Auto Express releases it's top 50 Brits in the Global car market list for 2016, the Brits are here, and going nowhere.

• Auto Express reveals its top 50 Brits in the global car business
• Mike Manley from Jeep takes number one spot
• Citroen Global CEO Linda Jackson climbs six places to number two

Auto Express has today revealed its definitive list of the top 50 Brits working in the global car industry, with Jeep CEO Mike Manley taking the number one slot in 2016.

Manley, originally from Bedfordshire but now residing in the US, has transformed one of America’s greatest brands, quadrupled sales in just six years and set his company on the road to a target of selling 1.9 million cars by 2018. 

In 2015 Jeep sold a total of 1.23 million cars worldwide. Manley is extremely passionate about brands and he thinks it’s the strength of the Jeep brand that will help him achieve the near two million sales target.

In second place in this year’s Brit List is Linda Jackson, Global CEO of Citroen. Her vision for the iconic brand is coming to fruition with strong sales of existing models and a raft of new Citroens on the way.

The Auto Express judging panel comprised industry commentator and Motoring Editor of the Daily Mail, Ray Massey, and Chris Donkin, Industrial Sector Partner at The Inzito Partnership, along with Auto Express’ Steve Fowler, Graham Hope and John McIlroy.

Chairman of the judging panel, and Editor-in-Chief of Auto Express, Steve Fowler, said: “The British talent in the global car industry is something to be proud of, which is why we started to publish this list five years ago. Since then it has grown to be one of the most eagerly anticipated events in the industry calendar. This year’s list is teeming with talent, and I can’t wait to see what they achieve in the coming years.”

The Brit List 2016: top 50

1. Mike Manley
Head of brand, Jeep and RAM

2. Linda Jackson
CEO, Citroen

3. Duncan Aldred
US Vice-President, Buick-GMC 

4. Ian Callum
Director of Design, Jaguar

5. Trevor Mann
Chief Performance Officer, Nissan 

6. Nick Rogers
Director, Group Engineering, Jaguar Land Rover 

7. Paul Willcox
Senior Vice-President, Nissan & Chairman, Nissan Europe

8. Adrian Hallmark
Group Strategy Director, Jaguar Land Rover

9. Mark Adams
Vice-President, Vauxhall/Opel Design

10. Kevin Rose
Sales & Marketing ,Director, Bentley 

11. Mike O’Driscoll
Group CEO, Williams F1 Team

12. Joe Bakaj
Vice-President Product Development, Ford of Europe

13. Gerry McGovern
Design Director, Land Rover

14. Ron Dennis
Chairman, McLaren Group & Automotive

15. Allan Rushforth
Vice-President for Global Sales, Nissan

16. Andy Cowell
Managing Director, Mercedes AMG High-Performance Powertrains

17. Steven Armstrong
Vice-President, Ford & President, Ford South America

18. Andy Goss
Global Sales Operations Director, Jaguar Land Rover

19. Chris Porritt
Apple

20.  Simon Sproule
Chief Marketing Officer, Aston Martin

21. Julian Blissett
Executive Vice-President, SAIC-General Motors Corp

22. Moray Callum
Vice-President, Design, Ford

23. Marek Reichman
Design Director, Aston Martin

24. Mike Flewitt
Chief Executive, McLaren Automotive

25. Fiona Pargeter
Head of Global PR Communications, Jaguar Land Rover

26. Jon Goodman
Senior Vice-President, Corporate Communications, Volvo Cars

27. Graham Hoare
Director of Global Vehicle Evaluation & Verification, Ford

28. Mark Ovenden
President & CEO, FordSoller

29. Michael Cole
Chief Operating Officer, Kia Motor Europe

30.  John Edwards
Managing Director, Special Operations, Jaguar Land Rover

31. Richard Palmer
Chief Financial Officer, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles

32. Peter Horbury
Head of Design, Geely

33. Christian Horner
Team Principal, Red Bull Racing

34. Nigel Stein
Chief Executive, GKN 

35. Tim Abbott
Managing Director, BMW South Africa

36. Adrian Newey
Chief Technical Officer, Red Bull Racing

37. Mark Lloyd
Design Programme Director, Citroen

38. Paul Willis
CEO, VW Group UK

39. Chris Gubbey
CEO, The London Taxi Group

40. Robin Page
Vice-President, Interior Design, Volvo Cars

41. Mike Hawes
Chief Executive, Society of Motor Manufacturers & Traders

42. Danella BagnallVehicle Programme Director, Jaguar Land Rover

43. Peter Thom
Vice-President, Quality, North America, General Motors

44. Martin Leach
President of NEXTEV

45. Claire Williams
Deputy Team Principal, Williams F1 Team

46. Lawrence Davies
CEO, Automotive Investment Organisation

47. Tony Laydon
Corporate Vice-President, Supply Chain, Nissan

48. Bernie Ecclestone
Chief Executive, F1 Group

49. Tony Williams-Kenny
Global Design Director, SAIC

50. Mark Sutcliffe
Vice President, Supply Chain Management, Renault-Nissan

The Auto Express hall of fame

2015 - Alan Batey

Last year’s Brit List winner Batey has the title of executive vice president and president, GM North America, and also serves on the board of GM China’s joint venture, Shanghai General Motors Co. As if that wasn’t enough, he’s the global boss of Chevrolet as well. 

2014 - Steve Odell

When Odell topped the Brit List he was busy restoring Ford of Europe to health. That success earned him a role at Detroit HQ, where he now heads global sales, marketing and service, reviving Ford and Lincoln worldwide – some way from his first role as a Ford graduate trainee. 

2013 - Ian Robertson

BMW’s global boss of sales and marketing was our second Brit List winner and Hall of Fame inductee. He’s still responsible for the brand’s growing sales success as it gears up to mark its centenary, with events planned this month in London and at the Goodwood Festival of Speed. 

2012 - Andy Palmer

Our first ever Brit List winner was working at Nissan at the time. Now he’s reshaping iconic British brand Aston Martin and is in the process of launching the all-new DB11. As at Nissan, Palmer’s love of electric power is coming into play at Aston, too.

jaguar Land Rover makes plans to enter the 2016 FIA Formula E Championship.

• Jaguar Land Rover confirms its electric future with entry for Jaguar into the innovative FIA Formula E Championship
• Formula E to provide a real world performance test bed for future Jaguar Land Rover technology
• Jaguar Land Rover, the UK's leading investor in research and development, strengthens its commitment to British engineering by extending development of electrification technology into the racing environment 
• Jaguar Land Rover engineers will work directly with Jaguar's race team to push the boundaries of electrification technology  

Jaguar today announced its return to global motorsport. In the autumn of 2016, Jaguar will enter the third season of the exciting FIA Formula E Championship as a manufacturer with its own team. FIA Formula E is the world’s first global single-seater championship for electric powered cars.

FIA Formula E offers a unique opportunity for Jaguar Land Rover to further the development of future EV powertrain including motor and battery technology. 

Nick Rogers, Group Engineering Director for Jaguar Land Rover, said: “I am proud to announce Jaguar's return to racing with an entry into the innovative FIA Formula E championship. 

Electric vehicles will absolutely play a role in Jaguar Land Rover's future product portfolio and Formula E will give us a unique opportunity to further our development of electrification technologies. The Championship will enable us to engineer and test our advanced technologies under extreme performance conditions.

"It is my belief that over the next five years we will see more changes in the automotive world than in the last three decades. 

The future is about being more connected and more sustainable; electrification and lightweight technologies are becoming more important than ever as urbanisation continues to increase. Formula E has recognised and reacted to these trends and the championship's exciting and pioneering approach is the perfect fit for our brand."

Jaguar Land Rover employs over 8,000 engineers and is the UK's largest investor in research and development across any business sector. Jaguar's Formula E team will be able to draw upon this industry leading resource with Jaguar Land Rover engineers working closely with the race operations team. 

Those engineers will not only be able to apply their knowledge within the race team environment but crucially use the experience to extract data and push the boundaries of electric technology in a performance environment. 

Williams Advanced Engineering will be Technical Partner to the Jaguar Formula E Team and provide extensive motorsport knowledge, combined with high performance EV Systems experience and success. 

Jaguar Land Rover has a long term relationship with Williams, who partnered with Jaguar on the development of the Jaguar C-X75 plug-in hybrid concept car. The team entry has been granted by Formula E and approved by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA).

Alejandro Agag, Chief Executive Officer for Formula E, said: “We are delighted to welcome Jaguar into Formula E. Jaguar is a brand with a rich sporting heritage and the fact that it is returning to global motorsport with Formula E is a huge endorsement of the championship and its ability to influence the development of electric cars. 

Jaguar brings with it a passionate fan base that will drive the popularity of the championship across the world and once again shows that Formula E is the future of motorsport.”

Jean Todt, President of the FIA said: “The FIA is pleased to welcome Jaguar as a new manufacturer to enter the FIA Formula E Championship. We built this series to offer an alternative competition for manufacturers to step into the sport and develop road-relevant electric technologies. 

The choice of Jaguar to come back to motor racing with Formula E is a proof of success. As it forges a path forward for the future of the electric car, Formula E managed to attract one of the most prestigious and historical brand across the automotive industry. I wish them success ahead of their arrival in 2016/2017.”

James Barclay, Jaguar Team Director, said: “We looked in detail at alternative ways of returning to motorsport.  This was such an important decision for Jaguar and we wanted to get it right. With our future EV plans, Formula E was the obvious choice and we believe that the benefits are enormous.  

The FIA and the promoter have exciting plans for the future of the championship and we are proud to be one of the first vehicle manufacturers to commit to the series with our own team. We have a lot of work to do ahead of the first race but it is a challenge we relish.  We hope that we can welcome a new generation of fans to Jaguar through this exciting programme.”

More details on Jaguar’s return to racing including team presentation, drivers and partners will be released in the run up to season three.