V-Vehicle, a US-based car maker backed by Google’s corporate venturing unit, has changed its name to Next Autoworks and hired turnround specialist Kathleen Ligocki as its chief executive (CEO).
Ligocki was previously executive president of car parts supplier Tower Automotive restructured and sold to Cerberus Capital Partner; CEO of GS Motors, the auto business of Mexican conglomerate Grupo Salinas (which Ligocki’s LinkedIn page described as a role to "save struggling startup automotive business saddled at time of hire with untenable business model"), and led several global divisions of Ford Motor Company.
She replaces Ray Lane, the interim CEO who will continue as chairman and a partner at venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers.
Lane sits on the board of more than 20 companies, including computer group Hewlett-Packard.
Kleiner Perkins, Google Ventures and angel investors previously invested more than $100m in Autoworks, according to news provider VentureWire quoting research groups Deloitte and Cleantech Group.