Automotive News Canada - August 2020 - v2 - 19

* AUGUST 2020

Martinrea exec
answers the
question: Does
the plan add up?

A car guy leads Volvo's
charge into future

EMILY CRAWFORD

CHOSEN BECAUSE:

Senior manager of financial
planning and analysis,
Martinrea International Inc.

CHOSEN BECAUSE:
As Martinrea looks to navigate an
automotive landscape changed by a pandemic and a new North American trade
deal, Emily Crawford makes sure the company's leaders are aware of the financial ramifications of any decisions they make.
"We realized that our operational leaders really needed the visibility to make better decisions,"
Crawford said of Martinrea, Canada's third-largest auto
supplier by annual sales to automakers.
"And without having financial expertise to make those decisions, you're not
necessarily going to make the best decisions for the company."
After working in the energy sector, Crawford, 29, joined Martinrea in 2016
as part of its metallics unit before leading its financial planning and analysis
team. That unit focuses on strategic planning, forecasting and financial modeling, among a range of responsibilities.
With the supplier looking to secure more business as the United StatesMexico-Canada Agreement is implemented, Crawford's role figures to grow
as the company's leaders look to increase sales in a rapidly changing environment.

IN HER OWN WORDS:

Be it cricket or cars, he's
accomplished on the pitch
DARIUS D'SOUZA

Senior manager, Aftersales, Nissan Canada Inc.

CHOSEN BECAUSE:
At 30 years of age, Darius D'Souza has already accumulated nine years of experience in automotive
retail and is the youngest senior manager at
Nissan Canada Inc. The accomplishments of this
Mississauga, Ont., native with Canada's national cricket team helped him land a scholarship at
Loughborough University in England.
While earning his bachelor of arts in computer science and business, D'Souza began to
learn the auto industry through a co-op placement in London with Toyota. After returning to
Canada in 2013, he joined Nissan and has risen
rapidly through the ranks.
D'Souza oversees field operations and business planning across the country as Nissan's
senior manager of aftersales, a role he has held
since 2018. D'Souza's leadership helped the
team win the Global Nissan Aftersales
Award in 2017 and 2018.

lll
"There is so much data ... the success is in being able to comb through
the data and identify what action to
take. You want to avoid paralysis
by analysis and say: 'I think this is
going to work. We're just going to
go with it.' "

Country manager, Polestar Canada
In May 2019, Hugues Bissonnette was appointed to
launch Polestar, Volvo's electric performance-vehicle brand. A lifelong car aficionado, Bissonnette,
45, could name the makes and models of all the
nameplates on the road at age 5. His 23-year
career with Volvo included sales and marketing leadership roles in Canada, the
United States and Sweden.
Bissonnette's new role comes as the auto
industry undergoes seismic changes that
are reshaping vehicle technology and the
retail landscape. It's no doubt, he said, that
shopping behaviour is moving online "at
lightning speed."

lll

IN HIS OWN WORDS:
"Polestar is, in a way, the new kid on the
block, launching a new performance electric-car
brand which is supported by 93 years of history in engineering and manufacturing knowhow from Volvo. . . . The goal to reach 100 per
cent zero-emission vehicles by 2040 in Canada
is ambitious but achievable, should the rest of
Canada follow Quebec and B.C.'s leadership in
properly supporting and investing into
electrification."

lll

"You can give someone a fish or you can teach them how to fish, right? It's really about developing good, financial tools that you can give to an operational team
that they can use to make better decisions... We're still here to help, but at the
same time we really want to empower the team."

IN HIS OWN WORDS:

HUGUES BISSONNETTE

For security expert, safety
starts with human networking
IKJOT SAINI

Assistant professor, University of Windsor,
cybersecurity in connected vehicles

CHOSEN BECAUSE:
Ikjot Saini is all about connections, the
kind driven by electronics and computer code that are transforming transportation, and the often-lagging human connections needed to keep this technology
safe.
"Everybody is working on their own
segment but there is no collaborative
approach to security," said the researcher, who at 28 has already built a name as
an expert in cybersecurity and privacy
related to connected vehicles.
Creating such linkages is a priority for Saini. She's the founder of
the Windsor, Ont., chapter of the
Automotive Security Research
Group, a networking body that
crosses corporate lines to identify threats to the auto industry.
She is helping open dialogues with
regulators on identifying privacy
issues and taking steps to protect
personal data.
And the newly appointed assistant professor of computer science is also
part of efforts to attract more women to science and technology.
One obvious benefit in improving the gender balance in these fields?
"Women are more collaborative."

IN HER OWN WORDS:

lll

"I'm a very curious person: 'What would happen if we do it this way? What
would happen if we change this?' I wanted to get into a field that was new, and
very relevant and tangible."

Automotive News Canada - August 2020 - v2

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