Opel design boss dismissed

Newly appointed Opel design boss Dave Lyon has been dismissed by parent company General Motors, less than a week before he was set to take over the position at the company's troubled European subsidiary in Russelsheim, Germany.

Lyon, who was set to receive Opel's design operations from current boss Mark Adams on Aug. 1, was reportedly escorted from GM design headquarters in Michigan late last week under mysterious circumstances. He had headed the design team for Buick and GMC.

An internal e-mail sent to GM workers after the incident confirmed that Lyon had been dismissed.

A GM spokesman would not elaborate on the circumstances of the designer's departure to Autoweek: “Mr. Lyon resigned last week. We have no further details to provide.”

Adams, who has already taken design responsibility for Cadillac and Buick in Detroit, will now remain the boss of design at Opel until a replacement is found.

News of Lyon's firing comes just two weeks after Karl-Friedrich Stracke relinquished his role as chairman of Opel. GM also dismissed its global marketing boss, Joel Ewanick, last week, just two years after hiring him.

By Greg Kable