VAN BUREN TOWNSHIP, Mich.,
Nov. 19, 2013 /PRNewswire/
-- Visteon Corporation (NYSE: VC) today announced that
Martin T. Thall, a former Verizon
and Microsoft executive with extensive in-vehicle technology
experience, has been named executive vice president and president
of Visteon Electronics, a business unit of the global automotive
supplier. Thall succeeds Steve
Meszaros, who has led Visteon's electronics business since
2005 and who will leave the company at the end of this year to
pursue other career opportunities.
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Thall, 52, has spent the last decade of his 30-year technology
career focused on improving the driving experience through the
development of in-vehicle solutions. After 14 years in software
engineering and systems integration roles at Digital Equipment,
Thall served 12 years in leadership roles at Microsoft, the last
four as vice president and general manager, automotive and embedded
operating systems. Previously, Thall was vice president of
Microsoft's communications sector, responsible for business with
wireline, wireless, cable and media companies worldwide. After
leaving Microsoft in 2008, he founded and served as CEO of Vehicle
ICT Corporation, consulting with automakers, suppliers and
technology companies. Most recently, Thall was a vice president at
Verizon Communications, responsible for telematics services
strategy, acquisition and integration.
Visteon President and CEO Timothy D.
Leuliette thanked Meszaros for his contributions over the
past eight years, and described Thall as a uniquely qualified
leader with exceptional credentials to lead the company's
electronics business into the future.
"Marty's rare blend of consumer electronics and automotive
experience is ideally suited to lead and grow our electronics
business during a period of rapid change in this segment,"
Leuliette said. "The automobile has become the world's largest
mobile device, and we are confident that under Marty's leadership,
Visteon will expand its position as a leader in helping automakers
integrate consumer electronics into the vehicle in innovative ways
that are driver-friendly and cost-effective, while mitigating
distraction."
Thall assumes leadership of one of the world's largest suppliers
of vehicle cockpit electronics, with 16 manufacturing facilities,
four technical centers and about 5,000 employees in its
consolidated operations. Visteon recently strengthened its position
in the fast-growing vehicle cockpit electronics market by modifying
its electronics joint ventures in China to obtain control of the majority of
Yanfeng Visteon Automotive Electronics Co., Ltd. (YFVE).
Thall is a past recipient of an Automotive News Europe All-Star
award for collaboration with Fiat Group on the BLUE&ME™
infotainment system, and an Automotive News All-Star award for
collaboration with Ford Motor Co. on the award-winning
first-generation Sync® communications and entertainment system.
He has a bachelor of arts degree in information systems from the
University of Richmond and a bachelor
of science degree in technical management from DeVry University. He has a master's degree in
progress from the Keller Graduate School of
Management.
About Visteon
Visteon is a leading global automotive supplier delivering value
for vehicle manufacturers and shareholders through a family of
businesses including:
- Halla Visteon Climate Control Corp., majority-owned by Visteon
and the world's second-largest global supplier of automotive
climate components and systems.
- Visteon Electronics, a leading supplier of audio and
infotainment, driver information, center stack electronics and
feature control modules.
- Visteon Interiors, a global provider of vehicle cockpit
modules, instrument panels, consoles and door trim modules.
- Yanfeng Visteon Automotive Trim Systems Co., Ltd., a successful
non-consolidated China-based
partnership between Visteon and Shanghai Automotive Industry
Corporation's automotive components group, Huayu Automotive
Systems.
Through this family of enterprises, Visteon designs, engineers
and manufactures innovative components and systems for virtually
every vehicle manufacturer worldwide, and these businesses
generated $13.8 billion in sales in
2012, including non-consolidated operations. With corporate offices
in Van Buren Township, Mich.
(U.S.); Shanghai, China; and
Chelmsford, UK; Visteon has
facilities in 29 countries and employs through its various
businesses, including non-consolidated operations, approximately
55,000 people. Learn more at www.visteon.com.
SOURCE Visteon Corporation