ECG Conference 2012

Levent, who is fluent in English,Turkish and Japanese, graduated from Istanbul Technical University as a naval architect and marine engineer. He worked for white goods manufacturer Vestel Electronics for over three years and moved to Toyota Turkey during its establishment phase as production engineer. He worked across production for 10 years and then in production control for another 10 years, and was based in the Toyota headquarters in Japan for two years. He has been in his current role since January 2011.

Egon Christ holds a degree in business studies and wrote his degree dissertation at BMW, Germany. During his studies in 1990 he started working at Hagenhoff GmbH. From 1994 to 1996 he was logistics assistant at Lafarge Group/Schiedel. In 1996, he joined Mercedes-Benz, in the Inbound Logistics Europe department, before being appointed Manager, Vehicle Logistics Europe at Daimler-Benz in 1997. Since May 2002, he has been Senior Manager, Worldwide Transportation/Vehicle Distribution at Daimler, based in Stuttgart.

David has almost 20 years of broad experience in the logistics field as both a 3PL and a shipper. He is currently, head of logistics for John Deere in Europe, Africa and Middle East. He was previously based at U.S. headquarters of John Deere, responsible for global transportation. He holds a degree from Wheaton College in Illinois USA and an MBA from Arizona State University.

Joannes joined JCB in January 2007. He is globally responsible for the movement of finished machines and the transport of components for JCB. Previously, Joannes was at Federal-Mogul for 12 years, where he held a variety of roles with responsibility in aftermarket and manufacturing. Prior to that, he worked for Hapag-Lloyd in Antwerp and holds a Bachelor in Maritime Science and a Master in Business Logistics.

Joining SEAT in 1988, Manuels first role saw him organising the transport network of SEATs domestic suppliers to factories in Barcelona and Pamplona. After time in product planning, he returned to supplier logistics in 1992, this time for Europe. Moving into finished cars distribution in 1994, Manuel was instrumental in the companys movement to regular transport via rail and now, as Manager of Vehicle Distribution, oversees delivery to the dealership network in the German, Portuguese and French markets.

Rolf has held various positions at General Motors over the past decade, mainly within planning and operations for inbound supply chains. He was previously responsible for managing Material and Production Control in Zaragoza plant and Supply Chain Engineering in Europe. His current responsibilities include planning and purchasing for finished vehicle logistics for Opel/Vauxhall and Intercontinental material and vehicle movement. He has an engineering degree and an MBA.

Christ has been with Volvo Group for 25 years, with 15 years of experience at Volvo Trucks in various positions in the quality department and inbound logistics department, ending as global process owner inbound for Volvo Trucks. Joining Volvo Logistics in 2001, he began as regional head Europe and since 2007 has been senior Vice president, globally responsible for vehicle distribution.

Since June 2009, Costantino has been President of ECG: the Association of European Vehicle Logistics. He was previously Vice-President and has been a board member since 2002. He is also the Commercial and Logistics Director of Grimaldi Group. His main experience is in the field of maritime transport, and he has worked in the wider logistics industry since 1992.

After obtaining a Masters in Law, Frédéric worked for French railways (SNCF) for 5 years. Since 1998 he has been working for Renault, beginning in the financial department, followed by risk management and internal auditing. He joined the logistics department in 2006, as project logistics manager and since 2009; he has been responsible for the environmental strategy for the Alliance Logistics (Renault-Nissan) in Europe.

Juan Riva is the Chief Executive Officer of the companies belonging to Suardiaz Group and President of Flota Suardiaz, as well as President of the European Community Shipowners' Association. He is a member of the board of directors for Pecovasa and was formerly president of the Spanish Shipowners' Association (ANAVE) from 2003 to 2009.

Nick joined Toyota in 1994 and has responsibility for vehicle sales forecasting, production ordering and UK logistics. In 1997, he was involved in the move to a demand pull order fulfilment and systems enhancement He is currently working in partnership with Toyota Europe to improve reaction to market trends.

Antoine has global responsibility for GEFCOs finished vehicle division and has been in the role since 2007. He is currently focussing on operational efficiency, multi-modal organisation and the evolution of IT systems. Graduated as an engineer, he has over 20 years experience in outbound logistics across several European companies.

Mike is an experienced vehicle logistics professional with more than 20 years in the sector. After many years with Toyota in a variety of roles, first in the U.K. and then in Europe, he returned to the U.K where he spent 4 years with logistics service providers including Autologic. Early in 2010 Mike jumped at the opportunity to join ECG and return to Brussels in order to help promote and support an industry he is passionate about.

Prior to his current position Pawel, was Vice President of the management Board of the Polish Information and Foreign Investment and Information Agency (PAIiIZ) and served as a President of the Management Board of TechnoPort Warszawa - Warsaw Technology Park. He held high-level management positions at Microsoft and Intel Corporations implementing public strategies in the Central/Eastern Europe and EMEA regions. Pawel holds an MA degree in International Trade and Public Policy and an MBA degree. Most recently, Pawel has completed his post-graduate studies in e-Business Management at the Warsaw Technical University.

Phil started working in the retail motor industry in 1974 at a Volvo dealership in Manchester, soon progressing to management in 1980. He opened the first Toyota-Lexus dealership for Lex Retail Group in the 90s, and has remained with Toyota-Lexus ever since, and was National Dealer Council Chairman for Toyota through 2003 and 2004.

Ben returned to the International Car Distribution Programme as a Senior Researcher after three years at Cardiff Business School. Since 1994, ICDP members receive research and advice on improving automotive retail and distribution, and new vehicle distribution is a core area of this expertise.

Carlos has been at IHS Automotive (previously known as IHS Global Insight) since 2007. He is responsible for European sales market analysis and forecast, with lead responsibility for France. He was previously at a major car manufacturer for 7 years.

Jean-Marie has over 25 years’ experience in the automotive sector, beginning his career in sales and marketing with Renault and Massey Ferguson. He then progressed to management at Causse-Walon and Groupe CAT. He became the General Manager at United European Car Carriers before moving to his current role at STVA.

Marta joined ECG in November 2009. Among her several responsibilities, she coordinates and organises the activities of some of the ECG Commissions and working groups (Maritime & Ports, Quality, High & Heavy, EVs and Alternative Fuel Vehicles and Carbon Calculator), prepares and edits the ECG Biennial Survey. She holds a Master in Physics and a PhD in Astrophysics.

Christopher joined Automotive Logistics, the portfolio of magazines and online content in November 2006 as assistant editor and was named editor in March 2009. He has previously worked in book publishing and was a freelance journalist for several publications in his native New York. He holds a BA in Literature from the College of New Jersey and an MSc in Media and Communications from the London School of Economics and Political Science.

Louis is the founder and publisher of the Automotive Logistics Group, now part of Ultimamedia, which publishes Automotive Logistics and Finished Vehicle Logistics magazines and host annual conferences around the world in the biggest car making regions including India, South America, Europe, North America, China and Turkey. With over 15 years of doing this, he has developed an immense range of contacts and relationships in the sector and has a passion for keeping the industry talking and consistently looking for what’s next.