GM taps Aurora co-founder for new chief product officer role

General Motors has turned to Sterling Anderson, a seasoned of the autonomous conveyance industry, to oversee its full merchandise enactment of gas-powered and electrical vehicles successful a recently created occupation that volition interaction astir each section astatine the U.S. automaker. The caller VP of planetary merchandise and main merchandise serviceman presumption volition screen the full lifecycle of GM portfolio and see hardware, software, services, and idiosyncratic experience.

Anderson, who volition study to GM President Mark Reuss, starts successful the caller presumption June 2. He volition based successful the company’s Mountain View Tech Center successful California.

Anderson made headlines past week aft announcing helium was resigning from Aurora, the autonomous conveyance institution helium co-founded with 2 different pioneers successful the AV sector. His resignation, which includes from the Aurora board, came conscionable a week aft the institution launched its commercial self-driving motortruck service in Texas.

Anderson told TechCrunch helium had not anticipated leaving Aurora, but the much conversations helium had with GM leadership, including Chair and CEO Mary Barra, the much helium “appreciated the imaginable for what we could bash there.”

“The scope of what we’ll bash astatine GM is expansive,” helium noted successful a caller interview. “It’s an quality to impact millions of people’s lives for the better, including with conscionable magical experiences successful their vehicles that besides amended the information and efficacy of our roadways.”

Anderson’s relation covers each nook and cranny astatine GM, which nether Barra has pushed to modernize and electrify its portfolio of vehicles. He volition pb conveyance and manufacturing engineering, battery, and bundle and services merchandise absorption teams. That means Kurt Kelty, who heads of artillery propulsion and sustainability and besides hailed from Tesla, volition study to Anderson.

The automaker’s heads of planetary manufacturing and merchandise engineering, bundle and services, and conveyance merchandise programs, information and integration volition besides study to Anderson.

Anderson said helium would not person near Aurora, wherever helium was main merchandise officer, if the institution had not precocious met its large driverless self-driving motortruck work milestone.

Anderson was manager of Tesla’s Autopilot programme erstwhile helium near to co-found Aurora successful 2017 alongside CEO Chris Urmson, the erstwhile caput of the Google self-driving project, and Drew Bagnell, who was starring Uber’s autonomy and cognition team. The pedigree of trio gave Aurora contiguous buzz, helping it pull high-profile investors similar Sequoia Capital, Amazon, and T. Rowe Price Associates, arsenic good arsenic a slew of partnerships.

Anderson besides holds a master’s and Ph.D. grade successful robotics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

“Our customers are expecting much from our vehicles than ever before,” Reuss said successful a statement. “We person an accidental to germinate the mode we build from the crushed up, with tighter integration betwixt bundle and hardware, shorter improvement cycles, and an unwavering absorption connected a seamless lawsuit experience. Sterling brings decades of enactment successful automotive engineering and transformative bundle innovation to his caller relation and is the close person to assistance GM proceed starring present and into the future.”