A trio of Canadians have been named 2021 Automotive News All-stars.
Magna International CEO Swamy Kotagiri, General Motors President North America Steve Carlisle and Aurora Innovation CEO Chris Urmson all made the annual list, handed out by the Automotive News Canada sibling publication based in Detroit.
Here’s why each was chosen:
Swamy Kotagiri
CEO, Magna International
He might not have gotten the blockbuster deal he wanted this summer, but a message was sent nonetheless.
With Kotagiri, 52, at the helm, the world's fourth-largest parts supplier by annual sales to automakers is betting big on its capabilities in advanced driver-assistance systems technology, and it's willing to spend big — but smartly — to bolster it.
"One of the key pillars of this past year was to focus and deploy capital in a very pragmatic way to focus on high-growth areas," Kotagiri said. "ADAS happens to be one of them."
Magna made a splash this year when it made a deal with Swedish advanced driver-assist systems supplier Veoneer for $3.8 billion (all figures in USD), a move heralded as a "masterstroke" by one analyst. It was not to be, however, as Qualcomm and New York investment firm SSW Partners outbid Magna and bought Veoneer for $4.5 billion.
Nevertheless, Kotagiri said Magna would stay the course on its strategy. In 2022, for instance, it will debut a new digital radar on the Fisker Ocean electric SUV that it says can enhance a vehicle's ability to detect objects beyond a traditional analog radar. The radar was developed as part of a partnership with Texas-based startup Uhnder.
- Click here to see the entire list of 2021 Automotive All-stars
Steve Carlisle
President, North America, General Motors
As the global microchip shortage pummeled production across the industry this year, Steve Carlisle and his team prioritized output of General Motors’ most profitable and in-demand vehicles.
Carlisle, president of GM North America, said in May that the automaker was “constantly prioritizing and re-prioritizing to protect” its full-size pickups and SUVs.
GM’s early call to sacrifice production of other vehicles to keep its cash cows rolling off assembly lines paid off. By shutting down plants that make lower-profit crossovers and sedans for months, GM could funnel its limited chip supplies to its most lucrative plants. Its full-size SUV plant in Arlington, Texas, has remained open without interruption, and its three full-size pickup plants have needed minimal downtime relative to those operated by competitors.
GM also simplified its portfolio by removing certain parts, such as a fuel-saving module, to get pickups to dealers and customers faster.
Carlisle, 59, and his team worked with dealers to determine which nameplates and configurations would sell best in their markets and relied on a tracking tool that showed dealers the status of their orders. Many dealers lined up buyers for vehicles while they were still in transit to the store.
Throughout the chip crisis, GM kept electric vehicle development on track, with the GMC Hummer pickup slated to launch before the end of the year and the Cadillac Lyriq crossover following in early 2022.
Carlisle has consistently communicated with GM’s dealer councils about the EV launches and oversaw customer reservation programs for the Lyriq, Hummer pickup and Hummer SUV.
GM plans to launch 30 EVs globally though 2025 and aspires to have a fully electric light-duty lineup by 2035. Still, Carlisle has maintained that GM will listen to the market and continue to enhance its internal combustion portfolio while executing its EV plans.
“I wouldn’t want anybody to think that we’re turning our back on ICE during the transition,” Carlisle said in May. “But we’re setting ourselves up for the [electrification] pivot at the same time.”
Chris Urmson
CEO, Aurora Innovation
Few executives can say they've signed on to as many high-profile partnerships and deals as Chris Urmson, CEO of Aurora Innovation.
The self-driving tech company this year has partnered with FedEx to pilot driverless delivery services. It signed on to an agreement with big-rig manufacturer PACCAR to load its trucks with Aurora's technology, and it would do the same a couple months later with Volvo.
All of that came on the heels of a major deal late last year, when Uber invested $400 million into Aurora and gave the company Uber ATG, its autonomous-vehicle division.
Aurora went public in November, trading on the Nasdaq after it merged with a special purpose acquisition company.
Even its listing came on the heels of a major deal with some of its shareholders.
According to Bloomberg, Uber and other major shareholders such as Sequoia Capital and the company's founders cannot sell their shares for four years.
Urmson, 45, in an interview with Benzinga, said that deal is designed to tell investors that "this is not a short-term, flip-it bet." Instead, Urmson and Aurora are committed to rolling out its technology over the course of several years as it develops.
