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Top Women Executives Will Tell How to Listen to Auto Customer's Voice

13 January 2000

Five Top Women Executives Will Tell How to Listen to Auto Customer's Voice At SAE 2000 World Congress

    WARRENDALE, Pa., Jan. 13 -- Five top women executives from
the auto industry will explain how they put the customer's voice into a
vehicle's design at a special luncheon panel on "Role of Women in the Auto
Industry," Thursday, March 9, at 11 a.m. at the Pontchartrain Hotel, Detroit,
Michigan.
    The panel is a special event of SAE 2000 World Congress, being held at
Cobo Center, Detroit, Michigan, March 6-9, 2000
    Panelists will be Nancy Philippart, Executive Director, North American
Product Portfolio Management; Linda H. Lee, Manager, Women's Marketing and
Product Office, Ford Motor Company; Cynthia L. Hess, Vice President -
Corporate Quality, DaimlerChrysler Corporation; Roseann Stevens, Vice
President, Visteon Global OEM Accounts; and Susan P. Kampe, Senior Vice
President and Chief Information Officer, Meritor.
    Marjorie Sorge, Editor-in-Chief, Automotive Industries, will serve as the
panel moderator.
    The five women executives on this panel will form a product development
team to share their thoughts and ideas about how to translate the customer's
voice into a vehicle design.  Areas covered will include electronics,
powertrain, manufacturing, quality, engineering, design, marketing and vehicle
strategy.
    Prior to her current position, Philippart was assistant vehicle line
executive for General Motors Large Cars and held several other managerial and
engineering positions at GM.  Lee has served as co-chair of Ford's Women's
consumer Insight Team in the U.S., focusing attention on women's issues in
Ford's product development, sales and marketing plans.
    Hess has responsibility for internally and externally generated quality
and customer satisfaction surveys on service strategy and engineering and the
corporate parts retention and service facilities.  Stevens heads the sales
force for external accounts for one of the world's leading automotive
suppliers.  With more than 15 years of experience in automotive information
and systems technology, Kampe directs information technology for Meritor.
    Sorge has worked in the auto industry since 1977 with the three top
automotive trade publications and The Detroit News.  She began with Automotive
News, moving to The Detroit News as an automotive writer in 1984.  She joined
Ward's Communications in 1987 and Automotive Industries in 1995. Sorge has
just completed a two-year term as president of the Automotive Press
Association.
    For further information or to reserve tickets ($30 per ticket or $300 per
table) for the luncheon, call SAE at 724-772-4034.