New ESCA President
Helen Foord
Helen is Head of Global Governmental Affairs at McLaren Automotive Ltd, and was appointed as President of ESCA in December 2022.
With over 20 years of experience as a senior policy advisor in the energy and automotive sectors, Helen has a great understanding of the important relationship between industry and the regulations which affect it. Helen has extensive experience of engaging policy makers and regulators on complex rulemakings effecting the energy and automotive sectors.
Helen started her career working for the UK energy regulator, Ofgem, after graduating from University with a BA (Hons) in Public Management and Politics. After working in the energy sector Helen worked as Manager for UK & Ireland Government Relations at General Motors from 2006 to 2017. From 2017 to 2022 she worked as Head of Government Relations and Public Policy at automotive giants Groupe PSA and then Stellantis, there she worked integrally with EU policy leads on political outreach and legislative goals as well as being the UK lead and responsible for developing and advising the business on Brexit. In 2022 Helen was recruited by McLaren to lead their Government Affairs globally.
Helen was born and raised in the UK and currently lives in Hertfordshire with her husband and two children.
Previous Presidents
Federico Righi
As the Head of Homologation at Pagani Automobili, Federico Righi was appointed as President of ESCA as of December 2021.
With more than 10 years of experience in automotive Companies, his main area of expertise are whole vehicle testing validation and active/passive safety homologation.
Prior to joining Pagani Automobili, he worked at Maserati from 2010 to 2019 and from 2019 to 2021, he worked at Manitou Group. He worked on various projects covering component, system and vehicle level homologation.
Federico obtained his Master’s degree in Vehicle Engineering at University of Modena e Reggio Emilia.
He was born and raised in Modena, Italy, the heart of the Motor Valley.
He is passionate about technology, vintage cars and stand-up comedy
Kuthan Toydemir
As the Head of Homologation and Technical Compliance of Koenigsegg Automotive AB, Kuthan Toydemir was President of ESCA from 2020-21.
With 10 years of experience in automotive homologation, his main area of expertise is active and general safety.
Prior to joining Koenigsegg Automotive AB, he worked at Ford Motor Company from 2012 to 2017 and from 2017 to 2020, he worked at Daimler AG. He worked on various projects covering component, system and vehicle level homologation. He was also the President of GRRF (Braking and Running Gear), former subsidiary body to WP.29, for Turkish Ministry of Industry and Technology from 2014 to 2017.
Kuthan was born and raised in Istanbul, Turkey. He obtained his Bachelor of Science in Thermal Fluids Engineering in Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Massachusetts, USA, in 2010.
He is married and has a 6 year old daughter.
Martin Steinbach
As the Head of Homologation for Wiesmann, Martin Steinbach was President of ESCA from 2019-20.
