GM Reorganization in Europe
GM Announces Management Moves, Reorganization in Europe
Streamlined Operations to Lead to More Efficiency,
Further Growth for GM Brands
ZURICH, Switzerland, June 18 -- General Motors will reorganize its European
operations to simplify the company's structure, speed decision-making and
support functional excellence within GM. The restructured organization will
operate more efficiently, enable its brands to expand their market position, and
become more customer-focused.
To help drive the organization to operate more effectively, the following
senior executive changes were announced, effective immediately: Fritz
Henderson is named chairman of GM Europe; Carl-Peter Forster is named
president of GME, reporting to Henderson; and Hans Demant, in addition to
retaining his responsibilities as vice president of engineering for GME,
succeeds Forster as managing director of Adam Opel AG. Forster also was named
chairman of the Opel Supervisory Board, replacing Hans Barth, who remains on
the board.
'These executive moves are an important element of our reorganization in
Europe,' GM Chairman and CEO Rick Wagoner said. 'Fritz will continue to be
responsible for all operations within the region. Carl-Peter's well-proven
product capabilities will be a key asset in a fully aligned and integrated
organization. As we move to an even more product-focused organization, Hans
Demant, as the head of product development in Europe, is the natural choice as
managing director for Opel.
'At General Motors, truly performing as 'one company' is key to our future
success. We have a distinct advantage because of our size, if we use it
properly. Today, we are formalizing a single operating culture in Europe that
will pull all the units of GM Europe in the same direction, leveraging the
vast resources of the global GM family.'
Henderson met with employees across Europe in a satellite broadcast to
explain the organizational moves and the company's future direction.
'Today we're asking all of our European employees to recalibrate
themselves to a mindset of working for General Motors overall, instead of an
individual brand or country operation,' Henderson said. 'While maintaining
brand character and integrity is vital, working together as one team is
equally critical to future success. These are not mutually exclusive goals.'
Forster added: 'In today's competitive automotive climate here in Europe
-- and around the world, for that matter -- we must avoid duplicative or
'isolated' operations that don't capitalize on opportunities that exist by
working within the overall GM system. We will grow the Opel, Vauxhall and
Saab brands going forward. But we will do so using all of the resources here
in Europe and throughout GM.'
Under the new operating philosophy, the functional departments -- finance,
engineering, purchasing, manufacturing, sales/marketing and aftersales,
product planning, quality, human resources, legal and communications -- become
pan-European organizations, with each leader charged with significantly
improving the effectiveness of the function throughout Europe.
Tim Lee, GME vice president, manufacturing; Jamal El-Hout, vice president,
planning; Roger Johansson, vice president, purchasing; Peter Dersley, vice
president, quality; and Demant will report to Forster, as will Peter
Augustsson at Saab Automobile AB in Sweden and Kevin Wale at Vauxhall Motors
Ltd. in the United Kingdom. Augustsson and Wale are charged with aligning
their organizations to the GME functions.
'I'm looking forward to working in my expanded role within the new
operating structure that we announced today,' Demant said. 'It will allow us
and me personally to nurture the Opel brand and products to the benefit of our
customers.'
'Employees and their representatives have high expectations in the new
leadership team, and proceed on the assumption that this team will continue on
the path to success,' added Klaus Franz, co-chairman of the European Employee
Forum.
The importance of design will be further emphasized by creating a single,
pan-European design organization that functionally aligns today's Opel and
Saab design activities, as well as advanced vehicle design. Bryan Nesbitt
will lead that organization, reporting directly to the GME president.
Previously, design reported into engineering.
'Today's announcements are not about cutting our way to prosperity, or
diminishing the importance of individual brands, but rather about being able
to introduce products that are consistent with the individual brand character,
without having to start from a clean sheet of paper for each and every
component, each and every time,' said Bob Lutz, GM vice chairman of product
development, and former interim president of GM Europe.
'We need to be better represented in the newer product niches, such as
crossover vehicles and SUVs,' Lutz said. 'To do that, we need to become more
effective at spending our capital on product programs. Furthermore, this
organizational alignment helps us build a global environment that allows the
rest of the world to capitalize on the skills and expertise here in Europe,
whether that expertise lies in Germany, Sweden, the U.K. or any other
country.'
Lutz cited one of the first examples of GM's global vision: Engineers in
Russelsheim, Germany, will have the lead for developing the next generation
Epsilon architecture. They will be responsible for the basic engineering of
the architecture and shared components. Each affected region and brand
provides vehicle parameters to ensure the architecture has the capability to
be differentiated for individual brand and regional needs. Jon Lauckner,
formerly the vehicle line executive for the new Opel/Vauxhall Astra, is named
global vehicle line executive in charge of the Epsilon II, as it is being
called internally.
In addition to Forster, Human Resources, Finance, Sales/Marketing and
Aftersales, Information Systems, Legal, Communications, the Fiat/GM Powertrain
and other Fiat-related activities will report to Henderson. Also, to provide
for continued focus on the high-growth potential, New Business Development for
Central and Eastern Europe will be directed by Henderson.
General Motors Corp. (NYSE: GM), the world's largest vehicle manufacturer,
employs about 325,000 people globally. Founded in 1908, GM has been the
global automotive sales leader since 1931. GM today has manufacturing
operations in 32 countries and its vehicles are sold in 192 countries. In
2003, GM sold nearly 8.6 million cars and trucks, about 15 percent of the
global vehicle market. GM's global headquarters are at the GM Renaissance
Center in Detroit. More information on GM and its products can be found on
the company's corporate website at http://www.gm.com.
SOURCE General Motors Corporation
-0- 06/18/2004 P
/NOTE TO EDITORS: For additional media information, visit
http://media.gm.com ./
/CONTACT: Tony Cervone, cell, +41-79-799-1979, or tony.cervone@ch.gm.com,
or Stefan Weinmann, cell, +41-79-401-3545, or stefan.weinmann@ch.gm.com, both
of General Motors/
/Web site: http://media.gm.com
http://www.gm.com /
(GM)
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