GM Shuffles Global Product Team
GM reorganizes its global product team as the company tries to improve on its EV product portfolio.
General Motors shuffles its product development team heading into a year that should be critical to the company’s EV future.
The retirement of Doug Parks, GM executive vice president of global product development, purchasing and supply chain, seems to have opened up a few chairs for promotions and a rethink of how the automaker executes its global product strategy.
Ken Morris, currently vice president of global vehicle and propulsion teams, will be promoted to senior vice president for product programs, product safety and motorsports. Morris retains his current responsibilities leading global vehicle programs and will add global product safety, launch excellence and motorsports product development.
Josh Tavel, currently global vice president of customer care and aftersales, will be promoted to senior vice president of energy storage and propulsion, R&D and manufacturing engineering. This role will integrate GM's products and processes in key areas critical to accelerating the company's electrification strategy, including battery development and manufacturing engineering activities.
GM also announces leadership changes to increase collaboration across its global markets.
Rory Harvey, currently executive vice president and president of GM North America, will move to a newly created role as executive vice president and president of global markets. Harvey will work with the global regional teams to bring the right vehicles, software and technologies to customers around the world, GM says.
Marissa West, currently president and managing director of GM Canada, will join the global markets leadership team as senior vice president and president, GM North America, reporting to Harvey.
Parks closes a nearly 40-year career, having begun his career at GM in 1984, leading various engineering teams responsible for the development of dozens of vehicles across all GM brands and regions, including the foundation of its current-generation EVs.
Entering CEO Mary Barra’s 10th year as CEO, the second-longest tenured CEO in the automaker’s history, GM has slowed down its rollout of EVs as the industry works through a transition from internal-combustion vehicles to electrified vehicles. Consumer uptake of EVs is slowing as the industry, as well as state and federal governments, struggle to build out a reliable recharging infrastructure, and inflationary pricing keeps many consumers out of the new-car market altogether.
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