
Detroit’s General Motors Co. announced today Matt Tsien, Craig Buchholz, and Julian Blissett will have new executive positions with the company, effective April 1.
Tsien, executive vice president and president of GM China, has been appointed executive vice president and chief technology officer, replacing Jon Lauckner, who has elected to retire effective July 1. He will report to Mark Reuss, president of GM.
Leading GM’s operations in China since 2014, Tsien helped the company’s business grow and brought in technologies that would enable the company’s long-term growth in the country, especially in electrification and connectivity.
Buchholz is currently chief communications officer of Proctor and Gamble and joins GM as senior vice president of global communications. He will report to Mary Barra, chairman and CEO of GM. He replaces Tony Cervone, who will retire effective July 1.
For the past six years, Buchholz has led P&G communications through product and corporate issues. Prior to that, he spent 20 years in pharmaceuticals, working in both agency and corporate environments including with Merck, Johnson and Johnson, and what is now Pfizer. While with the companies, he held leadership positions in corporate, internal, and executive communications. He has a law degree from Drexel University and a bachelor’s degree in journalism and public relations from Temple University.
Blissett is currently senior vice president of international operations and has been appointed executive vice president and president of GM China, succeeding Tsien. He will report to Reuss.
Steve Kiefer, senior vice president and president of GM International, will continue in his current role and assume the daily operations of GM’s international markets currently handled by Blissett. Kiefer will continue to report to Reuss.
“I’d like to thank Jon and Tony for their decades-long service to GM, and for the outstanding contributions they’ve made to the company,” says Barra. “They’ve both played significant roles in positioning the company for long-term success, and I wish them all the best in retirement.”