Lyft Co-Founder and President John Zimmer to Keynote LA Auto Show's Connected Car Expo

Connected Car Expo^® (CCE), the auto industry’s most authoritative gathering of automotive and technology leaders, announced today that Lyft, Inc. Co-Founder and President John Zimmer will keynote the Nov. 17 auto-tech conference and exhibition held at JW Marriott L.A. Live.  CCE is part of the LA Auto Show’s Press & Trade Days at the LA Convention Center (Nov 18 & 19), where more than 50 vehicles will be unveiled to an expected 25,000 auto industry executives, including 4,500 media from around the world.

John Zimmer founded Lyft, Inc. with Logan Green in 2012 and the ridesharing platform has quickly become one of today’s fastest-growing tech companies with more than $1 billion raised from leading investors.  Lyft operates in 65 cities across the United States with more than 100,000 drivers on its platform.  In August 2014, Lyft introduced Lyft Line, a ridesharing product that utilizes its existing driver network to transport passengers going the same direction at the same time.

Zimmer was named in Forbes’ “30 Under 30: Technology” list, and both he and Green were named in Inc. Magazine’s “35 Under 35” list.  Zimmer is recognized as a pioneer and one of the foremost experts of the “on-demand” economy as Lyft has emerged as the leading rideshare company affecting positive change in the transportation business.  During the keynote, Zimmer will discuss his vision for a future with less traffic congestion and ultimately how the face of transportation will be changed around the world.

The Lyft keynote will kick off an entire day of discussions, presentations, news conferences plus exhibits from some of the top companies in the auto-tech space. More than 25 speakers will outline their vision for the dramatic changes facing the auto industry.

Highlights include:

·         Chris Valasek, director of vehicle security research, IOActive, to provide a deep dive into his Jeep hack that resulted in the world’s first automotive cybersecurity recall of 1.4 million vehicles.

·         David Strickland, partner at Venable LLC and former Administrator of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration; Karl Heimer, founding partner of Autoimmune and Special Adviser for Cyber Security to the State of Michigan; and Andrew Weimerskirch, associate research scientist at the University of Michigan Transportation Institute, to discuss problems and solutions surrounding auto cybersecurity.

·         Henry Newton-Dunn, Design Manager, Google, to discuss Android Auto from the inside out.

·         Ned Curic, Chief Technology Officer, Toyota Motor Sales; Nick Sugimoto, Senior Program Director, Honda Silicon Valley Lab; and Dr. Frankie James, Managing Director Advanced Technology, Silicon Valley Office, General Motors, to discuss how automotive OEMs are tapping into west coast technology.

·         RJ Mical, Director of Games, Google; Larry Rosin, President, Edison Research; and Eric Migicovsky, Founder, Pebble, to explain how consumer electronics are reshaping vehicle interiors.

·         Prof. Thomas Form, Electronics & Vehicle Research, Volkswagen, and Brian Droessler, VP of Software & Connected Solutions, Continental, to discuss the long and winding road to autonomous vehicles.

“As technology disrupts the auto industry much like it changed the rules for the music and film industries, its critical to learn from key innovators like Lyft’s John Zimmer,” said Lisa Kaz, President and CEO of the Los Angeles Auto Show and Connected Car Expo. “The future direction of the Auto Industry is being determined by a multitude of players and the LA Auto Show’s Connected Car Expo brings together this new auto industry ecosystem to responsibly map the way.”

In the coming months, CCE will be releasing additional information on more panels and participating speakers. For a full list of current panel topics and speakers please visit: ConnectedCarExpo.com/schedule.

On Nov. 17, all presentations, discussions, CCE exhibits and news conferences will be held at the JW Marriott L.A. Live, which is adjacent to the LA Convention Center.  The remaining Press & Trade Days events and news conferences (Nov 18 & 19) will take place at the LA Convention Center.  To register for CCE and LA Auto Show Press & Trade Days, please visit: LAAutoShow.com/Join.

For additional information on CCE and LA Auto Show please visit: ConnectedCarExpo.com and LAAutoShow.com.