GM Executive Vice President of Global Manufacturing and Labor Relations Gerald Johnson (center) watches engineers and technicians set up and test machines that will be used to manufacture Level 1 face masks at a factory in Warren, Michigan.
Photography by John F. Martin for General Motors
Detroit – General Motors' Longtime manufacturing chief is retiring, and the company has hired a former president Tesla And Google Executive to fill his shoes.
The Detroit automaker said Tuesday that Gerald Johnson, executive vice president of global manufacturing and sustainability, will hand the baton to Jens Peter “JB” Clausen, a former executive at Tesla, Lego and most recently Google.
Johnson's departure is not unexpected after 44 years with the automaker, but GM also announced another, more surprising departure on Tuesday: that of Mike Abbott, executive vice president of software and services.
GM said Abbott, the former Apple executive who began working with the automaker in May, will step down for health reasons.
In a LinkedIn post, Abbott said since late last year that he has been “experiencing some serious health issues involving my heart that have not improved.” He continued: “As a father and husband, I need to prioritize recovery and be with my family in the hope that my health will improve over time.”
Baris Cetinok, current vice president of product for software and services, has been hired as Abbott's interim replacement while the search is conducted. Cetinuk, also a former Apple executive, began working with GM in September.
The changes take effect April 2, but GM said Johnson will remain with the automaker through the rest of the year.
Clausen's hiring is particularly notable as GM and other automakers try to match or surpass Tesla in making batteries and powertrains for electric vehicles.
Clausen spent nearly 14 years at toy maker Lego, then joined Tesla during a period of intense growth and turmoil at the company, from 2015 to 2019.
Clausen reports to CEO Elon Musk and former CTO JB Strobel, where he served as vice president of Tesla's first battery manufacturing plant, known as the Nevada Gigafactory, outside of Reno.
Clausen led a rapid expansion of that plant, and before he left he was tasked with finding ways for Tesla to reduce the amount of scrap and waste it was producing while the electric car maker was growing from a niche player into a mass-market car company.
When Clausen joined Tesla, the current US electric vehicle leader was producing its high-end sedan, the Model S, and its falcon-winged Model X SUV. By the time he left, the company had begun mass manufacturing and delivering the entry-level Model 3 sedan, which remains the most accessible electric car.
After his tenure at Tesla, Clausen worked at Zymergen, a synthetic biology company funded by Softbank and later acquired by a major competitor, Gingko Bioworks. Following the merger, Clausen moved to a position at Google as vice president of engineering for the company's data center advanced technology innovation group, where he worked on environmentally responsible cooling solutions for data centers, among other sustainable growth initiatives.
Clausen's last day with Google will be March 29, a company spokesperson said in an email.
Clausen isn't the only former Tesla executive to join GM. The company's board members include former Tesla head of global sales and service John McNeil, and it recently appointed Kurt Kelty, who led Tesla's battery development for 11 years, as its vice president of batteries.
