Dan Ammann is stepping down as CEO of the GM-backed autonomous vehicle startup company, Cruise. General Motors said that Ammann’s departure coincides with plans to accelerate its autonomous vehicle strategy, which were laid out at the recent Investor Day event and places Cruise central stage as GM’s autonomous vehicle platform.
According to a report from Automotive News, Cruise president and chief technical officer Kyle Vogt will take over as the company head, at least for now. Although General Motors announced that Ammann would be leaving the San Francisco-based autonomous vehicle startup, it did not detail the why behind his departure, or whether Ammann had accepted a position at another company.
Prior to serving as CEO at Cruise, Ammann served as president at General Motors, a position he held between January of 2014 and January of 2019. Ammann launched his career at GM in 2010 as treasurer, joining the company after a career as an investment banker with Credit Suisse and Morgan Stanley. As treasurer at General Motors, Ammann helped to manage GM’s IPO following the company’s bankruptcy restructuring. Ammann later became GM CFO in 2011, and also led GM Financial, as well as served as GM executive vice president.
Back in January of 2020, Ammann helped to debut Cruise Origin, GM’s first all-electric self-driving vehicle. At the time, the former Cruise CEO called Origin “our answer to the question about what transportation system you’d build if you could start from scratch.”
Ammann’s resignation is the second high-profile departure GM has announced this week, with GM innovation head Pam Fletcher recently announcing a move to Delta as the airlines’ new chief sustainability officer, effective February 1st.
Earlier in October, Cruise was given a permit that enables the technology startup to offer driverless rides to passengers in certain areas of San Francisco. The rides are capped at a maximum speed of 30 mph, while an additional permit is required if Cruise is to begin charging a fee for the rides.
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Comments
This is really a surprising departure… I wonder where Dan will end up?
i’d be more worried why he is leaving in the first place when (according to gm) cruise is on the eve of garnering $50 billion in revenues.
gm’s shares are down almost 5% on the news. i can guess what wall street thinks.
He’s leaving because this is what these corporate a holes do. They work this, they work that. No loyalty no passion, no soul, it’s all about the money
The announcement does not suggest a voluntary resignation, there must be something serious.
$50 Billion in revenues is a fantasy. GM will be lucky to garner 1/50th of this. Cruise is a solution to a need that does exist. I’ve always thought Cruise and other self-driving ventures are fool’s gold. Perhaps Ammann sees this writing on the wall.
You must not be an insider Donavan. People who know about stocks have know this for weeks.
Not an insider and did not see this coming…
Judging from the tone of the announcement, it seems that Dan was fired…
I’m wondering if there are any ethic issues that trigger this.
Regardless of the reason, this is a big blow to Cruise and GM.
He was fired because he wasn’t penny pinching enough. Anyone with common sense knows gm is big on the penny pinching.
Ya, it sounds like he was fired, and they added a new board member to Cruise, so it could be Dan did not agree with GM’s strategy to keep cruise under GM. Many Wall Street analysts want GM to spin Cruise off of GM to increase the value.
Maybe Dan was focusing too much on product and not enough on being Woke.
None of you know anything about why he left, but it makes you feel like a “somebody” to pretend that you do – lol
Are you feeling superior enough now?
Yes, I find many commenters amusing in their ignorance and arrogance. Like they know.
I find it amusing it bothers you what complete strangers say.
I didn’t say it bothers me, those are your words. I said I find it amusing, just like I find it amusing that what I say bothers you 😉
It bothered you enough to make a statement about it. 😉
Rats jumping ship?
It’s fun (and concerning) to speculate on the departure.
>>Comp- anies like orderly movement of top execs – to do otherwise shows disorder, which does not reflect well on an organization.
>>On the other hand…perhaps GM is preparing a major shift of Cruise, from development, to operation, and Amman will show up at GM HQ. But, I think that’s unlikely – GM would want to show orderly transition and not feed speculation and uncertainty.
>>The lack of reasons for the departure could be a harassment issue, not something any party wants to shine a light on – everyone would want a quiet departure.
I’ve not heard anything good about Kyle Vogt’s leadership. So, Amman’s departure, leaving Vogt in charge, might not be good.
Bottom-line – a time of transition for Cruise both in terms of the tech, regulatory oversight, and management. We’ll see where the dust settles. Fingers-crossed this will all work out and we’ll be riding in Cruise vehicles soon, the sooner the better. Everyone will benefit from
>>The lack of reasons for the departure could be a harassment issue
That’s my guess as well, which explains the tight lips. However for GM investors, transparency is the key. This triggers a lot of unhealthy speculation.
There is no reason for Dan to jump ship at this point as Cruise is so close to the commercialization. GM will have no choice but to spin off Cruise eventually if the business is successful, so I don’t think GM’s current statement of not pursuing IPO is the reason for Dan to leave.
Kyle is the tech guy and the founder, I’ll be more worried if he decides to leave. That being said, Dan has been integral to Cruise’s overall growth strategy and he was particularly successful in getting the important partnerships so this is still a big loss from that perspective.
Ya, if Kyle left that would be bad… its his vision from the beginning.
I personally hope this venture fails. gm and other companies are pouring billions into something that a minute slice of the population has an interest in. gm would be much better off selling Cruise while the getting is good and pour more money into its core products.
Could be health issues.
Let’s face it- Ammann is a total a**hole. I think this is Reuss clearing the table of his competition when Mary packs it in.
Haha! I would not mind seeing Mark gone… He’s an old stooge, and all that is wrong with GM. They have many younger and more talented executives that Mark is blocking…
Wrong
Anyone at GM with half a clue would jump ship as long as Mary is at the helm.