The 50 Most Influential People in the Auto Industry

Position: Entrepreneur, Founder of Gumball 3000
Nationality: British
Twitter: @MRGUMBALL3000

It's been 15 years already since Max put together the Gumball 3000. In that time, the rally has turned into one of the biggest supercar gatherings in the world, switching continents from year-to-year. The road trip brings cars, music, fashion, and entertainment all together into one incredible party. Who else has done anything like that?

Position: CEO of Polyphony Digital and Gran Turismo Producer
Nationality: Japanese
Twitter: @Kaz_Yamauchi

Yamauchi-san is best known for creating the Gran Turismo Playstation games, but his involvement with the automotive industry goes far deeper. Yamauchi designed the multifunction display on the GT-R and worked with Citroën to assist in the design and creation of the GT concept. In addition, Polyphony helped launch the Toyota FT-86 (FR-S/BRZ) at the Geneva Auto Show and the C7 Corvette at Detroit Auto Show via Gran Turismo. With PS4 and his ever-growing reach, he's going to be a bigger player. - Carter Jung

Position: Car Collector
Nationality: American
Twitter: @RugbyRL

We'd like to thank Ralph Lauren for not only preserving some of the most important cars ever made, but for touring the world with them and making these historic vehicles available for public viewing.

Position: Head of Volkswagen Group Design
Nationality: Italian
Twitter: @VW

Lamborghini wanted a car to let its fans and owners know that, sometimes, it's okay to focus on yourself. In order to depict this message, the Italian company trusted Walter de Silva to create a vehicle that was unlike anything we'd ever seen. The Egoista was just that, blowing the top off Lamborghini's 50th anniversary party. de Silva's Apache helicopter-inspired approach got the entire auto industry buzzing about it's obnoxious looks, and some people, like us, feel that it was a shot of adrenaline that was much-needed. Hopefully, cues from this car trickle down into future Lambos.

Position: Red Bull Racing Chief Technical Officer
Nationality: English
Twitter: @AdrianneweyRB

Vettel and Webber are fantastic drivers, but their successes wouldn't have happened without the masterful touch of F1 car designer Adrian Newey. He has been a pioneer of F1 aerodynamics even since his aero started winning races for Williams back in 1988, and quite possibly understands the way air acts upon an F1 car better than any other person, dead or alive.

Position: Owners of Platinum Motorsport
Nationality: American
Twitter: @gplatinum, @jkplatinum

Platinum Motorsport has been one of the leaders in the tuning and aftermarket customization segment ever since winning MTV's inaugural season of "Trick it Out," in 2006. George and Jack have tricked out absolutely everything, including limited-edition exotics like Bugatti Veyrons and special-edition Rolls-Royce Phantoms.They're the go-tos for celebrities like Kim Kardashain and Lupe Fiasco, as well.

Position: F1 and WRC Driver
Nationality: Finnish
Twitter: Too busy driving quickly to Tweet.

After securing an F1 championship, Kimi moved over to WRC, which didn't go too well for him. He's back in F1 now, but getting around a dominant Vettel is only getting more challenging.

Position: Owner of Elite Rent-a-Car
Nationality: Italian
Twitter: Freakishly rich Europeans don't give a damn about Twitter.

In a video, whenever you see a rapper cruising in a Lamborghini or a Bentley, the car is probably rented. There's no sense in buying a $450,000 car for 24 seconds of screen time. Graziella Zanoletti is a pioneer of the exotic rental concept and the owner and founder of Geneva-based Elite Rent-a-Car. If it wasn't for her, those American exotic rental agencies wouldn't even exist.

Position: Rapper, Car Collector
Nationality: American
Twitter: @CurrenSy_Spitta

As evidenced by the cover story we just put up today, Curren$y has some weight in the car game. He's got 14 cars, almost all of which are Chevrolets, and he's not just out there purchasing brand new rides. He buys '70s, '80s, '90s rides and fixes them up in the auto body shop that he co-owns in New Orleans. With more than 600,000 followers on Twitter and car-inspired music, art, and photos, his influence is obvious.

Position: Founder and Owner of Cinema Vehicle Services
Nationality: American
Twitter: @Cinemavehicles

When you see a cop car in a movie set in the 1980s, it's probably from CVS. When you see Eleanor in Gone in 60 Seconds, it was made by CVS, as was the Ford Torino in Starsky and Hutch, the Ecto1 from Ghostbusters, and the Tim Burton Batmobile. Ray Claridge is responsible for making people love and lust after cars.

Position: WRC Driver
Nationality: French
Twitter: Come on, man ... this is 2013. Get on Twitter already.

Loeb has somehow managed to win the WRC nine consecutive times. The WRC is a driving display by Loeb, and it's a competition for second place at this point. This year, he's mixing things up a bit by bringing Peugeot back into the Pikes Peak mix with a ridiculous 206 T16 racecar.

Position: Ford Americas Executive Director of Design
Nationality: Scottish
Twitter: @Ford

The Ford Evos concept was a total hit and previewed the evolution of the kinetic design language. You can see his influence in the dead sexy 2013 Fusion, and will be seeing echoes of Evos in more and more Fords, most likely the 2015 Mustang, which has been spied a few times recently.

Position: Car & Driver Editor and Chief
Nationality: American
Twitter: @CARandDRIVER

Alterman has given the country's most-read car mag its soul back.

Position: Comedian, TV Star, Car Collector
Nationality: American
Twitter: @JerrySeinfeld

The show "Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee" is pretty much a project created simply because Jerry Seinfeld was getting bored, and he wanted a way to stay sem-relevant while remaining in his comedic lane. At least that's how we see it. And we will watch every single episode, because his car collection and love of cars lines up with ours (not the collection, the passion). Sponsored by Acura, the show has begun to gain some traction and will continue to get big-name celebs, thanks to Seinfeld's star power.

Position: Hyundai USA President
Nationality: American
Twitter: @Hyundai

Hyundais are bloody everywhere, and Krafcik is to blame/thank.

Position: YouTube Series Presenter
Nationality: English
Twitter: @harrismonkey

Chris Harris's series, "Chris Harris on Cars," seen on the DRIVE YouTube channel, has been making a splash. He has everything necessary to be a big player in the automotive entertainment industry: a personal style, a real enthusiasm for cars, and an English accent. Seeing him drive Ferraris as hard as he did was enough to get us on board.

Position: Ford of Europe VP of Product Development
Nationality: American
Twitter: @fordmediaeurope

A big part of Ford's recent success is based on the "One Ford" model, in which the company makes one great car and sells it on six continents. Samardzich has been behind most of Ford's big successes of late, from the Fiesta to the Mustang to the Super Duty F-series trucks. She deserves a gold medal.

Position: Founder and CEO of SCC
Nationality: American
Twitter: @SSCNorthAmeric

The Castriota-designed Tuatara is going to be a big deal. We've been waiting for this for a long time, and we might explode the first time we see one, when they start to roll out in 2014. The current Veyron will most definitely be obsolete when the Tuatara first goes on sale, but then again, Bugatti's already got something else planned, as well. Regardless, SCC, unlike most small, upstart hypercar manufacturers, is not going away anytime soon.

Position: Audi Auto Group Chairman
Nationality: German
Twitter: @Audi

We used to regularly hear people call Audis, "tarted-up Volkswagens." This doesn't happen much anymore. Audi's sales have been steadily increasing, and that once distant third place standing to BMW and Mercedes is getting less and less distant.

Position: Host of Leno's Garage
Nationality: American
Twitter: @LenosGarage

Leno has made it abundantly clear that he loves cars. He loves cars a lot more than he loves hosting late-night shows, in fact. What he's managed to do is create a large automotive following for himself. He's turning himself into this country's Jeremy Clarkson...but without offending labor unions, Mexicans, the French, all of Eastern Europe, Scots, Welsh, Irish, Americans, Australians, truck drivers, Indians, homosexuals, gypsies, Muslims, and Tesla motors.

Position: Designer
Nationality: American
Twitter: His hands are busy designing.

Castriota is one of the biggest names in auto design that we haven't been hearing for decades. He penned masterpieces like the Ferrari P 4/5, the Maserati GranTurismo, and the SCC Tuatara. Most recently, he has been working with Saab, and considering that company's unfortunate demise, his future is uncertain. We're looking forward to whatever car he ends up designing next.

Position: President and CEO of Formula One Management and Formula One Administration
Nationality: English
Twitter: @F1

He's known as "F1 Supremo" by the British tabloids. He holds the rights to manage the various races of F1, as well as running the TV broadcasts thereof. While he may, in his own words, "be getting old," he still never shows a chink in his armor. Negotiations always seem to go Ecclestone's way. Plus, with Vettel, he's got a serious superstar on his hands.

Position: Advisor to GM and Lotus
Nationality: American
Twitter: @VTrux

Bob Lutz had some shake-ups of his own this past year. First, he took the shell of the doomed Fisker Karma and put a Corvette engine into it. The result was an extremely sexy powerhouse that people have since been fiending for since news hit that Fisker was going down. Lutz also is the head of VIA Motors, which created a Silverado-based 800HP, 100MPGe Hybrid truck. The ideas are all there, it's just about making these things available for mass production.

Position: BMW Auto Group Chairman
Nationality: German
Twitter: @bmw_reithofer

The 3-Series may be under assault from all angles (coughATScoughF-Typecough), but it still rules the roost. Reithofer's goal this year is to move the 5-Series into position to overtake Mercedes' best-selling E-Class. Under his leadership, Rolls-Royce has also managed to survive the recession and create an extremely exciting new car in the Wraith.

Position: Ford Europe Executive Design Director
Nationality: English
Twitter: @fordmediaeurope

Ford's popular "Kinetic" design language, seen on the Focus, and most up-and-coming Fords, can be credited to Martin Smith.

Position: Daimler AG Chairman
Nationality: German
Twitter: @Daimler

Dieter Zetsche is one of the few auto industry chairmen who has a large public persona. He is big enough to be known, often lovingly, as "Dr. Z." The luxury market is currently booming, and he's positioning Mercedes to take big slices of this growing pie. Axing the Maybach brand was a good move, and bringing back the Pullman was a good move. We already want to pack up our things and move into one of the new S-Class models.

Position: United Auto Workers President
Nationality: American
Twitter: @UAW

Don't get us wrong. King has a lot to deal with. Whether or not he succeeds at abolishing the two-tier wage system and unionizing new Japanese and German automaker-owned plant in the South, he will end up having had a large influence. Good luck, Bob.

Position: Red Bull F1 Driver
Nationality: German
Twitter: @Sebastien_buemi

Vettel is the youngest-ever F1 champion, and he's got three (2010, 2011, 2012) championship already in the books. He's already a legend, and he's just getting started.

Position: Kia Design Chief
Nationality: German
Twitter: @peterschreyer

Get this: Kias look good. Not only is this a massive "first," but it is solidifying Kia's position as a maker of not just cheap cars, but good cars. We think that cars like the Optima not only look good, but won't look dated at the end of their product cycles. Schreyer is partially responsible for maintaining the Koreans' market share, and we think he's doing a damn good job.

Position: Italdesign Giugiaro Founder, "Car Designer of the Century"
Nationality: Italian
Twitter: @IDGiugiaro

Giugiaro's influence is always seen in automotive design, especially at the Geneva Motor Show, to which he always brings a concept that fits in just perfectly with the cars of 2032. GM doesn't present nuclear-powered concept cars of the future anymore, but Giugiaro always seems to have something up his sleeve.

Position: Driver for Monster World Rally Team, Chief Brand Officer of DC Shoes
Nationality: American
Twitter: @kblock43

Sure, he's not the fastest man in the WRC. He has, however, done more to get the next generation into motorsports than anyone else. Between Gymkhana and his contribution to projects like the Octane Academy, he's getting people excited about cars at a time when anything that's not a Prius is often portrayed as evil.

Position: President of the United States
Nationality: American
Twitter: @BarackObama

Some people may bitch about Chrysler being owned by the Italians now, but the bailouts were more successful than most of us thought they could be. Fiat is a hell of a lot better than Cerberus anyway. The big three American automakers--or rather big two-and-a-half--are all on stable footing these days. In addition, his administration is not backing away from supporting attempts to make cars more environmentally friendly, despite even more bitching from some automakers, the GOP, oil companies, and a string of green-tech bankruptcies. The future isn't fixing itself, and while it might push us into another era of crap cars just like catalytic converters did in the mid '70s, we think the lightning fast Tesla Model S and Aston Martin Rapide S Hydrogen should give us plenty of hope.

Position: Geely Chairman/Founder
Nationality: Chinese
Twitter: @geelyautomobile

China is coming, and Li Shu Fu is leading the way. Geely has already purchased Volvo, partnered up with the reborn American brand Detroit Electric, and hired a real designer, rather than just blatantly ripping off European best-sellers. Don't be surprised if your neighbor is driving a new Geely in a few years.

Position: Top Gear USA Presenter and Pro Driver
Nationality: American
Twitter: @TannerFoust

Tanner is on a roll: he's gearing up to present a fourth season of Top Gear USA, he's training drivers on NBC for Ford's Octane Academy, he's going to attempt a third consecutive Global Rallycross Championship domination, he'll be working as a stunt driver for the upcoming [i]Need For Speed[/i] movie, and will probably do some other amazingly cool, record-breaking stuff as well. He's always busy, and he's always at the top of his game in whatever discipline he's attempting

Position: West Coast Customs Owner
Nationality: American
Twitter: @SelfMadeRyan

Pimp My Ride is dead and buried. Nobody remembers Xzibit. Ryan Friedlinghaus, on the other hand, has reinvented his business and become the go-to guy for top-end custom cars.

Position: Ford Motor Company Group VP of Marketing, Sales, and Service
Nationality: American
Twitter: @Ford

Jim Farley understands how to market using the Internet. Facebook unveilings and other social media ploys are extremely successful. He also really jumpstarted the stalled rivalries in Detroit by infamously saying, "I'm going to beat Chevrolet on the head with bat. And I'm going to enjoy it. I hate them and their company and what they stand for." It might not have been a bright thing to say in front of a guy who was writing a book, but we kinda like it.

Position: Fiat Brand CEO
Nationality: French
Twitter: @FiatSPA

This is the man in charge of both making Fiat respected throughout the world and figuring out which platforms and vehicles need to be shared between brands. The new Dodge Dart is great on the eyes, the butt, and the back, but it needs a little more tweaking to make it a legitimate success.

Position: BMW Group Design Director
Nationality: Dutch
Twitter: @BMWGroup

Bangle is gone, thank the gods, and now we have van Hooydonk. The new Bimmers look sleeker and more cohesive than those they replace, but the matrioshka design ethos is getting to be a bit much. The designs of the i3 electric city vehicle and the i8 supercar hybrid are ground-breaking in many aspects and show some great things for the future.

Position: Red Bull Racing Principal
Nationality: Austrian
Twitter: @RedBullRacing

Red Bull Renault didn't just win F1 this year, it also shamed the opposition. F1 is going to change a lot this year. Meanwhile, Red Bull is also a sponsor of Sebastien Loeb, the reigning king of WRC. While most Americans response to that would be, "Who cares?" we need to remember just how many road-car technologies had their geneses in F1 and WRC.

Position: Toyota Motor Coporation President and CEO
Nationality: Japanese
Twitter: @Toyota

Toyoda-San isn't just the CEO of one of the world's biggest automakers. He is a consummate motorsport junkie who is working hard to make Toyota cool again. If the Lexus LFA (RIP), IS-F, and, most importantly, the Scion FR-S are any evidence--and they are--he's doing a damn good job. Enthusiasts are going to be drooling over Toyotas in short order. We just have to wait and see if a new Supra is in the pipeline.

Position: Jaguar Design Director
Nationality: Scottish
Twitter: @JaguarUKPR

Jaguar was slowly falling into the Buick trap. It was a proud and elegant brand that was degenerating into cars for old people. The new XF and XJ reinvented the Jag sedan, while the amazing C-X75 concept showed the potential of Jag's future. And that was all before they dropped the F-Type, a beautifully styled convertible that will also spawn a coupe and possibly (please, please, please) a shooting brake.

Position: GM North America President
Nationality: American
Twitter: @GM

GM is making small cars that don't suck. Honestly, that alone is enough to put Reuss on this list, but the renaissance that Cadillac has undergone is making Reuss into a big player. BMW is nervous about Cadillac. These aren't cars for octogenarians whose turn signals have been blinking for the last 42 miles anymore. The ATS is an extremely fun sports sedan, the XTS has an extremely comfortable and luxurious cabin, and the Escalade is supposed to make some serious waves this fall.

Position: Ferrari Chairman
Nationality: Italian
Twitter: @LucaMontezemolo

As the chairman of Ferrari, he has ushered the company into an era of unprecedented profit and innovation in road cars. The Ferrari FF's AWD system is like nothing else the industry has seen before, and it could end up making a massive splash, while he refocuses on dominating Formula One. His greatest impact on the auto industry, though, might happen if he leaves the company. He wields considerable political power in his home country and might just be Italy's next prime minister. The Italians are crazy enough about Ferrari for it to work, too.

Position: Volkswagen Auto Group Chairman
Nationality: Austrian
Twitter: @VW

Ferdinand Piech wants to see VW as the dominant manufacturer by 2018. Between the VW, Audi, Bentley, Seat, Skoda, Lamborghini, Bugatti, Scania, Man, and large portions of Porsche (rather Oedipus like, no?), it's looking like it might just happen too.

Position: Hyundai Motor Company Chairman
Nationality: Korean
Twitter: @Hyundai

It's frightening how quickly Hyundai went from being the butt of every automotive joke to producing feature-rich, refined cars. The lineup is enormous, and at just about every segment, there's something that's worth looking into. The Elentra Coupe and GT look great, the Veloster is an extremely fun (and super weird) little monster, the Sonata is a road favorite, and the recently released Equus is sure to make some waves. And by the HCD-14 and HND-19 concept cars, this manufacture is only getting sexier by the year.

Position: Top Gear Presenter, Journalist
Nationality: English
Twitter: @JeremyClarkson

Love him because he publicly makes the jokes that people generally make in private, or hate him for the same reason, there's no denying that Clarkson has a legion of fans that seek his reviews on new cars before looking anywhere else. There's no denying that his opinions affect sales, especially in Europe.

Position: Vice President Product Design Chrysler LLC, CEO SRT & SRT Motorsport
Nationality: American-Canadian
Twitter: @RalphGilles

Ralph Gilles has become one of the most well-known and most-liked people in the auto industry in the past two years. And while much of that has to do with his impact on the car world with his part in controlling the team who built the 2014 SRT Viper, his accessibility and relatability comes from his interactions on Twitter. Few auto executives speak with fans so openly and with so much personality. The auto industry has enough robotic machines with the cars, it's nice when the people don't add to that pack. Oh, and he also told Donald Trump he's full of shit, so people kind of liked that.

Position: President and CEO of the Ford Motor Company
Nationality: American
Twitter: @Ford

Ford is doing extremely well. They have a great market share in the smaller car market with the Focus and Fiesta, the GT500 absolutely destroyed everything in its path, and the Fusion's completely new looks wowed just about everybody who gave it a look. He's put Lincoln in a good direction, but we think he can still do better.

Position: Chrysler Group Chairman and CEO, Fiat SPA CEO
Nationality: Italian
Twitter: @Chrysler

Marchionne has done an amazing job of turning a fading Chrysler into a company that's putting out killer vehicles, paved the way for Fiat, and has created a landing strip for Alfa Romeo's entrance to the States with the 4C, which we can't wait for.

Position: Founder of SpaceX and Co-Founder of Tesla Motors
Nationality: South African-American
Twitter: @elonmusk

Who has been at the head of more headlines in the past year than Elon Musk and Tesla Motors? Inventor and entrpreneur Musk has created an entirely different model (no pun intended) for the electric car, one that the public has largely come around to. Range anxiety? Broken with high-capacity batteries, superchargers, and quick battery swaps. Looks? The Model S is beautiful. Price? Well, he's working on that, announcing that Tesla will have a more accessible car in the near future. He's completely changing the alternative automobile landscape.