Senior FCA and Ford Executives Join motormindz
DETROIT, Feb. 11, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- motormindz, Inc., the automotive industry's premier consultancy, announced today that Steve Beahm, former FCA Senior Vice President, Head of Maserati, Passenger Car Brands & Mopar, and Joe Bakaj, former Vice President, Product Development Ford of Europe will join their globally recognized team.
Mr. Beahm enjoyed 32 exemplary years at Chrysler/FCA where he was viewed as a strategic leader with a proven track record in both the Industrial and Commercial organizations. Steve began his career working in multiple regional offices holding a variety of leadership roles in Service, Parts, Sales and Marketing.
In 2009, he was promoted to VP of Sales for all FCA brands. During his tenure, FCA was the fastest growing OEM in the United States. In 2014, Steve joined FCA's Leadership team as Senior Vice President of Supply Chain, serving on the Commercial, Product and Industrial committees. He was awarded the North American Supply Chain executive of the year in 2015. Mr. Beahm also ran Maserati North America where he moved the headquarters to Auburn Hills, Michigan with the other FCA brands. He concluded his career with FCA running all Passenger Car brands (Dodge, Chrysler & FIAT) as well as Mopar, FCA's service and parts organization. He was at the helm when Dodge introduced the Redeye and Mopar launched the 1,000 horsepower Hellephant.
In a statement, Beahm said, "I am excited to join a team of industry peers that are all focused on innovation and delivering game changing solutions to our industry. I'm humbled to be working with respected leaders like John Felice, Don Johnson and Jim O'Sullivan, just to name a few of the leaders on the motormindz bench."
Mr. Bakaj spent 34 successful years at Ford Motor Company where he was recognized as one of the auto industry's leading global product development executives. Joe began his career in Ford's UK based product development center at Dunton and progressed quickly through management roles in Ford of Europe Powertrain, Chassis and Vehicle Engineering.
Joe came to North America as Vehicle Engineering Director for Trucks in 2000 and led vehicle engineering for the F150, winning the North American International Autoshow Truck of the Year during his tenure. In 2002 he went on to Lead Mazda's global product development team based in Japan. He returned to Europe in 2005 and was appointed a Corporate Officer and Vice President Product Development where he led Ford's first wave of global programs. In 2011, Bakaj was appointed Vice President Global Powertrain where he initiated and co-chaired Ford's global CO2 strategy forum and developed and implemented Ford's next generation engine, transmission and electrification strategies. He ultimately led the development of the 1.0L, 3-cylinder Eco boost engine, which was recognized as an industry innovation leader, winning the "International Engine of the Year" award for six consecutive years. In 2013 he took on an expanded role as Vice President Product Development where he led the planning and development of Ford's latest C car platform and had Global lead for the Transit Commercial vehicle line. Under his leadership Transit went on to become the best-selling commercial van in the US and the best-selling commercial vehicle brand in Europe. Joe also led the strategic planning and business case development for Ford of Europe's next generation BEVs.
In a statement, Bakaj said, "I was really attracted to motormindz's vision and strategic approach to shaping the future of the industry. I have worked closely with mindz such as Jim O'Sullivan, John Felice and Bruce Coventry in the past and have great respect for their knowledge and industry insights. I am very proud to be joining the team."
At the end of 2019 were other notable additions to the team, including Mark Potesta, John Marx, Barry Burris, and Mark Kudla.
Mark Potesta has over 30 years of proven leadership in innovation, global business P&L's, and sales. He is an expert in development of EE architectures and delivering market impactful products with strong value propositions. Mark has held SVP and CTO positions along with other senior executive positions at Gentherm, Panasonic, Delphi, and GM.
John Marx joined with 27 years in the automotive industry. He has held global product strategy and business planning executive leadership positions at the OEM and tier one level while working at Ford, Visteon, Gentherm, and Jabil. John has driven profitable growth through product portfolio innovation and new market expansion.
Barry Burris has worked globally with distributors and dealers for Nissan and Infiniti. With 35 years of sales, marketing and network knowledge, Barry excels at integrating wholesale and front-line best practices to deliver optimal results.
Mark Kudla joined the network with over 30 years of advising startups and working at Ford and FCA. At FCA, he was responsible for FCA's NAFTA product portfolio, including the 10-year product plan, "white space" initiatives and business case analysis for new programs.
"Having such impressive executives join the mission, illustrates how motormindz continues to attract the largest network of automotive and technology subject-matter experts ever assembled," said Jeff Van Dongen, CEO, motormindz. "These additions will help us continue to elevate, iterate, and innovate our unique model to produce ever more intelligent, viable, and scalable solutions for OEMs, dealers, tiered suppliers and fleets. Bringing this kind of real-world experience, proprietary access, and operational leverage together enables us to rapidly identify and expand new product ecosystems that capitalize on the opportunities brought on by the ever-evolving automotive consumer, by helping our clients learn what they need to know, rather than repackaging what they already know."
About motormindz:
motormindz is the industry's premier automotive consultancy serving OEMs, technology providers, mobility, and automotive retail. We've brought together the largest network of C-Suite automotive and technology subject-matter experts ever assembled into a model that delivers on unique operational leverage to transform new and emerging technologies into proven solutions. We advise and invest to accelerate companies of all sizes, enabling new ecosystems that capitalize on the opportunities brought on by the evolving automotive consumer. Our real-world experience, proprietary access, and expertise uniquely enable us to help our clients learn what they need to know, rather than repackage what they already know. Our experts know the business, do the work, and own the results.
For more information, please visit www.motormindz.com.
SOURCE motormindz inc.
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