief Executive Officer
Polestar

Thomas Ingenlath was appointed chief executive officer of Polestar on 17 June 2017, and leads the Polestar management team. He also holds the dual-role of chief design officer for the Volvo Car Group.

Mr. Ingenlath joined Volvo Car Corporation on 1 July 2012 as vice president design, arriving from a position as head of the Volkswagen Design Centre in Potsdam, Germany.

Prior to joining Volvo, he has 20 years’ experience from the automotive industry, after completion of design studies at the Fachhochschule für Gestaltung in Pforzheim and the Royal College of Art in London. He worked in top design positions at Audi (1991-1994), Volkswagen (1995-2000) and Skoda (2000-2006). From 2006 he was the director for design at the Volkswagen Design Centre in Potsdam, designing for all brands of the Volkswagen Group.

Lilia Halsen Bidar
Unit Manager, Urban Transport Administration, Traffic Information
City of Gothenburg

Lilia Halsen Bidar works as a unit manager at the Urban Transport Administration in the City of Gothenburg. She is responsible for traffic management, digital mobility services and C-ITS. A prioritized development area is the digitalization of the road and transport infrastructure in order for citizens to benefit from improved services in the smart city.

Currently Ms. Bidar is responsible for the Gothenburg initiative V2I for sharing traffic signal data within the Nordic Way 2 project. Previously she worked as an ITS project manager in the consultancy firm Sweco and the tolling supplier Q-Free.

Ida Hult
Futurist

Ida Hult is a Swedish ethnographer and futurologist. She helps companies craft narratives that fill the void between strategies and operations. She is a translator in between behaviour and business but also in between brand, product development and communication divisions.

Ms. Hult currently runs a foresight initiative at IKEA to create a strategic starting point for all business plans within the corporate group. With a research agency background including founding and running two of her own, she brings the knowledge off cross-industry expertise in strategic vision work for companies such as Ericsson, Skanska, SEB, Carlsberg and Arla Foods.

Chris Pateman-Jones
Head of Strategy
Connected Kerb Ltd.

Chris Pateman-Jones is an experienced infrastructure executive, with extensive commercial, innovation and strategy experience developing projects in the energy and commodities sectors - with Bechtel and more recently as EY’s Global Infrastructure Director.

Pateman-Jones recently joined the Connected Kerb team to lead Product and Strategy as the company deploys its Smart Cities EV Charging technology.

Martin Cardell
Nordics and EMEIA Automotive & Transportation Leader
EY

Martin Cardell has over 20 years of experience as a management consultant, with substantial experience in strategy development, profit improvement and large change programs. Cardell’s main concentration is on the automotive industry as leader of EY’s automotive and transportation advisory practice in Europe, the Middle East, India and Africa. He is also responsible for EY’s advisory practice in Gothenburg, Sweden.

Although Cardell’s focus is on automotive clients, he also has significant experience in industrial products, services, telecom companies and public organizations. Before joining EY in 2008, Cardell worked at Coor Service Management and Accenture Management Consulting.

Cardell has a master’s degree in international management from the School of Business, Economics and Commercial Law at Gothenburg University.

John Simlett
Global Future of Mobility Leader
EY

In his role at EY, John Simlett specializes in innovation and mobility and is the EY Global Future of Mobility Leader within the automotive and transportation sector.

When he joined EY in 2015, Simlett brought experience in strategy, retail and consulting within the automotive, financial services, government and oil sectors. A speaker at a number of conferences and industry associations, he has been an adviser to the British prime minister’s office. Simlett has particular knowledge of the mobility arena and a deep understanding of customer and behavioral economics through primary research and extensive knowledge of the academic literature.

Simlett has been heavily involved in advising on strategy issues for car manufacturers, including operational efficiency, pricing and customer satisfaction.

Simlett earned an MBA from the London Business School and an honors degree in English literature from the University of Wales.