General Motors unveiled a new management shakeup Friday that gives one of the company’s pillars, Bob Lutz, a new role in the government-backed automaker and confirms a new head for GM Europe.
Ed Whitacre, the GM chairman who also assumed the title of executive this week, said that Lutz would remain vice chairman and will act as advisor on design and global product development.
The key leadership changes were being taken “to improve accountability and responsibility for market performance,” GM said in a statement.
Lutz, a former executive at Ford and Chrysler, had postponed his planned retirement this year in an apparent bid to maintain continuity at the largest US automaker, which emerged in July from bankruptcy protection.
“I want to give people more responsibility and authority deeper in the organization and then hold them accountable,” Whitacre said in the statement.
Among the key promotions was Mark Reuss named president of GM North America. Reuss was briefly vice president of engineering after leading GM’s Holden operations in Australia in 2008.
Nick Reilly, who has been spearheading the Opel/Vauxhall restructuring efforts in Europe and was chief of international operations, was named president of GM Europe.
Tim Lee was made president of GM International Operations, overseeing Asia-Pacific, Latin America, Africa, and Middle East operations. He most recently was group vice president of manufacturing and labor relations.
Chief financial officer Ray Young will remain in the job, the company said.
The US government — which has provided some 50 billion dollars in financing to the struggling company — received a 60.8 percent stake in the new firm called General Motors Company.
Canada, which provided 9.1 billion dollars in loans, has an 11.7 percent stake and a United Auto Workers union retiree healthcare trust fund holds 17.5 percent.
