Guy Briggs to Retire, Tim Lee to Head GMNA Manufacturing

RÜSSELSHEIM, Germany, December 7 /PRNewswire/ --

- Eric Stevens Named GM Europe Vice President of Manufacturing, Replaces Lee

- Kent Sears to Retire as GM Powertrain VP, General Manager of Manufacturing Ops

- John Buttermore to Succeed Sears; Diane Tremblay to Head GMNA Labor Relations

Veteran GM executive Guy Briggs, GM group vice president of North America Manufacturing and Labor Relations, will retire April 1, 2006, GM Chairman and CEO Rick Wagoner announced today.

Tim Lee, GM Europe vice president of manufacturing, will become GM North America vice president of manufacturing effective Jan. 1, to ensure a smooth transition pending Briggs' retirement. He will report to Gary Cowger, group vice president of global manufacturing and labor relations, and Wagoner as head of GMNA.

Wagoner also announced the following related executive changes; all the appointments are effective Jan. 1:

Kent Sears, GM Powertrain vice president and general manager of manufacturing operations, will retire April 1 after 39 years of service to GM.

Eric Stevens, 49, executive director of manufacturing for GM Europe, will replace Lee as GME vice president of manufacturing. He will report to Cowger and GME President Carl-Peter Forster.

John Buttermore, 54, GM North America vice president of labor relations , will succeed Sears as GM Powertrain vice president and general manager of manufacturing operations. He will report to Tom Stephens, GM group vice president of GM Powertrain. Buttermore was appointed to his current position in September 2002 and oversaw the 2003 national contract negotiations with the United Auto Workers, and the recent landmark health- care agreement with the UAW.

Diana Tremblay, executive director of labor relations, will succeed Buttermore as GMNA vice president of labor relations. Tremblay, 46, was a key executive in the recent negotiations that resulted in the UAW health- care agreement.

Wagoner praised Briggs and Sears for their many contributions to GM during their long careers.

"Guy and Kent deserve our thanks and gratitude for many years of dedicated and excellent service," Wagoner said.

"Guy has played a significant role in the last decade in helping to transform GM North America's assembly plants into the world-class manufacturing operation they comprise today. His enthusiasm and commitment will be sorely missed."

Briggs, 67, began his GM career in 1961 as a college graduate in training at the Flint (Mich.) Manufacturing Plant and eventually became the plant's superintendent of manufacturing. After holding several management posts at GM parts, casting, engine and stamping plants in Michigan and Ohio , he was named a regional manufacturing manager in 1983 and in 1984 became manufacturing manager for the former Chevrolet-Pontiac-GM of Canada Group.

He was appointed vice president in charge of manufacturing operations for Saturn Corp. in 1985, and in 1991 was elected a GM vice president and appointed group director of operations for the former GM Truck Group. From 1996 to 2001, Briggs was GM vice president and general manager of the GM Truck Group. From 2001 to 2003, as general manager of vehicle manufacturing, he had operational responsibility for all of GM North America's assembly plants.

Before his current assignment, Briggs was vice president of manufacturing. In his current post, he has responsibility for North American vehicle manufacturing, vehicle operations, GM Metal Fabricating Division, and labor relations. He is a member of the GM North America Strategy Board.

Sears, 59, began his GM career in 1967 at the former Frigidaire Division in Dayton, Ohio. He joined the Chevrolet Division in 1979 in Flint, Mich., where he held several manufacturing positions before becoming manager of the Flint Engine Plant in 1987.

In 1991, Sears became manager of the Doraville Assembly Plant in Atlanta, and in 1993 he was appointed director of manufacturing for transmissions and components at GM Powertrain. In 1996, he was appointed manufacturing manager of the former GM Truck Group in Pontiac, Mich.

Sears became executive in charge of quality and reliability in 1999, and in 2001 he was named GM North America vice president of quality. He was appointed GMNA vice president of manufacturing processes and global manufacturing system implementation in 2003.

"Kent has had a distinguished career managing GM assembly, GM Powertrain and components plants and, more recently, overseeing GM's quality initiatives and the implementation of GM's global manufacturing system," Wagoner said. "We also will miss his many contributions, experience and counsel."

Lee, 53, has been vice president of manufacturing at GME since 2002, responsible for the overall coordination of Opel, Vauxhall and Saab manufacturing and assembly plants in Europe. He joined GM in 1969 and has an extensive background in manufacturing and labor relations, including senior positions with GM North America.

Stevens, 49, has been executive director of manufacturing for GME since 2004 and previously was executive director for manufacturing engineering from 2002 to 2004. He previously was manager of GM Canada's Oshawa assembly plant and Opel's Eisenach assembly plant in Germany, as well as executive director of lean manufacturing at GME. He began his GM career at GM of Canada in 1978.

Before taking his current post, Buttermore was manufacturing manager for 10 of GMNA's assembly plants since 2000. He began his GM career in 1978 at the former Rochester Products Division in Rochester, N.Y., after serving in the U.S. Navy. He held several manufacturing and product engineering positions at Allison Transmission and GM Powertrain, and in 1996 was named manufacturing manager for GM's engine plants in the United States.

Tremblay, 46, was manager of the Opel Belgium assembly plant before appointment to her current position in 2004. She has held a variety of manufacturing and labor relations posts in Europe and the United States. She joined GM as a co-op student at the former General Motors Institute in 1977.

General Motors Corp. (NYSE: GM), the world's largest automaker, has been the global industry sales leader since 1931. Founded in 1908, GM today employs about 325,000 people around the world. It has manufacturing operations in 32 countries and its vehicles are sold in 200 countries.

Contact: Edd Snyder GM Corporate Communications [phone] (office) [phone] (mobile) [e-mail] Stefan Weinmann GM Manufacturing Communications [phone] (office) [phone] (mobile) [e-mail]