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 Casanovas
Head of Product Marketing
SEAT

Bio coming soon...

Matthew Harrison
Executive Vice President
Toyota Motor Europe

Bio coming soon...

Philippe Houchois
Managing Director
Jefferies International Limited

Bio coming soon...

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

Bio coming soon...

Hakan Samuelsson
President & CEO
Volvo Car Group

Bio coming soon...

Alain Visser
CEO
Lynk & Co. Intl.

Visser, a native of Belgium, started his automotive career in 1986 at Ford Motor Co., working his way up to senior positions including president and managing director of Ford Benelux.
Before joining Lynk & Co., Visser was global vice president of marketing, sales and customer service at Volvo Cars.

For the past two years, Visser has been named one of the 10 most influential chief marketing officers in the world by Forbes magazine, citing his honest and forthright approach in making big changes within the automotive industry.

Visser also worked at General Motors’ Ruesselsheim, Germany, headquarters for eight years in roles that included chief marketing officer and vice president of sales, marketing and aftersales at Opel/Vauxhall. He was also a member of the board of Adam Opel AG.

Visser holds a master of science degree from the University of Antwerp and an MBA from Duke University in North Carolina. He also speaks six languages, including Italian, English, French and German.