Chris Sawyer .

Chris Sawyer
Associate Partner, Executive Editor
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Chris Sawyer has over 20 years experience in the fields of journalism, public relations, and branding in the automotive sector. He started his career at AutoWeek magazine in 1986 as Associate Editor, moved to Automotive Industries magazine as Senior Editor in 1989, joined the marketing and communications firm Campbell & Co. as an Account Director in 1996, and became Executive Editor of Automotive Design & Production magazine in 2000 before partnering with long-time friends and colleagues Mark Ewing and John Clor in the creation of Cars In Context.

During his journalism career, Chris broke stories on the Mitsubishi Eclipse, Ford Probe and Mazda Miata, and began to understand what makes a product great and how best to measure its potential in the world’s toughest auto market.

• Winner, Detroit Press Club Foundation award for his exposé of NBC Dateline coverage of GM truck fires;
• Winner of three Chilton Publications editorial awards;
• Shared in two Neal Awards;
• On-camera appearance on the Travel Channel Show Extreme Concept Cars; and,
• Quoted in USA Today coverage of retro design.

For Automotive Design & Production, Chris produced a highly regarded monthly column that questioned the orthodox and accepted methods, principles, and beliefs of the auto industry.

At Campbell & Co., Chris served as Communications Director for Lotus Cars USA, where he performed in many capacities:

• Advised US and global Lotus executives on how to succeed in North America;
• Developed a low-cost e-mail push press strategy;
• Consulted on the specification and pricing of the U.S. Elise and the use of interactive media to prove its viability, capture consumer data, and develop a prospect database;
• Co-authored with Mark Ewing a white paper that provided an overview of the brand’s media, marketing, and product direction, parts of which are still in effect;
• Participated in on-air interviews; and,
• Authored a white paper outlining how Lotus could benefit from following a common component set and flexible tooling strategy.

Chris also actively participated in the committee that named Visteon Automotive Systems, redirected Visteon PR efforts away from a stand-alone launch to a global launch at the 1997 Frankfurt Motor Show, wrote two technical presentations for that event and oversaw their production, consulted on Visteon’s racing participation, and wrote a motorsports backgrounder for its PR staff.

In addition, he wrote Panoz Racing’s hybrid-electric race car brochure, set the tone and direction for the Lotus Esprit V8 sales brochure based on lessons learned from Mr. Ewing’s Ford SVT experience, and created a model extension/new vehicle plan as part of a branding exercise for Volvo.

• Writer, Editor—New Product Review For Magazines & Internet.
• Auto Industry Columnist & Commentator.
• New-vehicle Product Strategy & Vehicle Line Branding.
• New-vehicle Launch Public Relations.