US-based carmaker General Motors (GM) has appointed John Du, director of GM China Advanced Technical Centre, to an investment manager role at its corporate venturing subsidiary, GM Ventures.
Du was a general manager at chipmaker Intel’s China-based research centre for nearly four years from 2005 before joining GM’s research and development centre in Shanghai in 2009 and ascending to chief technologist at GM China in mid-2019.
Jon Lauckner, chief technical officer of GM and president of GM Ventures, told Global Corporate Venturing: “We made an arrangement with GM China leadership to define two specific roles for John.
“The first role is an investment manager for GM Ventures, responsible for evaluating investments in early-stage startup companies with a special focus on China.
“In the second role, John will be the chief technologist for China [where he] will provide support to the president of GM China on technical topics that pertain to the China automotive landscape and their impact on GM China.”
His new position will entail Du linking GM China’s technical priorities with GM Ventures’ investment opportunities. The unit’s portfolio includes China-based Yi Wei Xing, which operates a car sharing platform called Feezu (Weizuche).
Photo of John Du courtesy of General Motors.
