Luminar Bolsters Global Automotive Team

Luminar has announced an expansion of leadership as it enters its next phase of growth in automotive, onboarding five top industry executives. Over the next 18 months, the company will be scaling its technology into series production, starting with Volvo in 2022, and will begin shipping its Iris sensing and perception platform within the year.

Tom Fennimore, previously global head of automotive for Goldman Sachs and most recently at Jefferies Group LLC, joins the company as its new CFO. Fennimore has led numerous financial endeavors within the industry, including Tesla and Mobileye’s IPOs.

Matthew Simoncini, former president, CEO, and director at Lear Corp., joins Luminar’s board of directors.

Marc Losewitz and Aaron Jefferson, former ZF Group executives in ADAS, join Luminar as vice president of automotive business development and vice president of product, respectively. Losewitz led the global Active and Passive Safety product lines with direct responsibility for building and maintaining over a $1 billion P&L. Jefferson led the cross-functional product management organization with a focus on ADAS and related products.

Also joining the team is Jason Rudd, who served for 11 years as Mobileye’s senior director OEM and tier 1 sales. Rudd will be driving Luminar’s growing European business presence and programs.

Prior to these additions, Luminar also appointed Lonnie Bernardoni as vice president, supply chain, to ramp up production of the company’s Iris sensing technology for 2022 series production. Bernardoni previously served as vice president of supply chain and operations at Magic Leap.