Visteon Corp. has appointed Sachin Lawande as president and CEO, effective June 29, succeeding Timothy Leuliette. At that time, Lawande also will join Visteon’s board of directors.
Lawande is an accomplished automotive OEM electronics veteran with more than a decade of global leadership experience in the industry. Starting in 2005, Lawande held several leadership roles at Harman International Industries, most recently serving as president of the Infotainment Division, the company’s largest division with nearly $3 billion in annual sales. Prior to joining Harman, Lawande held senior roles at QNX Software Systems and 3Com Corp.
“After a thorough evaluation of potential candidates, we are confident that we have found in Sachin the perfect individual to lead and transform our company to achieve further success in the rapidly evolving automotive electronics market,” said Francis Scricco, chairman of the board. “Sachin’s significant operational expertise and unique combination of experience in the automotive, technology and software industries will be critical as we seek to capitalize on the dynamic growth of the connected vehicle ecosystem and provide our OEM partners with innovative and cost-effective technology solutions.”
Lawande is one of the foremost technology and business thought leaders in the automotive OEM electronics supplier industry. Throughout his career, Lawande has championed the need for automotive suppliers of cockpit electronics to evolve to meet the demands of the connected car era.
Before joining 3Com, he was responsible for the development of networking and consumer electronics systems at corporate giants such as AT&T Bell Labs and U.S. Robotics. Lawande has a wealth of experience in developing embedded systems and software and holds four patents in communications software.
“It is an honor to be named Visteon’s next CEO,” said Lawande. “Electronics and software are more important to the automotive industry than ever before, and the newly transformed Visteon is in an ideal position to emerge as the innovation and technology leader in this space to continue to deliver value for customers and shareholders. I am excited about the opportunity to build on the company’s momentum and lead Visteon into the next phase of its growth as the premier provider of driver information systems and infotainment that form the backbone of the connected car. I look forward to working closely with the board, management and the talented Visteon team to advance innovation in the connected car and further capitalize on the growing importance of electronics to the automotive industry.”
Lawande holds a bachelor’s degree in electronics and telecommunications from Bombay University in India and a master’s degree in Electrical Engineering from Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville.
