The 2023 class of Automotive News Rising Stars distinguished themselves by addressing some of the industry’s biggest challenges, from keeping parts moving and sales growing during the depths of essential-only work to driving electric vehicle production and adoption to developing the tools and systems needed for automated driving. They’ve proved themselves during an era of profound and sometimes unpredictable change — building a foundation for continued leadership.
Ford Motor Co.
Supply chain senior manager, global electrification edrive, power electronics and pack components
Mallory
Bandy
Big Break: Being picked for a new purchasing leadership program that led to placement on Team Edison, a skunk works group that developed the Mustang Mach-E.
Age: 39
Magna
International
Senior manager of government affairs
Dex
Battista
Big Break: Being given a national scope in managing government affairs for Magna, North America’s largest parts supplier, in 2017
Age: 35
Toyota Battery
Manufacturing,
North Carolina
Director, application delivery lead
Ken
Clerebout
Big Break: An organizational restructure in 2019 presented an opportunity to move into management.
Age: 41
Nvidia Corp.
Senior product manager for autonomous vehicle simulation
Matt
Cragun
Big Break: Getting picked to help build a simulator in the early days of DRIVE Sim
Age: 40
Waymo
Head of safety best practices
Francesca
Favaro
Big Break: Getting chosen by her peers as one of only seven U.S. experts creating safety guidelines for the International Organization for Standardization
Age: 36
Our Next Energy
Senior director of chief engineering
Chris
Hughes
Big Break: Developing Samsung’s quotes and concepts for PHEV batteries for Stellantis’ Jeep Wrangler and Jeep Cherokee programs, winning the battery maker the contracts
Age: 36
Wilko Plastics
President
Bill
Kozyra II
Big Break: Leading the resurrection of a failing production facility by updating the equipment and leadership structure
Age: 38
Hyundai Motor America
Director, retail operations
Jen Cheng
Lee
Big Break: Working in market research early on sparked her love for data and integrating consumer needs into analysis.
Age: 44
Ultium
Cells LLC
Ohio
Plant director
Kareem
Maine
Big Break: Being promoted to manufacturing operations manager
Age: 44
Lear Corp.
Plant manager
Julius
Martin
Big Break: Ramping up three greenfield plants for Lear, one of the world’s largest suppliers
Age: 44
Robert Bosch LLC
Vice president, commercial plant manager
Annekathrin
Müller
Big Break: Accelerating the rollout of the Super Cruise hands-free driving-assist technology and enhancing its features.
Age: 40
Gatik
Chief technology officer
Arjun
Narang
Big Break: In 2021, Narang oversaw the strategy and execution of a driverless truck deployment along a 7.1-mile delivery route between a retail warehoause and a Walmart retail location in Arkansas. It was the proof point that has led to frequent revenue-generating driverless deliveries.
Age: 34
Dana Inc.
Vice president of light-vehicle EV engineering
Giulio
Ornella
Big Break: Moving to the U.S. and leading Dana’s global light-vehicle electrification engineering
Age: 44
Nissan North America
Director, Manufacturing Strategy & Planning Office
Matthew
Overbay
Big Break: Moving from process engineering to manufacturing
Age: 41
Mazda North American
Operations
Senior director, sales planning and supply chain innovation
Bob
Pan
Big Break: Moving from Florida to the corporate office in California because he believed in the people who said it was the right thing to do
Age: 42
Honda Development
and Manufacturing
Human resource strategy and transformation leader
Molly
Popilowski
Big Break: Stepping out of her comfort zone in purchasing to work on the manufacturing side
Age: 43
J.D. Power
Director of strategic marketing — automotive
Kris
Rosychuk
Big Break: Launch of a COVID-19 auto impact webinar series
Age: 36
Tesla Inc.
Senior director, vehicle operations and manufacturing engineering
Hrushikesh
Sagar
Big Break: His 2015 internship at Tesla’s plant in Fremont, Calif.
Age: 35
Clarios
Director of global product line leader
Wei
Song
Big Break: Leading Clarios’ Smart AGM technology breakthrough to the market to address a long-standing technical challenge of the lead-acid battery
Age: 41
Stellantis
North America
Assembly optimization manager for stamping
BranDee
Tatum
Big Break: Led creation of a maintenance plan at Trenton Engine Plant
Age: 34
General Motors
Global vice president of customer care and aftersales
Josh
Tavel
Big Break: Launching the Chevrolet Bolt
Age: 44
AEye
Director of product management
Indu
Vijayan
Big Break: Moving from a technical role into product management gave Vijayan a broad and comprehensive view on what it takes to make and sell a product.
Age: 35
Blink Charging
Director of automotive business development
Jeremy
Watrous
Big Break: Helped grow Blink Charging’s automotive sales to $70 million through August, up from $5 million in 2022.
Age: 35
Martinrea
International
Vice president of program management and manufacturing engineering
Derek
Yates
Big Break: Having Martinrea give him the chance to run large-scale projects across many plants
Age: 41