Canadian Steve Carlisle retires; Rory Harvey named GM North America president

Cadillac chief Rory Harvey will become General Motors' new president of North America at the end of the month as Canadian Steve Carlisle retires after a 41-year career with the automaker.

Carlisle, 61, has run GM's largest and most profitable region since September 2020. He will be succeeded June 1 by Harvey, who has led Cadillac over that same period, GM said Tuesday.

GM promoted two other executives. John Roth will take over Harvey's role as vice president of global Cadillac, while Josh Tavel, executive chief engineer of battery electric trucks and SUVs since 2019, will succeed Roth as global vice president of Customer Care and Aftersales. Those changes also are effective June 1.

"I'd like to thank Steve for his tremendous leadership, collaboration across the company and dedicated years of service to GM," GM President Mark Reuss said in a statement. "Along with Rory, Steve has played a significant role in the transformation of the Cadillac brand over the last several years and under his leadership our North American business is strong and well-positioned for future growth.

"Rory, John and Josh have the experience and strong leadership skills to continue to build on our momentum and maintain our strong commitment to our brands, our dealers and our customers," Reuss said.

Before taking over as head of GM North America, Carlisle led Cadillac and GM Canada, among other senior leadership roles.

Harvey, 55, became vice president of Cadillac North America sales, service and marketing in March 2018. Before that, he was chairman and managing director of Vauxhall Motors and took on other roles in Europe and the Middle East.

"Rory has led Cadillac since 2020," CEO Mary Barra said in a post on LinkedIn, "and his global experience across sales, service and marketing make him the right leader to continue the momentum of delivering results and advancing our transformation."

Roth, 54, has managed the Customer Care and Aftersales business since 2020, coming to the role after two years of leading GM's Africa and Middle East operations. He also has held leadership roles with GM Canada and Cadillac.

Tavel, 44, has spent nearly 21 years with the automaker and been chief engineer of multiple vehicles, including midsize and medium-duty pickups, as well as the Chevrolet Bolt EV.