GM Announces New Senior VP for Global Product Development

Continuing its slew of announcements, General Motors named a new senior vice president of global product development on Thursday. The automaker appointed Mary Barra to the post.

Barra was most recently vice president of global human resources, a post in which she began in 2009. Her position prior to that was as GM’s vice president of global manufacturing engineering.

In her new post — which she will begin Feb. 1 — Barra is tasked with heading up the product development organization, which handles the automaker’s vehicle program throughout the world.

Barra’s team also is charged with leading global strategic product alliances.

She will also be a member of GM’s executive committee. Barra will report to GM chairman and chief executive officer Dan Akerson.

“Mary will bring a fresh perspective to the critically important job of developing vehicles that delight global customers,” Akerson noted.

“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,” he added.

Discussing her background in more detail, officials said Barra’s experience also includes a few engineering and staff roles. The positions included her serving as manager of the Detroit Hamtramck Assembly Plant, executive director of competitive operations engineering and as GM North America’s general director of internal communications.

Her career with GM goes back more than 30 years. Barra became a GM Institute (Kettering University) co-op student in the Pontiac Motor Division in 1980, and would eventually earn a GM fellowship to the Stanford Graduate School of Business eight years later.

“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,” Barra stated.