General Motors said today that it will reduce, from three to one, the number of people in charge of each individual vehicle development program.The move, which eliminates 20 executive positions throughout the world, is part of the automaker's continuous effort to reduce its once-legendary corporate bureaucracy and speed product development.As part of the reorganization, GM appointed a former Chevrolet Volt product leader as a as vice president of product programs, a new role created to oversee GM's vehicle program leaders.Doug Parks, formerly global vehicle line executive and global vehicle chief executive for electric cars, which included the Volt, was appointed to the new post.Mary Barra, GM's senior vice president of global product development, ordered the reorganization. Each vehicle development program previously had three leaders: an executive, director and engineer. Now, those three roles will be consolidated into one: executive chief engineer. GM's so-called "vehicle lines" can include more than one vehicle, often grouped together by size or technology.All of the executive chief engineers will report to Parks, who reports to Barra, starting Aug. 1. "The realignment reduces complexity and drives single-point accountability for the execution of our vehicle programs," Barra said in a statement. "These changes allow the vehicle teams to focus on what they do best - develop industry-leading cars, trucks and crossovers that delight customers and deliver solid profit margins."GM is not laying off any executives as part of the reorganization, spokesman Klaus-Peter Martin said.Contact: Nathan Bomey at 313-223-4743 or
nbomey@freepress.com. On Twitter, follow @NathanBomey or @freepautos.
More...
