GM’s Andersson May Chair GAZ Board

Former General Motors Corp. purchasing chief Bo Andersson, who resigned from the U.S. auto maker last week, is in line to become the new chairman of the board at Russian car builder OJSC GAZ.

In a statement today, GAZ says it has appointed Andersson the board’s chief consultant and advisor on engineering for now, but will seek to add him to the board by month’s end.

GAZ has a shareholders meeting set for June 29, at which time a new board of directors will be elected. But candidates for that election had to be submitted by Feb. 1, so shareholders will file a request for an extraordinary meeting to nominate Andersson as an addition to the slate.

GAZ says it needs Andersson’s expertise as it seeks to solve important restructuring problems, create a new model range, boost quality to international standards and improve key performance indicators.

In announcing Andersson’s resignation on Friday, GM indicated the 53-year-old executive already had a new job lined up. Speculation was he would land either at Saab Automobile, where he began his career, or at a high-level position at Adam Opel GmbH. GM is said to be close to selling Saab, and Opel tentatively is to be acquired by a consortium led by Magna International Inc.

GAZ will play a role if Magna concludes the deal to acquire Opel, serving as the newly constituted auto maker’s industrial partner in Russia. Plans include launch of an Opel Corsa-based entry-level car within about 24 months at GAZ operations in Nizhny Novgorod.

It is unclear whether Andersson also will play a role at Opel.