Julian Blissett, the previous head of GM China, has become a member of the Board of Directors at the Lear Corporation, a company that produces seating and other components for The General, a press release from Lear has announced.
Blissett, who spent 28 years at GM between 1996 and his retirement from the company in 2024, worked both as an engineer and in various international executive roles.
Lear’s board chairman Greg Smith says that “Julian’s extensive global experience, including two decades working in China, allows him to bring valuable strategic and operational insights to Lear.” Blissett, for his part, remarked that “Lear’s reputation for operational excellence and its forward-looking strategy set it apart in the automotive industry.”
The latest news from Lear is that its ComfortMax seating will appear in GM vehicles during the second quarter (Q2) of 2025. The seats are modular, use a sustainable “FlexAir” material, and provide heating or ventilation 40 percent faster than older, lower-tech heated and ventilated seats according to Lear. They are likely to appear in higher-end vehicles from The General, possibly including EVs such as the Escalade IQ, Vistiq, and Optiq from Cadillac.
Lear has already been supplying GM with seats for its EVs as well as other vehicles. The company leases the entire 684,000 square-foot floor space of the former Cadillac Stamping Plant in Detroit to make seats for the Chevy Silverado EV and other models, and is heavily involved in the complete design and engineering of General Motors vehicle seating.
Additionally, Lear is the exclusive supplier of Battery Disconnect Units (BDUs) for GM electric trucks and SUVs. The company also supplies two other key electrification technologies to The General. These include Intercell Connect Boards (ICB) which provide a framework uniting individual cells into a battery module, and wire harnesses for safe, efficient power distribution within an EV.
The state of Michigan approved construction of a battery disconnect unit factory in Independence Township, Michigan back in late 2022, with $6.4 million in incentives from the state and a $112.5 million capital investment from Lear itself.
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