Jon Lauckner, president of US-based automotive company General Motors’ corporate venturing unit, yesterday took on the additional responsibilities of chief technology officer and overall research and development of the US car manufacturer.
GM Ventures’ Lauckner takes over the technology officer role from Tom Stephens, who retires on April 1, and the research and development role from Alan Taub, who is also retiring.
Lauckner will continue to report to GM vice chairman Stephen Girsky. Girsky said: "Jon’s vast knowledge and experience in product development and engineering, combined with his ability to identify new and innovative external technology partners, make him a perfect fit for this critically important role. With both GM Ventures and Research and Development aligned under him, we will be more nimble and can move faster to integrate the latest and most-advanced technologies into our vehicles for the benefit of customers."
The expanded role comes after Lauckner took over responsibility for GM Ventures in July 2010.
Lauckner, a 54-year old, has been at GM since 1979, which he joined as a test engineer and has worked in positions in product engineering, powertrain engineering and product development, working in South America and Europe as well as the US.
Lauckner, in an interview published last month, said: "We are pushing the bow wave and have done as well or better than expected, with 12 portfolio companies and another six to close in the first quarter of 2012.
He added: "As we are doing interesting things with technology we are getting referrals from top-tier VCs. But success for us is still looking at what we do and how corporate venturing can change the trajectory of technology at GM in the next generation of autos over the three to five-year horizon."