DETROIT, Nov. 1 /PRNewswire/ -- Ford Motor Company President and CEO, Alan Mulally, and Volkswagen of America Inc. President and CEO, Stefan Jacoby, are among 30 influential automotive industry leaders who will share their perspectives and predictions during the 2008 Automotive News World Congress. The four-day annual event is slated for Monday - Thursday, Jan. 21 - 24 at the Detroit Marriott at the Renaissance Center in Detroit, Mich.
The conference opens with a 5:30 p.m. reception on Monday, followed by morning into evening individual presentations, panel discussions and keynote speakers on Tuesday and Wednesday, from 9 a.m. - 9:30 p.m. An 8:30 a.m. Thursday tour of the North American International Auto Show caps the conference.
Sponsored by IBM and PricewaterhouseCoopers, the Automotive News World Congress is presented in cooperation with Center for Automotive Research (CAR).
Among the executives who will join Mulally and Jacoby in addressing more than 800 expected attendees are:
-- Walter P. Czarnecki, Executive Vice President, Penske Corporation
-- Dr. Pawan Goenka, President (Automotive Sector) & Member of the Group
Management Board, Mahindra & Mahindra
-- Dean Harlow, President, Ricardo, Inc.
-- Roland Hwang, Vehicles Policy Director, Natural Resources Defense
Council
-- William Kozyra, President and CEO, Continental Automotive Systems North
America, Continental AG
-- Derrick M. Kuzak, Group Vice President, Global Product Development, The
Americas, Ford Motor Company
-- Chris Lacey, Executive Director, Central & Eastern Europe, General
Motors
-- Dr. Byron McCormick, Executive Director - Fuel Cell Activities, GM
Powertrain
-- Mark McNabb, Senior Vice President, Sales and Marketing, Nissan North
America Inc.
-- Deborah Wahl Meyer, Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer,
Chrysler LLC
-- Margo Oge, Director, Office of Transportation and Air Quality, United
States Environmental Protection Agency
-- Randy Ortiz, General Manager, Ford and LincolnMercury Sales, Ford
Motor Company
-- Bill Reinert, National Alternative Fuel Vehicle Manager, Toyota Motor
Sales USA Inc.
-- Sanjay Rishi, Global Automotive Industry Leader, IBM Global Business
Services
-- Wilbur L. Ross, Jr., Chairman and CEO, W.L. Ross & Co. LLC
-- Sheldon Sandler, President and CEO, Bel Air Partners, LLC
-- Dave Schembri, President, smart USA
-- Mark Templin, Group Vice President and General Manager, Lexus Division,
Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A. Inc.
-- Liz Vanzura, Global Marketing Director, Cadillac, General Motors
Corporation
-- Dale Willey, Chairman, National Automobile Dealers Association
-- Mary Ann Wright, Chief Executive Officer Vice President and General
Manager Hybrid Systems Group, Johnson Controls - Saft Advanced Power
Solutions LLC Johnson Controls, Inc.
Topics for the concurrent afternoon panel programs on Tuesday and Wednesday, Jan. 22 and 23, are:
-- The industry's green movement: the opportunities and challenges of
going green will be analyzed; specifically how the industry will meet
regulatory mandates and consumer expectations for more fuel efficient,
environmentally friendly vehicles.
-- Issues impacting dealers: the discussion will explore automotive
retailing, especially how the distribution network is evolving to meet
the needs of tomorrow's market.
-- Marketing and sales initiatives: the dialogue will focus on how
automakers are developing and incorporating individualized marketing
and the intricacies of reaching today's technologically savvy consumers
- in a seemingly effortless manner.
-- Overseas market growth: automakers and suppliers will share advice on
finding the right partners and properly structuring relationships for
growth in the hot "opportunity" markets of Russia, India and China.
Recipients of the Polk Loyalty Awards will be announced during Tuesday evening's Automotive News World Congress dinner program. Wednesday's dinner program will highlight the Automotive News/PricewaterhouseCoopers Shareholder Value Awards and the presentation of the BorgWarner Owner and Driver Trophies.
The early-bird registration fee for all four days of the Automotive News World Congress is $1,395 by Nov. 30. The registration fee is $1,595 beginning Dec. 1 and the daily rate is $975. Dinner-only tickets for the Tuesday and Wednesday evening programs are $195 per person or $1,850 for a table of ten. A full agenda, speaker background and online registration are available at www.autonews.com/worldcongress. For questions, contact CAR by phone at 866- 374-6227 (U.S. only) or 734-929-0498, by fax at 734-662-5736 or via e-mail at autonewsregistration@cargroup.org.
Additional sponsors for the 2008 Automotive News World Congress are BorgWarner, i2, International Automotive Components, JATO, Meredith Publishing, Microsoft, OESA, R.L. Polk & Company, State of Kentucky and the Commonwealth of Virginia.
Automotive News, a trusted name in the industry for more than 80 years, is a critical source of news, data, analysis and information for the North American auto industry. The weekly publication provides in-depth coverage of the auto industry and is written for automakers, dealers and suppliers. This unsurpassed industry coverage is fully supported by a comprehensive website, e-mail newsletters and breaking news alerts that provide readers with the latest information. Visit www.autonews.com.