 Mr.
Schneider has been director
and Chief Executive Officer
of ZAP since October 26,
2002. In 2001, Mr. Schneider
founded Voltage Vehicles, a
fuel vehicle distributor
specializing in electric
vehicles and
full-performance alternative
fuel vehicles such as
automobiles, motorcycles,
and bicycles. He also
founded Auto Distributors,
Inc., which is the promotion
and distribution division of
Voltage Vehicles.
In 1996, Mr. Schneider
founded the RAP Group, an
automotive liquidator and
reseller. Both Voltage
Vehicles and the Rap Group
were acquired by ZAP in
2002. He presently serves on
the Advisory Board of
Directors to Apollo Energy
Systems, Inc. and serves as
a director of Rotoblock
Corporation, a public
company focused on the
continued development of the
oscillating piston engine.
Mr. Schneider served as
interim President of
Rotoblock from August to
November 2005.
With such a flair for
adventure, innovation and
independence, it's no
surprise that Steve
Schneider is the CEO for
what may be the most daring
automotive venture in
history. But his road to
becoming the top electric
car executive, setting up
auto dealerships for ZAP is
unique to say the least.
 Schneider
knows the auto dealer
business from the ground-up,
starting as a part-time
detailer in 1978, all the
way up to opening his own
dealership by 1989. As a
young man Schneider was
obsessed with cars, starting
with his first car, a
Renault Caravelle, which he
bought for $100 and restored
as a teenager.
As his first car, Schneider
became obsessed with
Renaults, so much so, he was
compelled to apply at his
local Renault dealership in
Santa Rosa where he got his
first job as a part-time
detailer. Schneider's charm
quickly endeared him with
the dealership staff and
when he reached legal age,
they tried him on the sales
floor and the rest is
history for the natural-born
salesman.
Why would Schneider pass up
other career paths or the
opportunity for a higher
education just so he could
sell Renaults? At the time
the Renault Caravelle, known
here as LeCar, had a cult
following, although many
experts called it one of the
worst cars in American
history. It was small,
cheap, had questionable
performance and quality, and
was considered by many as a
tough sell.
Despite this, Schneider
believed that smaller, more
efficient cars had a place
in society and he quickly
proved his natural ability
for sales, becoming one of
Renault's top sales
performers in the nation,
selling every Renault model
available in the US.
(Footnote: This was the
first, but by no means the
last, small car with which
he would become obsessed.)
But Schneider says the
attraction to small cars may
have been derived from a
unique perspective on life
engrained into him by his
parents.
Schneider was born in New
York with strong family ties
to the area. His mother and
father, worried about
raising two boys in an urban
environment, so far removed
from nature, moved with
Schneider and his younger
brother to a place about as
far as you can get from city
life.
They acquired some property
on the undeveloped island of
Roatan off the coast of
Honduras and went there to
raise the two boys.
Schneider said he was
literally cut off from
civilization, with no
running water, no
electricity, no television,
no radio, no roads and no
cars. One of his foremost
memories of that time was
that their family introduced
the first motor vehicle to
Roatan. The experience, to
say the least, left an
indelible mark on him,
allowing him a unique
appreciation of technology
and the environment.
Schneider's passion for
unusual vehicles ultimately
drew him on to other
automotive adventures. Next
stop was a sales position
with the local DeLorean
dealership, which was a hot
item in 1980. He spent a
couple years there, and his
interests in all sorts of
unusual and exotic cars
bloomed through owning and
selling DeLoreans.
But his next big break came
when he went to work for
Manly Honda, which in 1968
was the first dealership in
America to sell Honda
Automobiles. At the time,
Schneider says Honda was the
place to be and the key to
selling was not how much,
but how long you will have
to wait to get your car.
Schneider fit right in
selling Hondas and became
salesman of the year for the
dealership two years in a
row. It was there that he
got his first break in auto
dealership management, first
heading up sales management,
then financing, then finally
business manager of the
entire dealership, which
helped him learn about
parts, service, warranty and
all other aspects of the
auto dealer business.
Schneider tells a story of
how there was an original
Honda H1300 Sedan, the first
Honda sold in the US,
sitting in a corner of the
showroom. One day he asked
the dealership founder Bill
Manly about it and how he
came up with the brilliant
idea to take on the nation's
first Honda Dealership.
Manly responded that he
wasn't a car dealer at the
time, but a motorcycle
dealership. He said he had
been looking for something
new for his Honda Motorcycle
dealership and it turned out
that he was the only dealer
in the country who said yes
to taking on the cars.
Schneider said this taught
him an important lesson.
Sometimes the biggest
opportunities are hidden
right under your nose, but
you can only realize them
with hard work, being at the
right place at the right
time, and having the
willingness to try something
new.
After a lot of success in
the auto dealership
business, in 1989 Schneider
used his ability to excel in
financing to take his career
to the next level. That was
the year that he opened his
own independent auto
dealership, the Redwood Auto
Plaza. Also, he established
an auto distribution
business called Empire Auto
Brokers and The Repot Outlet
that turned into a very
lucrative niche business by
partnering with local banks
and credit unions.
It was during the mid-'90s,
after a great deal of
success in the auto dealer
market, that Schneider first
started leaning towards his
current line of work.
Schneider got his first
taste of automotive
marketing and distribution
when he met Martin Josephi,
the former President for
Volkswagen of Mexico. He
used the capital made during
his dealership career to
start remanufacturing and
distributing classic bugs
from Mexico in the United
States under the business
name BugWorld.
Again, here was a small,
strange-looking car, first
built in 1938, which still
enjoyed a huge following in
the United States. He said
BugWorld enjoyed a large
level of success throughout
the United States – except
for California. To this day,
Schneider still doesn't
understand what happened,
but the California Air
Resources Board, which has
broad powers in regulating
cars, essentially threw the
book at him. The small,
no-nonsense bug was perhaps
one of the lowest-emitting
vehicles on the road, yet
having the air regulators
come down on him so hard
told Schneider that powerful
forces had aligned to put
him out of business. "At
that point," he states with
emphasis, "I decided to
change sides."
This was when he first
started thinking seriously
about electric cars,
figuring if he took
emissions out of the
equation, there would be one
less regulation, one less
reason to fight city hall.
He started a new business
called Auto Distributors,
Inc. and Voltage Vehicles,
going around to every
electric vehicle company
that was in business at the
time and negotiating
exclusive distribution for
the auto dealer market. The
problem then was very few
companies had a reliable
supply of products. This was
about the time that he
teamed up with ZAP, a
fledgling alternative
transportation company that
had pioneered the market for
electric bicycles and
scooters. Little did he
realize when he signed up to
distribute ZAP vehicles to
auto dealerships that he
would one day become CEO for
the public company.
Schneider always had an
interest in the equities
market.
ZAP had fallen on hard times
in 1999 and 2000 with an
unexpected explosion in the
electric bike and scooter
market that saw exact
replicas of ZAP's patented
products coming from
offshore for a fraction of
the price. ZAP's management
scurried to restructure its
finances and reorganize its
business and found the
perfect solution in Steve
Schneider. Through his
various customers and
business connections, Steve
had experience with the
reorganization of public
companies. With Schneider's
help, ZAP merged with his
two automotive businesses,
came up with a whole new
business focus and recruited
a dynamic, new CEO to boot.
As a young CEO in the
exciting, emerging electric
vehicle market, he made a
dramatic impact on ZAP,
continuing the tradition of
fun, fuel-efficient
vehicles, only now with more
than just two wheels.
Scooters, bicycles and
mopeds are nice, but
Schneider added his passion
for automobiles to ZAP and
since then the focus has
been primarily on building
the electric car market. As
a pioneer in this field, ZAP
and CEO Schneider have tried
a variety of approaches, not
all of them successful, but
ZAP as a company has made
dramatic progress. His
experience with finance also
helped him negotiate a $425
million credit facility to
help with ZAP's automotive
distribution.
At one point, Schneider set
out to sell a European
micro-car that was not
available in the United
States, ultimately
pre-selling more than $2
billion worth. Without
support of the manufacturer,
the venture never made it
off the ground, but the
experience has proven to
Schneider that small cars
are still big. Most
recently, ZAP achieved an
important milestone that no
other car company has ever
achieved. ZAP is the first
US automotive company that
has imported a mass-produced
car from a Chinese automaker
designed for the US market.
And the best part is – it's
electric. The XEBRA sedan
and truck are helping ZAP
and Schneider build what
many are calling the auto
dealer network for the
future.
Expect to hear more from ZAP
and its fearless CEO Steve
Schneider. Schneider prides
himself in his many
connections in the auto
industry. His personality,
leadership, communications
skills and his negotiating
skills have been an
incredible asset to ZAP's
cause. This has propelled
ZAP into the limelight with
Schneider appearing in the
media around the world on
the likes of CNN, FOX, ABC,
CBS, NBC, CNBC, The Wall
Street Journal, USA Today,
Popular Science and hundreds
of other television and
radio programs as well as
articles and interviews in
newspapers and magazines. He
is an active member with
various industry groups,
including the Electric Drive
Transportation Association
in Washington, DC.
He sits on the Board of
Directors for Apollo Energy
Systems, a developer of fuel
cells and advanced
batteries. He continually
lectures with universities
and corporations on the auto
industry. He is a member of
the Bay Area's Alliance of
CEO's. Schneider says his
best asset is his ability to
forge strong business
relationships. Recently when
asked about the importance
of these relationships to
ZAP, he replied that they
were not only important for
ZAP, but also important for
the future of the auto
industry. With such a unique
perspective on the industry,
Schneider's words are not to
be taken lightly. |
"100
Years in the Making"
A
British National,
Albert Lam is a
veteran automotive
and technology
executive who joined
the ZAP Board of
Directors in October
of 2007 and stepped
down from his
position as CEO of
Lotus Engineering to
pursue new business
opportunities
between Lotus, its
parent company
Proton, and one of
its key clients in
China, Youngman
Automotive Group.
Mr. Lam was
responsible for
bringing Youngman,
ZAP and Lotus
Engineering together
for a joint venture
to develop,
manufacture and
market electric and
hybrid luxury
coaches, buses,
trucks and passenger
cars. Mr. Lam has
been named Chairman
of the Board and
Chief Executive
Officer Detroit
Electric. 
Mr.
Pang Qingian is the Chairman
of the China Youngman Group.
Youngman is a private
holding company with 12
subsidiaries. Youngman is
the supplier to NEOPLAN and
MAN, two of Europe's top
brands for luxury motor
coaches and high-quality
commercial trucking.
Youngman's partnership with
NEOPLAN in Germany controls
more than 70 percent of the
luxury motor coach market in
China. Over the past few
years Youngman has also
expanded sales in Asia
(Singapore, Hong Kong, Japan
and Malaysia), The Middle
East, Europe and the USA,
enjoying significant market
growth.