Who's Where: John Puskar and Liz Wetzel appointed to new roles at GM Design

As part of an ongoing strategy at General Motors, this past month has seen a series of moves taking place within the company's design organization in Europe and the US. Two of the key changes have been the appointment of John Puskar to the role of Director of Cross-Brand Strategy, C&T and Components in North America, and that of Liz Wetzel, who has been named Director of GME Design Interior – effectively filling Puskar's role.

Puskar, who until recently headed the Opel/Vauxhall Interior Design at the European Design Center in Russelsheim, Germany, majored in Industrial Design at the Cleveland Institute of Art and worked at Ford in both the USA and Germany before joining General Motors as a creative designer at the GMC Brand Center in 1999. A year later, he became interior design manager of Full-Size Trucks for the Chevrolet, GMC and Cadillac brands. He was appointed interior design director Mid Size Trucks in 2004. Pushkar has supported interior development of models as the Cadillac XLR, Chevy Tahoe, GMC Yukon, Cadillac Escalade, and the Opel/Vauxhall Insignia as well as the latest Astra and Meriva.

Formerly in charge of Global Brand Design initiatives, Wetzel's mission was to crystallize the true essence of each brand and, together with a team of 10 young designers, helped define the core values of each brand under the GM umbrella.  A graduate of the University of Michigan School of Art and Design, Wetzel began her career in GM's Advanced Vehicle Engineering department, but soon moved into design, mostly with Cadillac. Under her leadership, the Seville and STS were awarded "Interior Design of the Year Award-Luxury Category" by Inside Automotives Magazine in both 1997 and 1998.  She rose to Vehicle Chief Designer in 1997, becoming the first female to ever hold that position at GM.

By Eric Gallina