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Jim Federico, GM Global Head of Subcompact Vehicles, Announces Retirement

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Jim Federico announces retirement

Jim Federico announces retirement.

Jim Federico has been with General Motors for 36 years but formally announced his retirement just two days ago. Federico served as the Executive Chief Engineer of Subcompact and Electric Vehicles. Most recently, he reported to Mark Reuss, GM Head of Product Development, though he used to report to Mary Barra before her promotion to CEO.

Jim Federico, 56, had overseen the development of several key GM vehicles, including the Chevy Sonic, Chevy Spark EV, and Buick Encore. He also served as Executive Director of Global Vehicle Integration since September of last year. In addition, Federico was leading an internal investigation into airbag issues in Chevy Cobalts, eventually leading to recent GM recalls. During the investigation, Federico and his team spent time analyzing vehicles in junkyard and even reached out to Delphi Automotive, who supplied the ignition switches largely responsible for recent recalls.

General Motors has said, however, that Federico’s retirement, which comes strangely early, has nothing to do with the recall.

Update: It has been reported that Federico will join Harley Davidson on June 2nd as Vice President of Engineering.