John worked his way up in the automotive industry with 16 years in product & production engineering at General Motors Fisher Body and Ford Powertrain followed by 13 years of increased responsibility at major Tier 1 automotive suppliers and OEMs such as GKN, Collins & Aikman, Magna Steyr and Tesla Motors. He progressed through roles spanning program management, sales & marketing, and operations culminating in a VP & General Manager position running Collins & Aikman Specialty Products Group, Director of Special Projects for Magna Steyr and General Manager of Tesla Motors for 3 years prior to co-founding ***** in December of 2008.

John holds Bachelors’ Degrees in Mechanical Engineering and Business Administration from Lawrence Technological University in addition to an MBA from Eastern Michigan University.

Previously, John presented at a few Society of Automotive Engineering conferences and management seminars where he shared the perspective of a startup electric OEM as it relates to disruptive business models, rapid product development and supply chain challenges.