Continental has named Ismail Dagli as head of its Autonomous Mobility business area, replacing Frank Petznick, who will leave the company.
Dagli, 48, currently leads Continental’s Smart Mobility business, which oversees mobility services, fleet operators and commercial vehicle manufacturers. He starts in his new position Oct. 1.
The supplier announced the creation of the Autonomous Mobility business area in 2021 as part of a reorganization of its mobility businesses. Petznick, who had lead ADAS (advanced driver assistance systems) services at Continental since 2020, was named to lead it. The new unit started operations on Jan. 1, 2022.
At the time, Petznick said the goal was to allow the Autonomous Mobility unit operate semi-autonomously from the rest of Continental, in an effort to move faster and encourage partnerships with smaller companies.
Dagli, a computer scientist whose doctoral studies focused on artificial intelligence in automated driving, started his career in 2005 as an engineer at Daimler. He moved to Bosch in 2008, holding management positions in Germany and the U.S. Dagli joined Continental in 2020 as head of R&D in the ADAS business unit. He was named head of the Smart Mobility business area in 2022.
Philipp von Hirschheydt, a member of Continental’s executive board and head of the automotive group sector, said in a news release that Dagli “will forge ahead with the partner-focused business strategy of our Autonomous Mobility business area with the aim of strengthening and expanding its market position technologically and commercially.”
Continental ranks No. 9 on the Automotive News Europe list of top 100 global suppliers, with sales to automotive companies of $25.4 billion in 2022.
