Former Kenwood executive Keith Lehmann is serving as Managing Director of the newly formed Connected Car Council, which will hold its first meeting next week at CE Week in NY.
The Connect Car Council will take positions on new technology that might lead to new standards. For the aftermarket, it may show what the aftermarket should do to prepare for some of the big changes coming down the road.
It will focus on new technology in areas that include the “Internet of things” in the car, self-driving cars, driver distraction and privacy and security, said Lehmann.
So in the case of “the Internet of things” (where devices are connected via the Internet or to each other) the council might discuss how it would apply to the car; “can we introduce these devices in the car and what happens when you do,” said Lehmann. “We would establish positions on all these topics that could lead to a standard by the CEA or SAE,” he said.
The Connected Car Council was founded by automotive writer (for Wired and other publications) Doug Newcomb, to help guide companies through the maze of new tech heading to the car. It hopes to provide “expert information, research and opinion that cuts through the clutter…,” said Newcomb.
The Council includes members from many different parts of the auto and consumer electronics industries:
Gloria Bergquist, Vice President, Public Affairs, Auto Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers
Derek Kuhn, VP, Sales and Marketing, QNX Software Systems
Andreas Mai, Director, Smart Connected Vehicles, Cisco
Chris Barker, Senior Vice President, Business Development, Waggener Edstrom
Niall Berkery, Executive Director, Business Development, Telenav
Joel Hoffmann, Automotive Strategist, Intel
John Absmeier, Director, Delphi Labs @ Silicon Valley and Global Automated Driving Business Development
Danny Shapiro, Senior Director of Automotive, NVIDIA
John Suh, Managing Director, Hyundai Ventures
Lehmann helped direct Kenwood over the past 10 years and most recently served as Executive VP of Consumer Electronics for Kenwood and Senior VP at JVC Mobile Electronics. He left JVC Kenwood about 6 months ago.
For more information about the Connected Car Council visit http://www.connectedcarcouncil.com/.
Photo: Keith Lehmann at CES in January