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Automation of cruises, GM's auto subsidiary has a new CEO.
The autonomous vehicle company, acquired by GM in 2016 and now a subsidiary of GM Cruise, hired Dan Ammann as CEO. Ammann will step down as GM president, a position he has held since January 2014.
Kyle Vogt, A co-founder of Cruise, who was CEO and also head of technology, remains with the company. Vogt will now become President and CTO. The amendments come into effect on January 1, 2019.
The management shift is logical for Cruise, which has grown from a small company of 40 employees to more than 1,000 today at its San Francisco headquarters. And it continues to grow as the company prepares to launch a robotaxi commercial venture in 2019.
Cruise recently announced plans to open an office in Seattle and install there up to 200 engineers. And with the recent investments of SoftBank and Honda, which brought the value of Cruise to $ 14.6 billion, the fleet should be even bigger. Vogt can focus on technology and Ammann can develop and manage the business.
Ammann was at the center of GM's initial investment and acquisition of Cruise. He oversaw GM's relationship with Cruise. And this is a person with whom Vogt has regular contact, which he mentioned when he was on stage at SF Disrupt in September.
Ammann also comes with a specific skill set. When Ammann joined GM in 2010 as Vice President Finance and Treasurer, his first task was to handle GM's initial public offering. This could signal a future relocation of the company.
"Dan has been my partner since the initial investment of General Motors in Cruise and I am delighted that he has agreed to join us full time," said Vogt. "With his deep understanding of our mission and operational expertise, Dan is the perfect partner to bring Cruise to commercial deployment."
"I am delighted to devote 100% of my time and energy to helping Kyle and the entire team accomplish our mission of deploying this technology on a large scale," Ammann said in a statement sent to TechCrunch.
GM's global regions and GM Financial will now report directly to Mary Barra, President and CEO of GM .
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