DETROIT – General engines The autonomous cruise vehicle unit announced former Amazon and Microsoft executive Marc Whitten as its new CEO on Tuesday.
Whitten was one of the founding engineers of from Microsoft Xbox before leaving the company after more than 17 years to become director of product at audio company Sonos in 2014, according to his LinkedIn profile. He then worked at Amazon as vice president of entertainment devices and services before his most recent role as director of product and technology for software development company Unity’s Create.
His appointment comes at a crucial time for Cruise, which is testing and relaunching its autonomous vehicles on public roads. It ceased operations a few weeks after an October 2 accident in which a pedestrian in San Francisco was dragged 20 feet by a Cruise robotaxi.
Following the incident, several key executives, including Cruise CEO and co-founder Kyle Vogt, left the company.
“Marc is a proven technology and business leader with extensive experience scaling products and building ecosystems around them,” said Mary Barra, GM CEO and chair, who also leads the board. of Cruise’s directors, in a press release. “He has sparked innovation and driven growth in complex, rapidly changing environments throughout his career, and I believe this will prove crucial to Cruise’s vision of creating technology that delivers real-world benefits and tangible to society.”
An independent investigation into the October incident ordered by GM and Cruise found that cultural problems, ineptitude and poor leadership fueled the regulatory oversights that led to the crash. The investigation also investigated allegations of a cover-up by Cruise executives, but investigators found no evidence to support the claims.
Meanwhile, San Francisco-based Cruise was trying to expand its operations to become a revenue-generating business for GM, which has been a majority owner of the company since its acquisition in 2016. Other investors now include Honda engineMicrosoft, T. Rowe Price and Walmart.
As of this month, Cruise has resumed supervised driving in Phoenix, Houston and Dallas, in addition to its ongoing testing in Dubai. She has not resumed operations in San Francisco, where she remains under investigation in connection with the accident.
Cruise was a crucial part of GM’s plan to double its revenue to $280 billion by the end of this decade.
GM announced Whitten’s appointment in conjunction with other management changes. The automaker said Nick Mulholland, communications manager for Rivienwould become Cruise’s director of marketing and communications.
Craig Glidden, who served as GM’s chief legal officer and chief policy officer, will also join Cruise as president and chief administrative officer, responsible for legal, government affairs, finance, communications and human resources, it was announced Tuesday the automaker in a separate statement.
Glidden will be replaced by Grant Dixton, who held leadership roles at Activision Blizzard and Boeing.
“GM is an iconic company that I have always admired,” Dixton said in a statement. “I am grateful for the opportunity to work with Mary, her leadership team and the strong legal and policy teams in place at GM to help the company realize its bold vision while continuing to deliver vehicles that customers all over the world love it.”
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