DETROIT — In a major leadership shift, General Motors revealed Thursday morning that vice chairman and chief financial officer Chris Liddell will step down from his post on April 1.

The automaker also announced that replacing Liddell as CFO will be Dan Ammann, who currently serves as the company's vice president, finance and treasurer.

Ammann assumes the CFO office on April 1.

When he leaves GM, Liddell will close a tenure lasting a little more than a year. Since he came aboard as GM's top financial boss in January 2010, Liddell has steered the automaker through what amounted to one of the heftiest initial public offerings ever and helped to shore up the company's finances.

During his time with the company, GM has maintained profits through four quarters. Furthermore, GM praised its departing CFO for guiding the company to a healthier balance sheet and helping it cut out "material weakness in the financial reporting process."

When asked on a conference call Thursday why he was leaving, Liddell said that he felt he accomplished what he set out to achieve at GM and that it was the perfect time. Liddell has been a CFO for several public companies and "enjoyed this one enormously." He noted on the call that he'd like to be a CFO again.

He also said he felt confident in having prepared Ammann for the new role.

"I really feel like I've achieved all I could achieve in the role, so it's a good time for me to step down to give someone else an opportunity to step up in particular for the next three, five (or) seven years," Liddell said.

Offering some commentary, GM chairman and chief executive officer Dan Akerson said: "Chris was a major contributor during a pivotal time in the company's history. He guided the company's IPO process and established a good financial foundation for the future."

Liddell added: "I came to General Motors to be part of something great. My objective was to help rebuild this iconic company and I am particularly pleased that through this process, we have also developed a strong successor in Dan Ammann."

Liddell said he doesn't have any specific plans for his next role, but mentioned that he has some ideas floating about.

During the call, Liddell stressed that there's no real "perfect" time to leave a position, but with what has been accomplished at GM, this was as good a time as any.

"There's never a perfect time to make transitions like this, but from my perspective, this is a good time for me both personally and professionally," he explained.

"Having said that, there's still a lot to do. But I genuinely believe this is a good time for the company. For me, I'm totally confident in the foundations that we've built, I'm entirely confident of the company and where it's going, and most importantly, I'm confident in the team, led by Dan Akerson," he added.

Moving along to discuss Ammann in more detail, officials noted that he came aboard in March 2010. Since that time, he has headed up the company's treasurer's office in New York. GM stressed that Ammann has been pivotal in new GM's financial decision-making and noted his engagement with setting financial strategy and trimming debt, as well as his involvement with the company's IPO.

"Dan's depth of knowledge of the financial community and our business will be instrumental as we continue to earn the trust of global investors and customers," Akerson emphasized. "He is held in high regard on Wall Street and within the company and, as we move our financial strategy forward, his credibility and leadership will be invaluable."

Before he joined the ranks at GM, Ammann worked at Morgan Stanley as managing director and head of industrials investment banking.

"We've made great strides this last year in setting the financial strategy for the company," said Ammann. "Chris and I have worked together very closely during this time and I am committed to a seamless transition and to building on what we started."

He added during the conference call that the "main heading" Ammann wanted to get across is that "absolutely more of the same" from GM's financial leadership can be expected going the same.

"And I think that's an important foundation for a smooth transition here," Ammann noted.