Mark Pattison and the Idea of a University

John is a unique car industry executive. He is the only person alive today who has worked as a Director and Senior Executive for Land Rover, a wholly owned British car manufacturer, as it was at the time; BMW, a wholly owned German car manufacturer; and Honda, a wholly owned Japanese car manufacturer. And John is the only one who has written a book about his long fifty-year career including these three international car manufacturers.John Sparrow was born in St Albans, England. He was very interested in motor cars from a very early age. At school he carried out a study of Vauxhall Motors in Luton, which fuelled his interest in working in the car-industry business after university.In 1969 he joined Austin Morris at Longbridge, Birmingham, and his career developed through a number of management positions and promotions. In 1982 he joined Land Rover Ltd in Solihull, rising to become Director UK Sales and Director UK Operations. In the 1990s he became Director Business Development in BMW Group, including Land Rover, Rover Cars and MG. From 2000 to 2009 he was a Senior Executive in Honda Motor Europe.John considers himself fortunate to be inwardly and automatically driven to have a long and successful career in the industry; something he achieved and enjoyed doing. Hence the title of the book, which has a double meaning given the cars of today and the future, which will drive themselves automatically. John lives in Oxfordshire, England.