General Motors Announces Changes To GM China Executive Leadership

General Motors announced sweeping changes to its international executive leadership and communications team this week.

Matt Tsien, current executive vice president and president for GM China, has been appointed to the role of Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer. He replaces Jon Lauckner in the position, who recently made the decision to retire, effective July 1^st, 2020. Tsien, who has led GM’s Chinese operations since January 1^st, 2014, will report to GM President Mark Reuss in his new role.

Matt Tsien in 2016

Additionally, Julian Blissett, currently the senior vice president for GM International Operations will fill Tsien’s role as executive vice president and president for GM China. Blissett will also report to GM President Mark Reuss in the role. Steve Kiefer, president of GM International, will continue in his current role and will take on an expanded position heading the day-to-day operations of markets formerly handled by Blissett.

Elsewhere in the company, new hire Craig Buchholz will replace current senior vice president of GM Global Communications, Tony Cervone, who has also elected to retire on  July 1^st, 2020. Buchholz, current communications head for Proctor & Gamble, will report to GM Chairman and CEO Mary Barra in the role.

Craig Buchholz

In a statement, GM said Buchholz joins the company “with extensive experience managing complex communications environments in multi-brand organizations.”

“For the past six years, Buchholz has led P&G communications through a variety of challenging product and corporate issues,” the automaker also said of Bucholz. “Prior to P&G, he spent 20 years in the pharmaceutical world working in both agency and corporate environments, including with Merck, Johnson & Johnson and what is now Pfizer. In those companies, he held multiple leadership positions in corporate, internal and executive communications”

Barra thanked both Lauckner and Cervone for their “decades-long service to GM, and for the outstanding contributions they’ve made to the company,” and acknowledged the “significant roles” they played in positioning the company for long-term success.

GM recently made major changes to its international operations by axing the Holden brand in Australia and New Zealand and re-focusing its efforts on markets such as South America and Saudi Arabia.

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