General Motors Names New President, Will Double Resources for EVs and Self-driving Cars

author: FutureCar Staff    

DETROIT — General Motors today announced the appointment of Mark Reuss as company president, effective immediately. Reuss currently leads the Global Product Group and Cadillac and will now assume responsibility for overseeing the GM's quality organization.

Reuss is taking over from Dan Ammann, who left his role in November 2018 to become the president of Cruise, GM's autonomous driving unit based in San Francisco.

"Mark's global operational experience, deep product knowledge and strong leadership will serve us well as we continue to strengthen our current business, take advantage of growth opportunities and further define the future of personal mobility," said GM Chairman and CEO Mary Barra. "Mark has played a critical role in leading the development of the company's award-winning vehicles while transitioning his team to prepare for growing electrification and autonomous technologies."

Reuss spent his entire career at the Detroit-based automaker, beginning as an intern in 1983. He is now following in the footsteps of his father Lloyd Reuss, who served as GM president from 1990 until his retirement in 1993.

According to Reuss, "I am very proud to have spent my entire career at General Motors, and to now take on this new role is truly a great honor. With our current lineup of outstanding cars, trucks and crossovers around the world, I'm looking forward to keeping our momentum going at full speed."

Since GM emerged from bankruptcy in 2009, Reuss has been credited with improving the overall quality of GM's vehicles with improved engineering and technology.

Reuss was appointed executive vice president for global product planning and Cadillac in June 2018, taking over from Johan de Nysschen, the former Audi and Infiniti leader that GM CEO Mary Barra hired in 2014 to lead a $12 billion makeover of Cadillac. Nysschen stepped down in April 2018.

One of first initiatives Reuss undertook at GM's luxury division was relocating Cadillac's headquarters back to Detroit from New York City, where it was headquartered since 2015. He also worked towards refreshing Cadillac's aging sedan lineup with new luxury compact crossovers and SUV models, a popular segment Cadillac has been lacking in.

Reuss added responsibilities for Cadillac and global portfolio planning in June 2018. Since then, he has been building an integrated product development and Cadillac organization to support an accelerated product and technology launch cycle and the brand's global growth plans.

Cadillac will be introducing a new vehicle every six months through 2021.

Reuss has also been leading the transformation of GM's global product development workforce and processes to drive world-class levels of engineering in advanced technologies and improve vehicle quality and speed to market of new models. He is doubling GM's resources allocated to electric and autonomous vehicle programs in the next two years.

By 2023, GM plans to offer at least 20 new fully-electric vehicles.

FutureCar Staff