As many expected, GM old stager and safe pair of hands Nick Reilly has been named as acting head of GM’s Opel/Vauxhall operations following the departure of Carl-Peter Forster. An external search for a new CEO for Opel/Vauxhall continues, GM said.
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Reilly’s new responsibilities begin immediately.
GM said that Reilly, with extensive prior experience in Europe with the Opel and Vauxhall brands, will support the European leadership team in running the business and will ‘oversee the creation of a strategy to position Opel/Vauxhall for long-term success’.
Reilly will also maintain overall direction of GM’s International Operations based in Shanghai, China, but day-to-day operations of the various international subsidiaries in his organisation will be handled by the respective country managing directors while he serves in Europe.
“As we announced last Tuesday, Opel/Vauxhall will remain a fully integrated member of the New GM family, a decision that is in the best interests of Opel/Vauxhall, its customers, employees, other stakeholders and GM,” said Fritz Henderson, GM president and CEO.
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By GlobalData“With his deep experience with the Opel and Vauxhall brands, Nick is well suited to lead this transition and to work toward the earliest possible normalisation of the business.”
Biography of David N. (Nick) Reilly
GM Executive Vice President, President, GM International Operations
Nick Reilly was appointed GM executive vice president and president of GM International Operations (GMIO), effective July 10, 2009. Based in Shanghai, China, he is also chairman of both the GM Daewoo Auto and Technology Company (GMDAT) and Shanghai GM (SGM).
Reilly had served as GM group vice president and president of GM Asia Pacific since July 1, 2006.
Reilly began his GM career in 1975 with the former Detroit Diesel Allison Division in the United Kingdom. From 1978 to 1984, he held various assignments with General Motors in Belgium, the United States, and Mexico.
Returning to England, he moved to Vauxhall Motors as general operations manager, aftersales. He later held the post of Vauxhall supply manager and was appointed a director of the company in 1986.
In 1987, Reilly was named vice president of operations and a member of the board of directors of GM’s IBC vehicle joint venture with Isuzu in Luton, England. In 1990, he was appointed director of manufacturing at Vauxhall’s Ellesmere Port plant. Four years later, he became vice president of quality and reliability for General Motors Europe in Zurich, Switzerland, and a member of the GM Europe Strategy Board.
He returned to the U.K. in 1996 as chairman and managing director of Vauxhall and, in 1997, was named a GM vice president. In 2001, Reilly returned to Zurich, Switzerland, as vice president of sales, marketing, and aftersales for GM Europe, from where he transferred to Korea to lead GM’s transition team in the formation of GM Daewoo, beginning in January 2002. He assumed the duties of president and chief executive officer of GMDAT upon the company’s founding in October 2002.
A native of the United Kingdom, Reilly is a graduate of Cambridge University. In 2000, he was appointed as a Commander of the British Empire (CBE) in recognition of his contribution to the UK automotive industry. He has advised the U.K. government in the fields of vocational training and integrated transport. He received the Global CEO Grand Prize 2006 from the Korean Academy of International Business.
Reilly serves as deputy chairman of the Seoul International Business Advisory Council (SIBAC), is past chairman of the U.S. National Center for Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (NCAPEC), and is a member of the U.S. APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC).
