Automotive News Europe - September 2011 - 91

AUTOMOTIVE NEWS EUROPE

HUMAN RESOURCES

E U R O S T A R S
❙ AWARD:

Design

❙ AWARD:

Supplier Division Head

❙ AWARD:

EV Project Leader

LAURENS van den ACKER
❙ TITLE: Renault, Senior Vice President

BEDA BOLZENIUS
❙ TITLE: Johnson Controls Vice President;

PIERRE LOING
❙ TITLE: Nissan Europe Vice President

of Corporate Design
❙ AGE:

President, Automotive Experience
❙ AGE:

of Product Strategy & Planning
❙ AGE:

aurens van den Acker is reshaping Renault as a brand with bold new designs that represent a break from the past. “I benefit from Renault’s hunger to innovate because, in my case, I am a new designer and they asked me to change a lot because they felt that Renault really needed to turn a page,” said Van den Acker, who worked as Audi, Ford and Mazda before succeeding longtime Renault design chief Patrick Le Quement in 2009. The DeZir, Captur, and R-Space concepts that Renault introduced at the last Geneva and Paris auto shows reflect Renault’s new design strategy under van den Acker. While the three concepts represent radical departures from past Renault designs, they share similarities between themselves and are intended to represent a person’s life, van den Acker said. The sporty DeZir and the Captur crossover reflect love and exploration, respectively. The R-Space, which has a backseat that converts into a play space, is about starting a family, van den Acker said. While his concepts are dramatic, Van den Acker’s main goal is to create designs that appeal to the masses. “When I first joined Renault, Carlos Ghosn told me that we are a popular car brand and we have to make cars that are popular,” van den Acker said. “If you are making cars for the heart of the market, then you have to relate to a lot of people. We are making cheeseburgers, not sushi.” Van den Acker has an industrial design degree from the University of Technology in Delft, Netherlands. He started his career in 1990 at Design System URL. ■

ohnson Controls Inc.’s seating business in Europe has been given a huge boost this year because of two key acquisitions spearheaded by Beda Bolzenius. The head of JCI’s automotive experience unit played a leading role in the U.S.-based supplier’s purchase of German seat specialists C. Rob. Hammerstein Group, Keiper and Keiper’s specialty seat business, Recaro. JCI paid about $496 million to get Keiper and Recaro and approximately $581 million to acquire C. Rob. Hammerstein. What it gets in return is well over $1 billion in business with major European players such as BMW, Volkswagen, Mercedes-Benz, Porsche, Lamborghini, Ferrari and Mini. Keiper and Recaro’s product lineup includes mechanisms that adjust seat length and height and recliners that adjust the backrest position of vehicle seats. The acquisition includes Recaro’s automotive sport and specialty seat portfolio. JCI plans to combine its expertise with CRH’s to develop lightweight seats for future vehicles. To help their customers boost fuel economy and reduce vehicle emissions, seat makers are being challenged to make their products leaner, but they must do so without compromising on safety. It’s a difficult challenge but its something Bolzenius is used to after five years in his current job leading the company’s global seating, interiors and electronics business. Prior to this promotion in 2006, the German national headed JCI’s automotive interiors business in Europe. He joined JCI in November 2004 after 18 years with Robert Bosch. ■

t’s safe to say that the Nissan Leaf would not be the reigning European Car of the Year had it not been for the persistence of Pierre Loing. Nissan Europe’s head of product strategy and planning says that one of his proudest moments during the full-electric Leaf’s evolution from promising project to award-winning vehicle was convincing his bosses at Nissan and its alliance partner, Renault, to enter the Leaf in the contest last year to pick Europe’s top car. “There were some who thought entering the contest was too costly and too time consuming and that the car had no chance because the media judges were petrol heads who would be biased against an electric car,” Loing told Automotive News Europe. The French executive eventually won over his bosses and after the Leaf was named a finalist, Colin Dodge, Nissan’s top executive for Europe, asked Loing during a board meeting whether the car would win. Loing said he was hoping to be in the top three. Dodge was not satisfied with the answer and asked again: “Can we win?” “I believe we can,” Loing remembers replying, even though at the time he says he was anything but sure. Then Dodge said: “If we win, I’ll buy you dinner. If not, you buy me dinner.” Loing took the bet. He said that in April Dodge treated him and the entire 15-person team that worked on the Leaf’s launch to dinner at a French restaurant near Nissan’s European headquarters in Rolle, Switzerland. Loing joined Nissan Europe in mid-2002 and started his current job in 2006. Since 1987, he has also worked for Volvo and Renault. ■

SEPTEMBER 2011

ANE EXECUTIVE EDITION

Automotive News Europe - September 2011

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