Luminar Announces Automotive Council with Former Heads of Mercedes-Benz, Tesla, Ford and U.S. Transportation Policy

The new advisory council will help advance Luminar’s growth strategy and its mission to save lives.

ORLANDO, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Luminar (Nasdaq: LAZR), a leading global automotive technology company, today announced the formation of the Luminar Automotive Council (LAC), a new team of executive advisors to help inform Luminar’s growth strategy and advance its global mission to enhance auto safety.

The LAC brings together veteran industry leaders from the automotive, governmental, and other related sectors with decades of experience leading the world’s largest OEMs and automotive manufacturers, including Mercedes-Benz, Tesla, Jaguar Land Rover and Ford, as well as the U.S. Department of Transportation.

As the first high-performing LiDAR to be introduced as standard on a global production vehicle, Luminar is now focused on enabling adoption at scale with its next generation LiDAR, Luminar Halo. The council will help foster key relationships with potential customers, OEMs, contract manufacturing partners and other ecosystem players in facilitating this adoption. Members will also advise Luminar on major industry trends, overall market conditions and the regulatory environment. They will provide ‘voice of the customer’ feedback as Luminar works to advance its mission of automotive safety worldwide.

“The automotive industry stands at the crossroads today, as technology and consumer demand combine to create a new moment for safety and autonomy,” said Dr. Dieter Zetsche, former CEO of the Board of Management of Daimler and head of Mercedes-Benz. “The opportunity is almost limitless, and I am happy to be collaborating with the Council and Luminar to facilitate new opportunities for Luminar and the greater adoption of its breakthrough safety advances.”

Luminar Automotive Council members include:

Dr. Dieter Zetsche, Former CEO of the Board of Management of Daimler and head of Mercedes-Benz
Dr. Dieter Zetsche is one of the most illustrious automotive executives of the past few decades. He was a valued member of the Board of Management for Daimler holding various areas of responsibility until he became its CEO in 2006, a responsibility he kept until his retirement in 2019. Among other responsibilities he has been the Chairman of the supervisory board of TUI AG since 2019.

Hon. Elaine Chao, 24th U.S. Secretary of Labor & 18th U.S. Secretary of Transportation
Secretary Chao is the first Asian-Pacific American woman to be appointed to the President's cabinet in U.S. history and the longest serving cabinet secretary since World War II. Among Secretary Chao’s focus at the U.S. Department of Transportation was keeping America’s transportation system safe and efficient and engaging with new technologies including autonomous vehicles to build the transportation system of the future. During the COVID-19 health crisis, Secretary Chao’s decisive actions kept America’s transportation networks safe and moving. As U.S. Secretary of Labor, Secretary Chao focused on increasing the competitiveness of the American workforce in a global economy. She set new records for workplace safety and health and ensured the retirement security of 44 million retirees by spearheading the passage of the Pension Protection Act of 2006. Secretary Chao has served on numerous Fortune 500 companies while out of government. She is a graduate of the Harvard Business School and the recipient of 38 honorary degrees. Please visit her website: www.elainechao.com.

Brigadier General Leo Austin Brooks Jr (Ret.)
Leo A. Brooks, Jr. is a retired Brigadier General in the United States Army, and has held senior executive roles for nearly two decades with The Boeing Company, including most recently as the Vice President of Enterprise Subsidiary Integration, Government Operations, and as Vice President of Defense, Space and Security. Prior to joining Boeing in August 2006, Brooks served in the United States Army for 27 distinguished years, with key assignments as an infantry battalion and brigade commander in the 82nd Airborne Division, and as Commandant of Cadets at the United States Military Academy at West Point. Brooks has received numerous awards and honors, notably the Army’s Distinguished Service Medal, and three awards of the Legion of Merit, among others. He is also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

Sir Ralf Speth, KBE FRS, Former CEO, Jaguar Land Rover
In early 2010, Prof Dr Ralf D Speth became Chief Executive Officer of Jaguar Land Rover and a member of the Tata Motors board later that year. In 2016, Ratan Tata also appointed him to the Supervisory Board of Tata Sons Ltd. Sir Ralf started his professional career at BMW, where he stayed for 20 years before joining Ford Motor Company's Premier Automotive Group (PAG) and later Linde Group, the international gasses, materials handling and engineering company. Sir Ralf is a professor at the University of Warwick and has been a member of the Royal Academy of Engineering since 2014. In 2015, he was appointed Knight of the British Empire (KBE). In 2019 he was Knighted as Additional Knight Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire. In 2020 Sir Ralf was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society. Sir Ralf was nominated as a Non-Executive Director and Vice Chairman of the JLR Board following his retirement. He continues his role on the Supervisory Board of Tata Sons Ltd. He is also the Chairman of TVS Motor Company and supports several supervisory boards.

Matthew Simoncini, Former CEO and CFO, Lear Corporation
During his more than 10 years in the C-suite for the Lear Corporation, Matthew Simoncini oversaw the dramatic turnaround of the automobile seating and electrical systems manufacturer. Simoncini is a member of Luminar’s Board of Directors and acts as liaison between the Board and the LAAC.

Jerome Guillen, Former President, Tesla
Jerome Guillen is a seasoned automotive executive with expertise in product development, engineering, sales, operations, service and more. During his nearly ten years at Tesla, Guillen led a variety of senior executives roles, including overseeing the Model S and the Semi, and finally as the President of Tesla, Inc. Prior to working at the EV maker he led the development of the Freightliner Cascadia for Daimler Trucks.

Joe Hinrichs, Former President, Ford
Joe Hinrichs is currently President & CEO of CSX, the largest railroad in the eastern United States. Hinrichs spent over 30 years in the automotive industry, retiring as President of Ford’s global automotive business in 2020. He spent ten years at General Motors and over 19 years at Ford and has served as an advisor to Luminar previously.

Chris Charlton, Chairman & Founder, The Charlton Group
Chris Charlton is the Chairman of Luminar’s Automotive Advisory Council and a founder of the sales liaison of choice for worldwide manufacturers that supply products for some of the world's largest automotive groups. He brings decades of experience uncovering new opportunities and guiding clients to successful partnerships with leading OEMs around the world.

About Luminar
Luminar is a global automotive technology company ushering in a new era of vehicle safety and autonomy. For the past decade, Luminar has built an advanced hardware and software/AI platform to enable its various partners, ranging from Volvo Cars and Mercedes-Benz to NVIDIA and Mobileye, to develop and deploy the world's most advanced passenger vehicles. Following the launch of the Volvo EX90 as the first global production vehicle to standardize its technology, Luminar is poised to lead the industry in enabling next-generation safety and autonomous capabilities for global production vehicles. For more information please visit www.luminartech.com.

Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements generally are accompanied by words such as “aims,” “believe,” “may,” “will,” “estimate,” “set,” “continue,” “towards,” “anticipate,” “intend,” “expect,” “should,” “would,” “forward,” and similar expressions that predict or indicate future events or trends or that are not statements of historical matters. The forward-looking statements include statements relating to expectations regarding opportunities to advance the Company’s growth strategy, to save lives, to enhance automotive safety and autonomy, and to expand the adoption of LiDAR technology. Forward-looking statements are based on expectations and assumptions by our management and involve a number of risks, uncertainties, and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those stated, including that next-generation sensors and software will be developed successfully, that these systems will perform as intended and achieve meaningful safety or efficiency improvement, and that automaker agreements will develop successfully into product launches. More information on these risks and other potential factors that could affect the Company’s business is included in the Company’s periodic filings with the SEC, including in the “Risk Factors” and “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” sections of the Company’s most reports on Form 10-K and Form 10-Q. The Company assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date they are made.

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Source: Luminar