DETROIT _ General Motors is moving its No. 2 executive, company President Dan Ammann, to be CEO of its self-driving unit, GM Cruise, as it aggressively pushes to bring the robot cars to market next year.
Starting Jan. 1, Ammann, 46, takes the helm of Cruise. Cruise cofounder, Kyle Vogt, 33, stays to lead technology development as Cruise president and chief technology officer.
The move underscores that even as GM announced up to five plant closings in North America this week and about 14,000 hour and salary job cuts all by the end of next year to save it $6 billion by the end of 2020, its commitment to investing in electric and autonomous vehicle technology is unwavering.
The executive job shifts "demonstrate our commitment to transforming mobility through the safe deployment of self-driving technology and move us closer to our vision for a future with zero crashes, zero emissions and zero congestion," said GM Chairman and CEO Mary Barra in a statement. "As we move toward commercial deployment, adding Dan to the strong team led by Kyle is the next step."
Amman, who hails from New Zealand, joined GM in 2010 from Morgan Stanley. He managed GM's initial public offering after emerging from bankruptcy. In April 2011, he became GM's CFO. He has served as GM's president since 2014.
Buying robot cars
Amman was instrumental in GM's purchase of Cruise in 2016 and has overseen GM's relationship with Cruise ever since.
Cruise has rapidly expanded in the past 24 months. When GM bought it, 40 people worked there. Today, it employs 740, many of whom Ammann is familiar with as well as understanding its business operations and technology.
"I'm excited to dedicate 100 percent of my time and energy to helping Kyle and the entire team realize our mission of deploying this technology at scale," Ammann said in a statement.
Vogt said he's been working with Amman since 2016 and is "thrilled" Amman is joining Cruise full time to help Cruise commercially deploy the self-driving cars.
With Ammann's appointment, GM's global regions and GM Financial will now report directly to Mary Barra.
Growing the future
Amman has also been key in securing two recent big cash infusions that will help to accelerate GM's development of self-driving technology and get the robot cars to market in a commercial ride-sharing from next year.
In June, it announced a deal with SoftBank Vision Fund. SoftBank, a large Japanese technology investment company with stakes in such companies as Uber, will invest $2.25 billion in GM Cruise Holdings, and GM will invest $1.1 billion in GM Cruise.
Then in October, GM said it signed a deal to partner with Honda. Honda will contribute about $2 billion over 12 years to these goals. It will also finance a $750-million equity investment in Cruise, bringing its total commitment to the project to $2.75 billion.
The two deals bring the valuation of Cruise to $14.6 billion, Barra told reporters at the time.
GM Cruise is running neck-and-neck with Waymo, a subsidiary of Google, to be first to bring the robot car ride sharing to market. The two companies are considered the leaders in a crowded field, and San Francisco is the proving grounds to refine the technology.
The first Cruise AVs were Chevrolet Bolts, Chevrolet's all-electric vehicle, that used two Lidar sensors on the roof. Last year, GM Cruise built 130 of the second generation of its AVs that had a bigger suite of sensors. Then, last fall, it added another 50 of the cars. GM no longer calls them Bolts, but rather the Cruise AV, he said.
All the self-driving cars are electric and still have operating controls, such as a steering wheel and brakes. They are being tested mostly in San Francisco, with a handful deployed in Milford and the Phoenix area.
GM did offer a peak of what its prototype self-driving car in October, but said many questions, such as where it will first be deployed and which plant will build it remain undecided.
