New Product Development Chief At GM

(Detroit WWJ/AP) General Motors, which has been bringing in a lot of insiders for top jobs lately, has promoted a long time insider to lead its product development team.

Mary Barra, who had recently been in charge of human resources, will take over for Tom Stephens, who was recently moved to the newly created job of chief technology officer. 

Barra, who has a long engineering background, will be responsible for updating the GM products that are now in the marketplace, many of which were developed under auto industry legend Bob Lutz, who retired last year.  The appointment is effective February first.

"Mary will bring a fresh perspective to the critically important job of developing vehicles that delight global customers," said Dan Akerson, GM Chairman and CEO, in a statement released by the company. "Her broad experience in engineering, manufacturing and staff functions, combined with the ability to collaborate and build strong relationships will enhance the company's ability to deliver the products today's consumers demand."

Akerson has said he wants to speed up product development to better compete in global auto markets. He says the company lost a year of vehicle development while it was in bankruptcy protection.

While it's unusual to move an executive from human resources into product development, IHS Automotive director of global forecasting Mike Robinet says Barra has a strong manufacturing and engineering background that will serve her well.

"There's no doubt that to be effective in this position, you really need a strong background in both engineering and manufacturing, to fully understand how these vehicles will come to market, how they'll be produced, how to do that more efficiently, but also to meet how they will meet what customers really require."

Barra's resume includes time as plant manager of GM's Detroit Hamtramck Assembly Plant as well as executive director of Competitive Operations Engineering and general director of Internal Communications for GM North America.    

In her new position, Barra will manage global vehicle development for GM's 11 worldwide brands.  She's been with the company for 30 years.

"Knowing that today's global customer expects even more from their GM vehicle means we have to work harder than ever to exceed those expectations," said Barra, in a GM statement. "I'm excited by the opportunity associated with this new challenge and pleased to be joining such a strong team with deep technical knowledge and experience."

Since General Motors emerged from bankruptcy it has brought in a number of outsiders for high profile jobs, including Hyundai veteran Joel Ewanick to head global marketing, and Microsoft executive Chris Liddell as Chief Financial Officer.  But, industry observers say product development requires somebody with an intimate knowledge of the organization. 

"There's no doubt going forward that General Motors is going to need capable people that have a wealth of experiences in the organization whether it be from manufacturing or engineering--or even other aspects of the organization--to move the product plan forward," said IHS Automotive's Robinet.  "So certainly someone who can bring everybody together and get them moving in the right direction is going to be a plus."