Brit List 2012 - Pictures

Nissan – executive vice-president product planning The Auto Express Top Brit is an engineer with an astonishingly wide set of responsibilities. Palmer, 48, joined Nissan in 1991 and moved to Japan in 2002. As leader of its electr

BMW – main board member, sales and marketing Starting at Rover, Ian Robertson, 53, took charge of sales and marketing for the BMW Group worldwide in 2008, becoming the only Brit on the board of a German car maker. He currently fo

Ford – vice-president global manufacturing Fleming, 61, took his first job with Ford at the Halewood factory on Merseyside. After a spell running seven US Ford sites, Fleming was made chairman and chief executive of Ford of Europ

Nissan – executive vice-president Apprenticed to Pressed Steel Fisher, Dodge was a manager at the Cowley Body Plant near Oxford before joining Nissan’s new UK operation in 1984. Dodge was managing director at Sunderland by

Chrysler – president and chief executive, Jeep Mike Manley, 48, learned the business in the motor trade, joined Mercedes, which became DaimlerChrysler in 2000, and moved to Chrysler in 2006. He's in charge of the brand’s in

F1 Group – chief executive Bernie Ecclestone, 81 this year, has been Formula One’s ringmaster for 40 years and has become rich beyond dreams from controlling the commercial rights to the sport. His business is now majority

SEAT – president James Muir, 52, from Wales, professed to be very happy with his job running Mazda Europe when he was head-hunted by Volkswagen. However, he was attracted by the chance to manage SEAT in Spain, with responsibility

Jaguar Land Rover – director global sales and service A Land Rover man through and through, Phil Popham, 46, has risen up the ranks under three different company owners. He’s now the right-hand man to JLR’s German chi

Ford – vice-president design, Ford of Europe The top designer on our list, Smith, 62, is the man behind the ‘kinetic design’ theme at Ford of Europe. His brief also includes direct responsibility for Ford studios in A

McLaren – chairman McLaren Group & Automotive Ron Dennis, 64, is the visionary chairman of the company that has won seven Formula One constructors’ and 10 drivers’ titles since his takeover. Dennis is now focused

Ford – chairman and chief executive Ford of Europe Steve Odell, 56, has worked all over the world in the service of Ford. Earlier jobs include vice-president of Jaguar North America, sales chief of Mazda in Japan and chief execut

Hyundai – vice-president Hyundai Motor Europe Allan Rushforth, 53, is the most senior Brit in the Korean car industry, overseeing Hyundai’s rapid expansion in Europe from a base in Germany. Before joining Hyundai, Rushforth

Volkswagen – president, Volkswagen of America Having held management positions in the UK’s biggest car companies – marketing director at Ford, Jaguar managing director, Vauxhall chairman – Jonathan Browning join

Geely – vice-president design (including Volvo) A graduate of the Royal College of Art (automotive design), Peter Horbury worked for Chrysler and Ford, but made his mark revising Volvo’s image in the nineties. Horbury then

Ford – chief technical officer, v-p research and innovation Paul Mascarenas started out at Ford of Britain in 1982 and spent 20 years in various positions in engineering and product planning, before being appointed director of pr

Nissan – senior vice-president sales and marketing North America One of several managing directors of Nissan UK who have gone on to greater things, Carolin, 55, is sales and marketing chief of Nissan in North America – the

Jaguar Land Rover – director design, Land Rover Following the incredible success of the Range Rover Evoque, Gerry McGovern, 55, is currently the hottest car designer in the UK. McGovern came to prominence at Rover for the de

Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 – chief executive Ross Brawn, 57, made his reputation as an F1 engineer and team manager with Michael Schumacher at Benetton and Ferrari, before running his own team in 2009. Brawn GP won the drivers&rsqu

Nissan – global chief marketability engineer Until March, Jerry Hardcastle, 50, was vice-president at the Nissan Technical Centre, Cranfield, and was responsible for sites throughout Europe. Now he has a global liaison role for &

Jaguar Land Rover – design director, Jaguar Ian Callum has been head of design at Jaguar since 1999, but only in recent years has his vision for the brand become reality, with the revolutionary XF and XJ. Now 57, his back catalog

Vauxhall – chairman and managing director Aldred, 41, was a graduate trainee at Vauxhall, rising to retail sales director, then head of Opel sales operations at General Motors Europe. He is now chairman of Vauxhall and oversees s

Jaguar – global brand director Adrian Hallmark rose quickly at Porsche, starting as a regional manager and becoming managing director of Porsche UK at the age of 34. A move to Bentley as sales director was followed by VW appointm

Nissan – vice-president European sales and marketing Paul Willcox, 48, is another Nissan UK managing director to move up to become head of sales across Europe, which he did when his predecessor, Simon Thomas, was appointed boss o

Renault – vice-president strategy and marketing Most of Norman’s career has been spent overseas. He was managing director of VW and Fiat in France, and then marketing director for Fiat worldwide, before joining Renault in 2

Opel/Vauxhall – vice-president design Adams, 50, is the man responsible for the much-praised styling and presentation of Vauxhall’s recent models. He moved from Ford in 2002 and became director of exterior design for Genera

Ford – director of design Ford Americas The Callums are the only family with two men on this list. Ian is Moray’s older brother. As director of design for Ford in North and South America, Moray, 53, has the bigger job, but

Land Rover – global brand director John Edwards is a marketing specialist who joined Land Rover by way of Rover, where he was a brand manager and then UK director of Mini and MG. Edwards, 50, now has global responsibility for all

Automotive Council – co-chairman Parry-Jones, 60, is the engineer who made Fords the best-handling mainstream cars, having forged his reputation with the original Focus. He is now Automotive Council co-chair and also advises the

Goodwood Festival of Speed, Moving Motor Show – founder Lord March, 57, has made the Festival of Speed an international gathering for the motor industry. He started the Festival back in 1993, and two years ago hit on the idea of

Aston Martin, Prodrive – chairman Richards, 59, created Prodrive to prepare and run rally and race cars, and to provide engineering services to the motor industry. His enthusiasm for Aston Martins led to him being invited to be A

Nissan Europe – senior vice-president, global supply Trevor Mann, 50, was one of the initial team to set up Nissan Bluebird production at the Sunderland plant – now the UK’s biggest car-making facility. Mann became vi

Ford – director of global vehicle evaluation As director of powertrain engineering for Ford of Europe, Graham Hoare, 44, headed Britain’s biggest automotive research facility, the Dunton Technical Centre, Essex. In March, H

Honda Motor Europe – vice-president Ken Keir, 61, worked at British Leyland, Peugeot and Renault before being appointed director and general manager of Honda UK. He is in charge of sales in all divisions – cars, bikes and p

GKN – chief executive; Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders – president Nigel Stein, 56, is head of GKN – Britain’s biggest motor industry supplier – and the president of the trade association for th

Mazda Motor Europe – chief operating officer Phil Waring, 54, succeeded James Muir as the managing director of Mazda UK. Muir has since gone on to become president of SEAT in Spain, while Waring headed for Germany, where he has E

Nissan – vice-president global communications Simon Sproule, 43, provides a communications strategy for Nissan and its alliance with Renault. Sproule also has marketing responsibilities, and was behind setting up Infiniti sponsor

Volkswagen Group UK – managing director A year ago, Simon Thomas, 51, would have been on our list as yet another Nissan executive – he was European sales chief – but now he’s in Milton Keynes as head of sales fo

Renault – vice-president car design programmes Anthony Grade, 55, has worked in France for most of his career as the sous-chef to former Renault design director Patrick Le Quement. Grade’s designs include the brilliant

Kia Motors UK and Ireland – president and CEO Paul Philpott, 45, returns to Kia UK in July after three years as chief operating officer of Kia Europe. The UK is the company’s largest European market, and Philpott's appointm

Ford of Britain – managing director Mark Ovenden, 48, is the main man at Ford of Britain. A product marketing specialist with wide international experience, Ovenden was president of Ford Russia before returning to the UK last yea

Fiat Group Automobiles – senior vice-president communications English born to an Italian family, Richard Gadeselli edited motor trade publications before joining Fiat in 1987. Now 55, Gadeselli has public relations responsibility

Ricardo – chief executive David Shemmans, 45, joined Ricardo in 1999. This secretive engineering consultancy works for the global motor industry. It designs and builds systems for high-performance cars, including the V8 engine fo

FIA Foundation – director general David Ward (pictured right) isn’t in the motor industry, but as the director general of the FIA Foundation, which runs global road safety initiatives and environmental programmes, he has an

WilliamsF1 – chairman WilliamsF1 has returned to form this season after eight years in the doldrums. Sir Frank Williams, now 70, still heads up the organisation that has won nine Formula One constructors’ world championship

Aston Martin – design director Marek Reichman, 45, has been design chief at Aston Martin since replacing Henrik Fisker in 2005. Reichman joined Aston from Ford of America and established a new studio at Gaydon, where the Rapide a

Hyundai Motor UK – president and chief executive Tony Whitehorn, 52, was formerly the sales director of Toyota GB and joined Hyundai back in 2005. Whitehorn has overseen Hyundai’s recent rapid UK growth and was rewarded by

Jaguar Land Rover – managing director UK Jeremy Hicks had terrific success as brand director of Audi UK. Jaguar Land Rover recruited Hicks, 50, at the end of last year to head sales and develop the dealer network for both its bra

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Tata Motors &ndash; head of advanced and product engineering Tim Leverton is based in India and is charged with developing a new range of Tata cars and trucks for world markets. His track record includes the Rolls-Royce Phantom and JCB

Arnold Clark Motor Group &ndash; chairman and chief executive Sir John Arnold Clark, who is 85 this year, started selling cars in Glasgow as long ago as 1954, and now has a massive network of 145 showrooms, covering 20 new car franchis