GM V.Chairman and chief tech officer Tom Stephens will retire in April, one of two key GM executives announcing their departure.
The last of General Motors’ old guard is stepping down, Chief Technology Officer Tom Stephens announcing he’ll retire in April. But the American giant is also losing the head of its strong South Korean unit, Mike Arcamone revealing he will leave the auto industry for a new career in aerospace.
The departure of GM Vice Chairman Stephens is no surprise, considering he spent 43 years with the Detroit maker. Stephens was the only senior executive left at GM from the ranks of top managers in place prior to the company’s 2009 bankruptcy.
The 63-year-old Stephens had served in a variety of roles since joining GM as a co-op student in 1969. He was considered a driving force behind a variety of engineering changes at the maker, including one of GM’s first serious efforts to introduce lean manufacturing at a Cadillac engine plant in the mid-1980s.
Mike Arcamone shown with the Chevy Spark.
“Tom Stephens is an engineering icon within our company and within our industry,” said GM Chairman and CEO Dan Akerson. “We have all benefited greatly from his passion, wisdom, and commitment to product excellence. His talent and contributions to GM are deeply appreciated and his expertise will be missed.”
Physically towering over most of his corporate colleagues, Stephens can claim to have put in time at virtually every GM division, including Cadillac, Buick and the long-gone Oldsmobile, as well as GM’s Powertrain Division. He served briefly as global product development chief following the departure of former GM Vice Chairman Bob Lutz two years ago. But Stephens was in that job barely a year before being re-positioned as the maker’s technology chief.
Significantly, he helped the maker smooth the transition from traditional to advanced powertrain technology. Stephens oversaw the development of Cadillac’s well-regarded Northstar V-8. More recently, he was the overseer during development of the Voltec plug-in hybrid drivetrain used in the Chevrolet Volt.
His post-GM dance card is already quite full, Stephens serving on the Engineering Advisory Council for the University of Michigan School of Engineering, serving as a board member for the First Robotics Foundations, and sitting on the board of the Detroit Science Center. He was elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 2007.
As for Mike Arcamone, a native of Quebec, he’ll be even more active after leaving GM, serving as president of Bombardier Commercial Aircraft division of Canada’s Bombardier.
“He brings a unique background of international experience to our team,” said Guy C. Hachey, president and COO of Bombardier Aerospace. “His hands-on leadership approach and wealth of experience in operations and program management will benefit our Commercial Aircraft business unit.”
The move was not entirely a surprise, with widespread speculation in the industry that Arcamone has been displayed by moves to shift some production out of Korea – which had been serving as GM’s global small car production center.
Last year, production of the old Chevrolet Aveo – newly renamed the Sonic — was moved from Korea to a plant in the Detroit suburbs. But industry insiders say additional products could be shifted to Europe as part of a deal between GM and German unions intended as a quid pro quo for much-needed cost-cutting efforts.