GM long-time manufacturing lead to retire, new head of software leaves for health reasons

Two prominent General Motors Co. executives are leaving the automaker — Gerald Johnson is retiring after a 44-year career in manufacturing and labor and Mike Abbott will depart for health reasons after less than a year leading the company's software team, GM said late Tuesday.

Johnson will be replaced by Jens Peter (JP) Clausen, who is coming from Google and has experience in global manufacturing, product engineering and scaling operations, including heading EV propulsion systems at competitor Tesla Inc.'s Gigafactory 1. He most recently worked at Google Data Centers as vice president of engineering.

GM said Abbott "will be leaving GM to care for his health." The automaker hired the former Apple leader last May to lead the company's software team. Since his arrival "he has led significant advancements in the company’s approach to software design, development, execution and quality testing," GM said. He also expanded the automaker's software team by recruiting leaders with backgrounds from Amazon, Apple, Google, Meta and Microsoft.

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CEO Mary Barra said Abbott's "contributions have been invaluable, and I look forward to him remaining part of the GM family as an advisor to me when his health permits. I also have the utmost trust in the strong bench of leaders in place. His recovery is the priority, and we wish him well."

Abbott's departure comes as GM is just getting through some software quality issues that led to stop sales on some products, and as the company works on its software and services strategy.

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Baris Cetinok, currently GM's vice president of product in software and services, was named interim head of the department while GM conducts a hiring search.

Johnson will remain at GM through the end of the year and work in partnership with Clausen for a smooth transition. GM called Johnson's leadership "pivotal in effecting a major cultural transformation that underscored leadership, process discipline, continuous improvement and waste elimination."

In a statement, Barra said the company is "immensely grateful" for his time at GM, adding: “Gerald’s leadership, vision and relentless pursuit of excellence in manufacturing have left an indelible mark on GM. His impactful journey from joining the Fisher Body Plant in Euclid, Ohio, to his integral role in GM’s COVID-19 emergency response, is a testament to his unwavering commitment and dedication."

khall@detroitnews.com

@bykaleahall