HALL OF FAME OUR PREVIOUS WINNERS 2012 Andy Palmer 2013 Ian Robertson 2014 Steve Odell 2015 Alan Batey 2016 Mike Manley 2017 Linda Jackson

OUR first Brit List winner while at Nissan, Palmer is now driving astonishing growth at Aston Martin. He’s restored the British brand to profitability and is about to open a new factory in Wales to build its Varekai SUV. ROBERTSON finally stepped away from BMW recently, after a short spell where the global boss of sales and marketing took on a ‘UK ambassador’ role that saw him liaising with Government on key issues. FORD had yet another management shakeup late last year, and Steve Odell took the opportunity in November to bring his 37-year stint with the firm to an end, retiring from his marketing, sales and service role. ALAN Batey started out as an apprentice with Vauxhall, but these days he’s General Motors’ executive vice-president and president, North America. He looks after Chevrolet globally, and is also on the board of a joint venture in China. FLAT sales at Jeep in 2017 troubled the SUV brand’s boss Mike Manley – but they haven’t hurt his status within the overall FiatChrysler empire. He continues to be tipped as potential successor to Sergio Marchionne. LINDA Jackson is steering Citroen’s contribution to the booming sales figures of the PSA Group. A bumpy 12 months in China didn’t help her in 2017, but fresh SUVS should deliver more growth this year.