General Motors Co. has announced a series of leadership changes to continue its evolution into a stronger, more customer-centric organization.
“We understand that we have to earn our customers’ trust and loyalty, and that every interaction matters,” CEO Mary Barra said. “The vehicle purchase is just the start. We intend to earn customers for life by delivering exceptional quality and customer care, and these changes put us on a path to achieving that.”
Alicia Boler-Davis, currently senior vice president, Global Quality and Customer Experience, is named senior vice president, Global Connected Customer Experience. In addition to her current customer experience responsibilities, she will assume responsibility for the Global Connected Consumer organization, which includes OnStar and its call centers. Under Boler-Davis’ leadership, GM has reshaped its global quality strategy, how the company interacts with its customers through call centers and social media, as well as the use of predictive tools and modeling. Aligning all customer-facing centers under single leadership will enable more consistent customer care and deliver improved efficiency. Boler-Davis will continue to report to Barra.
Grace Lieblein, currently vice president, Global Purchasing and Supply Chain, is named vice president, Global Quality and will report to Barra. Under Lieblein’s leadership, GM has set the foundation for more productive supplier relations, based on greater collaboration, dedication to quality fundamentals and a focus on mutual success, which has been recognized by the supplier community as a model for the industry. Lieblein has extensive experience in manufacturing, vehicle engineering, purchasing and global markets. With her diverse technical expertise, steeped with a customer-facing perspective, Lieblein is well-positioned to accelerate GM’s progress in vehicle quality.
Steve Kiefer, currently vice president, Global Powertrain, is named vice president, Global Purchasing and Supply Chain. Kiefer will report to Mark Reuss, executive vice president, Global Product Development, Purchasing and Supply Chain. He will continue to build on the progress Lieblein established with suppliers. Kiefer’s extensive leadership experience in the supplier community and strong technical expertise will be key as GM continues its efforts to reshape how the company and its suppliers work together, partner for mutual success, and deliver greater value to customers.
Dan Nicholson, currently executive director of Powertrain Embedded Controls, is promoted to Global Powertrain vice president, assuming Kiefer’s responsibility and reporting to Mark Reuss. Nicholson’s broad-range global experience in quality, powertrain development, engine calibration, and controller and software integration are especially valuable as embedded controls and software increasingly are being applied to sophisticated engine and drivetrain systems. A replacement for Nicholson’s current role will be named later.
Mary Chan, vice president, Global Connected Consumer, has elected to leave GM to pursue other opportunities, but will remain with the company through the first quarter of 2015 to assist with the transition and the 4G LTE production launch in China and Europe Under Chan’s leadership, GM has made landmark strides in vehicle connectivity, with the largest in-vehicle 4G LTE deployment to date in the industry. GM’s 4G LTE offer was recognized by Popular Science Magazine with its “Best of What’s New 2014” award.
“Strong brands, top quality and an unsurpassed overall customer experience are essential ingredients to winning in the ever-competitive auto business. And that’s what we intend to deliver to our customers,” Barra said. “As vehicles and mobile technology become increasingly integrated, GM’s focus is on delivering an exceptional fully connected vehicle.”
As the company pursues its efforts to become the most valued auto company in the industry, these moves fortify GM’s senior leadership team, adding further diversity in perspective and experiences. All of the leadership moves are effective immediately.