Visteon appoints Sachin Lawande as its Chief Executive Officer

Visteon Corporation has appointed Sachin Lawande as president and CEO of Visteon, effective June 29, 2015, succeeding Timothy D Leuliette. Lawande will also join Visteon’s Board of Directors.

Lawande is an accomplished automotive OEM electronics veteran with over a decade of global leadership experience in the industry. From 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 Corporation.

“We are confident Sachin is the perfect individual to lead and transform our company to achieve further success in the rapidly evolving automotive electronics market," said Francis M 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 capitalise on the dynamic growth of the connected vehicle ecosystem and provide our OEM partners with innovative and cost-effective technology solutions.”

“It is an honour 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.”

Forty-eight-year-old Sachin Lawande is one of the foremost technology and business thought leaders in the automotive OEM electronics supplier industry and has championed the need for automotive suppliers of cockpit electronics to evolve to meet the demands of the connected car era.

Most recently, he served as president of the Infotainment Division of Harman International Industries since 2013 and as executive vice-president since 2009. In his role as president of the Infotainment Division – the largest division of Harman with nearly $3 billion in annual sales – Lawande achieved double-digit sales and income growth while serving 11 of the top 15 OEMs and leading over 7,500 employees worldwide. Prior to that, Lawande served in various leadership roles at Harman including EVP and president of the Lifestyle Division, EVP and co-president of the Automotive Division, EVP and chief technology officer and chief software architect. In these roles, Lawande was responsible for guiding software strategy, development partnerships, and key customer relationships.

Lawande has a wealth of experience in developing embedded systems and software and holds four patents in communications software. He 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.