The appointment of Jaclyn McQuaid as president and CEO of General Motors Europe marks the starting signal for the return to Europe of the American group focused on electric cars and mobility services.
This summer General Motors confirmed its expected return to Europe, where it will offer a wide range of electric vehicles based on the new generation Ultium platform. Accompanying these vehicles, it will deploy a whole series of mobility services based on a new company that distances itself from its traditional business and from the way of selling cars that were known until now. To this end, the company has appointed Jaclyn McQuaid as President and CEO of General Motors Europe.
The executive, who has been with General Motors for some time, took office on November 1 and will be based in Zurich. Shilpan Amin, president of GM International, explained that McQuaid will be responsible for continuing to transform GM’s European operations into “an agile, non-traditional mobility startup with a portfolio of fully electric vehicles at its core.”
A year ago, Cadillac’s then-vice president of sales for North America, Mahmoud Samara, began the task of restarting the group’s operations in Europe. At that time, GM emphasized that it could not fail to be present in the second-largest electric vehicle market in the world by size and evolution. Europe presented itself as a significant opportunity for the American automaker. It intended to offer its entire portfolio of electric models in the Old Continent. Already in the summer, accompanying this offer, the company indicated that it was exploring various options for distribution, including the traditional system through dealers, but also through a “new mobility company”.
Now McQuaid will replace Samara, who is leaving GM for family reasons, and will lead the implementation of the new mobility business. For now, the manufacturer has revealed very little information about these new plans, except that they involve a non-traditional approach to mobility, centered on electric vehicles.
“The rate of adoption of electric vehicles in Europe is the fastest in the world. GM’s $35 billion electric and autonomous technology investment through 2025 will be a major driver of the transformation of our industry,” said McQuaid. “Our flexible Ultium battery platform and the breadth and depth of our electric vehicle portfolio allow GM to offer customers in Europe a variety of products and services to support their lifestyle while contributing to a zero future. accidents, zero emissions, and zero congestion.
Although with these statements GM refers to electric cars based on the Ultium platform, the manufacturer has not yet officially revealed which electric models it intends to launch in Europe. The fact that the appointment press release was published by Cadillac Europe suggests that the electric Cadillac Lyriq will not be missing from this list.
