Carlos Tavares
Chairman and CEO, PSA Group
2019 Rank: Unranked
General Motors couldn’t make money
with Opel in Europe, but Tavares, who
raised eyebrows when PSA bought
the brand in 2017, is delivering on his
promise to turn the brand around with
tough love, cost-cutting, and the same
discipline he applied to his other
brands—which are showing
record profits.Joe Hinrichs
President of Automotive, Ford
2019 Rank: Unranked
Ford CEO Jim Hackett moved
Hinrichs to the new role of
overseeing the company’s global
automotive business as well as
product development—a good
fit given his business acumen and
ability to work with others to get the
job done. This puts him in line
to succeed Hackett.33
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27
25
23
22
21
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32 31
Giovanni Palazzo
CEO and President,
Electrify America
2019 Rank: Unranked
After seven years as VW’s head
of e-mobility strategy, Palazzo
was put in charge of Electrify
America, which is installing fast-
charging stations across the U.S.
The independent subsidiary of
V W was born of scandal, but its
comprehensive, open network
of charging stations could be
Dieselgate’s redemption.Takahiro Hachigo
CEO, Honda
2019 Rank: 29
Under this chief executive with
an engineering background,
Honda is streamlining its
products, consolidating models,
reducing variants, introducing
a new architecture, expanding
its two-motor hybrid system,
sharing more parts,
reducing manpower,
and spending
more on R&D.Chris Urmson
Co-Founder and CEO,
Aurora Innovation
2019 Rank: Unranked
After leading Google’s self-
driving unit, Urmson co-founded
his own startup in 2017. Aurora
has partnerships with FCA and
Hyundai and investment
from Amazon, and it’s now
valued at about $2.5 billion.
Aurora’s autonomous
tech will be seen in 2021 in
vehicles from Hyundai and
Chinese startup Byton.29
Mark Reuss
President, General Motors
2019 Rank: 32
Reuss is managing the day-to-day
for an automaker as focused on the
Corvette and Silverado as the goal
to put 1 million electric vehicles on
the road annually while developing
autonomous vehicles and still making
a profit. It means overseeing
a leaner company going
forward to fund the
expensive tech.Ralf Speth
CEO, Jaguar Land Rover
2019 Rank: 16
Love it or hate it, after 22 years of
begging, the Defender returns to the
U.S. Jaguar has its own SUVs now, and
the next XJ flagship sedan is expected
to be stunning and electric. Even as
JLR fights Brexit and slowing sales,
Speth is investing heavily and
has partnered with BMW
to develop electric
powertrains.Jensen Huang
Founder and President, Nvidia
2019 Rank: 15
The founder of the graphics-
processor chip company has
become the king of AI. From
gaming roots, he expanded into
transportation, manufacturing, and
other fields. He is riding the demand
for artificial intelligence chips as
deep learning becomes crucial to
autonomous driving.Ola Källenius
Chairman and CEO,
Daimler AG
2019 Rank: 41
The new CEO is making hard
decisions to pare the lineup,
reduce cost, and form alliances to
improve margins while investing in
electric and autonomous vehicles.
Sales are strong in China, but there
are still problems in Europe—where
Daimler paid a fine for diesels
accused of not meeting
emissions regs.Elon Musk
CEO, Tesla
2019 Rank: 42
Another year of drama for Musk
with lawsuits and SEC concerns
over tweets. But sales continue to
grow, affordable Model 3s are on
the road, there’s a new plant in
China, and promises of a pickup,
compact crossover, roadster,
and a big-rig continue.
Ever the boy at
heart, his cars
can now fart.Dhivya Suryadevara
Chief Financial Officer,
General Motors
2019 Rank: Unranked
In charge of GM’s finance
department since 2018,
Suryadevara is pivotal in achieving
annual cost reductions of $4.5
billion through 2020—ensuring the
automaker has the resources for
ambitious EV and autonomous
vehicle plans while
keeping things
running during
a protracted
labor strike.John Krafcik
CEO, Waymo
2019 Rank: 6
Waymo has autonomous
taxis on public roads in
Phoenix, is mapping the
streets of L.A., and will
lease a factory in Detroit to
retrofit vehicles from FCA and
Jaguar to drive autonomously.
Krafcik is also testing Waymo’s
self-driving technology in
Class 8 trucks for use
in the trucking
industry.Akio Toyoda
President, Toyota
2019 Rank: 35
The scion of the founders remains in
charge after a decade with no signs
of slowing down. He wants to lead
the future of mobility with artificial
intelligence and partnerships to
address the cost of future tech while
still creating fun-to-drive cars.24
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