General Motors announced that it has appointed Dhivya Suryadevara as its next Chief Financial Officer (CFO), making her the first woman to hold this position in the automotive industry globally. The Chennai-born Suryadevara is currently the vice president of corporate finance. She played a key role in the divestiture of GM’s European arm Opel and also secured a $2.25 billion investment from Japanese giant SoftBank Group Corp.
Suryadevara, who will take over from current CFO Chuck Stevens on September 1, will be reporting to the company's Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Mary Barra, who is also the only woman to lead an automotive brand.
Commenting on the appointment, Mary Barra said, "Dhivya's experience and leadership in several key roles throughout our financial operations positions her well to build on the strong business results we've delivered over the last several years.”
With this new appointment, GM joins a handful of companies that have women serving as both CEO and CFO. The carmaker also announced that Chuck Stevens will continue to be associated with the company as an adviser until his retirement in March 2019.
In India, GM has halted domestic sales and is currently using its faclity in Talegoan, which has an annual capacity of 1,60,000units to churn out models like the Chevrolet Beat for export markets only. The brand also has a technical research centre in Bengaluru that is currently operational.
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