Plus (formerly Plus.ai), a global provider of self-driving truck technology, announced today that Wang Dazong has joined the company’s Advisory Board. Dr. Wang will bring his decades of experience in scaling large engineering operations and international partnerships to work closely with Plus’s management team on its global deployment strategy and plans.
“Dr. Wang is an inspiring and effective leader whose experience in driving product and business growth at leading automotive companies including GM, Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation (SAIC), and Beijing Automotive Industry Corporation (BAIC) is immensely valuable as Plus seeks to transform the global long-haul freight market with our autonomous trucking technology,” said Shawn Kerrigan, COO and Co-founder, Plus.
Dr. Wang is a pioneer of artificial intelligence applications for the automotive industry. During his twenty-year tenure at General Motors, he held a variety of technical and management roles, including Director of Product Engineering. From there, he joined SAIC as Vice President of Engineering where he successfully led the development of SAIC-branded vehicles. He then became the President and CEO of BAIC, one of China’s largest car manufacturers. Since late 2011, as the founder of Ophoenix Capital Management, Dr. Wang has focused on cross-border M&As in the automotive industry, completing more than ten cross-border M&A transactions in North America and Europe.
The addition of Dr. Wang to the Plus Advisory Board comes on the heels of other senior hires by the company. These include Wiley Deck, former Deputy Administrator of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), who joined Plus as Vice President of Government Affairs and Public Policy. Lori Heino-Royer joined from Daimler Trucks North America as Senior Director of Strategic Partnerships. Former senior executive at Amazon, Chuck Joseph, was appointed Vice President of Strategic Partnerships. Dennis Mooney, former Senior Vice President of global product development at Navistar, is now the Chief Platform Officer at Plus.
