GM names Stracke to succeed Reilly as CEO of Opel/Vauxhall

General Motors on Thursday named global engineering chief Karl-Friedrich Stracke to replace Nick Reilly as CEO of its money-losing Opel/Vauxhall unit, effective April 1.

Stracke will report to Reilly, 61, who continues as the head of GM's European operations and will be nominated to chair the Opel supervisory board. Stracke, a German native, has led GM's global vehicle engineering operations for the past 15 months.

GM said its latest management shift adds strength to GM Europe, the automaker's only unprofitable division in 2010.

"The European market and our European operations are important to General Motors, and these moves will ensure that we have the best leadership in place as we continue toward growth and profitability," GM CEO Dan Akerson said in a statement.

Stracke, 55, will be replaced in the global engineering role by John Calabrese, executive director of global vehicle engineering. Calabrese joined GM in 1981. He has held several key leadership positions in GM's global engineering operations.

GM veteran

Stracke is a 32-year veteran of GM. He joins Opel/Vauxhall as the division seeks to return to profitability after reducing capacity by a fifth and cutting about 8,000 of its 48,000 workforce.

GM lost $1.76 billion in Europe in 2010. GM has said that it expects GM Europe to break even this year, before restructuring costs.

The change restores elements of GM's top management structure in Europe prior to GM's 2009 bankruptcy. Previously, the chairman of Opel's management board in Russelsheim reported to the president of GM Europe, based in Zurich, Switzerland. The head of Opel had focused mainly on German operations.

Reilly will also continue to oversee Chevrolet and Cadillac in Europe, in addition to serving on the Opel supervisory board. Reilly joined GM Europe in November 2009 after running GM's international operations based in China for three years.

"I will be staying in Ruesselsheim," Reilly said during a conference call Thursday. "As he (Stracke) gets his feet on the ground more, it will allow me some more time to look at the long-term strategic positioning in Europe."

Stracke is a mechanical engineer and joined Opel in 1979. He rose through several engineering positions to head Opel's plant in Bochum, Germany, from 1995 until 1999.

Later he was a director of product development at GM's technical development center in Russelsheim, Germany, then held several executive director positions in engineering in Germany and the U.S. before being appointed head of global vehicle engineering, in December 2009.

The moves add to a series of management changes at GM.

Last week, GM named Dan Ammann to succeed CFO Chris Liddell, who is leaving the company 15 months after joining from Microsoft Corp.

In January, product czar Tom Stephens was moved to the job of global chief technology officer and was replaced by human resources executive Mary Barra.

Jamie Hresko, GM's global powertrain chief, left two weeks ago. The marketing department has had multiple shakeups, including the December elevation of Joel Ewanick to global marketing chief.

By Paul McVeigh- Automotive News Europe