Amazon, BYTON & Honda To Take The Stage At AutoMobility LA 2018

Press Releases

Jun 20, 2018

LOS ANGELES, June 20, 2018 /PRNewswire/ — Organizers of the LA Auto Show’s AutoMobility LA today announced that Ned Curic, Vice President of Automotive for Alexa at Amazon.com (Alexa), Dr. Carsten Breitfeld, CEO and Co-Founder of BYTON, and Ted Klaus, Vice President and Executive Engineer at Honda R&D Americas (Honda) have all been confirmed as featured speakers. Each are slated to address automotive and industry professionals, as well as media from around the world on Tuesday, November 27, 2018. Last year, more than 20,000 people over the course of four days attended AutoMobility LA.

Ned Curic has been Vice President of Automotive for Alexa at Amazon, Inc. since June 2017. Curic has more than 25 years of experience in advanced technology. Prior to Amazon, he served as the Chief Technology Officer and Group Vice President at Toyota Motor North America, Inc. and was co-founder and EVP at Toyota Connected, Toyota’s global connected car company. Before Toyota, he worked for Microsoft, New Century and TRW Space and Technology Group in various capacities. During AutoMobility LA, Curic will discuss the increasing importance of voice in mobility and how it will be an essential component of an autonomous future.

Dr. Carsten Breitfeld, a world-renowned expert in advanced automotive technologies, spent the past 20 years at BMW heading up a range of key engineering divisions, including leadership of the i8 vehicle program. He is now leading the charge at BYTON as the company drives towards production of a family of intelligent electric vehicles for key global markets. Breitfeld’s singular focus on creating a smart device on wheels – including the latest in electrification, autonomy and connectivity – is perfectly in line with AutoMobility LA’s commitment to tomorrow’s vehicle technology. Breitfeld’s talk will address how electrification, connectivity, autonomy and even shared vehicles will intersect to change how people interact with cars, and how advances in artificial intelligence will be the driving force behind these movements.

After beginning his career at Honda in 1990 as a development engineer, Ted Klaus is now responsible for shaping strategic research at Honda R&D Americas Ohio Center, the company’s largest R&D operation outside of Japan. There, Klaus provides leadership for progressive engineers who are creating the next generation of connected vehicles and highways. He oversees Honda’s participation in the Smart City Columbus and 33 Smart Mobility Corridor programs in Ohio, where Honda is working with government, academic and business partners to develop a cooperative mobility ecosystem. Klaus’ talk, titled Safe Swarm Highways: Preparing Infrastructure for the Connected Autonomous Future, will focus on separating myth from fact when it comes to future mobility solutions. He will detail a major smart mobility project and share real-world trial results that are helping Honda move toward its vision of a collision-free society.

“We are excited to use the AutoMobility LA platform to address the challenges facing our industry and to share what we are learning through evaluations in a unique, real-world environment,” said Ted Klaus, Vice President and Executive Engineer at Honda R&D Americas. “We want to highlight some of the successes we have experienced with our partners, because the key future mobility solutions will be about collaboration, partnerships and building trust with each other.”

“AutoMobility LA always evolves to offer something new and exciting to our attendees, and we couldn’t be more excited to welcome Ned Curic, Dr. Carsten Breitfeld and Ted Klaus,” said Lisa Kaz, President and CEO of the LA Auto Show and AutoMobility LA. “We pride ourselves in providing a platform that brings together key players in the industry to discuss the latest in automotive and technology that will one day change the way we get around. AutoMobility LA continues to be the place to break news and hold key discussions on the latest topics related to the auto-tech world and we look forward to all that’s in store this year.”

Additional information and a schedule of activities will be released over the coming months.

In 2017, AutoMobility LA was home to 70 vehicle debuts as well as various conference sessions and keynotes from executives at AutoLiv, BMW Group, Intel, and Panasonic. The show also featured the inaugural AutoMobility LA Hackathon, presented by Honda Innovations with support from the City of Los Angeles, which became the first-ever hack hosted by an auto show and attracted a talented group of nearly 100 developers. Additionally, the 2017 Top Ten Automotive Startups Competition received international recognition, media coverage, prizes, exhibit space at the show, and included an advisory session with the judges from major automotive and technology companies from Audi, Elektrobit, Microsoft, NVIDIA and Porsche Consulting. Previous shows featured a diverse range of participating companies such as DISNEY, Intel, Los Angeles Department of Transportation, Tesla (first-time exhibitor), Toyota Research Institute, Verizon, and more.

AutoMobility LA 2018 will take place November 26-29 at the Los Angeles Convention Center. Registration will open July 10.

For more information about AutoMobility LA and the LA Auto Show, please visit: http://www.automobilityla.com/ and http://laautoshow.com/. To listen to conference panels, interviews and fireside chats, download and tune-in to the AutoMobility LA podcast hosted by CNET’s Tim Stevens: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/automobility-la/id1381587632?mt=2.

About the Los Angeles Auto Show and AutoMobility LA
Founded in 1907, the Los Angeles Auto Show (LA Auto Show®) is the first major North American auto show of the season each year. In 2016, the show’s Press & Trade Days merged with the Connected Car Expo (CCE) to become AutoMobility LA^TM, the industry’s first trade show converging the technology and automotive industries to launch new products and technologies and to discuss the most pressing issues surrounding the future of transportation and mobility. AutoMobility LA 2018 will take place at the Los Angeles Convention Center Nov. 26-29, with manufacturer vehicle debuts intermixed. LA Auto Show 2018 will be open to the public Nov. 30–Dec. 9. AutoMobility LA is where the new auto industry gets business done, unveils groundbreaking new products and makes strategic announcements in front of media and industry professionals from around the globe. LA Auto Show is endorsed by the Greater L.A. New Car Dealer Association and is operated by ANSA Productions. To receive the latest show news and information, follow LA Auto Show on Twitter at twitter.com/LAAutoShow, via Facebook at facebook.com/LAAutoShow or on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/laautoshow/ and sign up for alerts at http://www.laautoshow.com/. Listen to past panels, interviews and keynotes on AutoMobility LA’s new podcast at https://automobilityla.com/podcast/. For more information about AutoMobility LA, please visit https://www.automobilityla.com/.