General Motors Seen Tightening Integration With Captive Amid Leadership Changes

General Motors‘ latest executive management change appears to be part of a push for integration between the OEM and captive finance arm GM Financial, Jeremy Acevedo, Edmunds‘ manager of industry analysis, told Auto Finance News.

Chief Executive Mary Barra is taking charge of GM Financial, according to several reports. GM’s President Dan Ammann, who had been overseeing GM Financial and other operations, was named late last month as chief executive of the OEM’s Cruise Automation autonomous vehicle subsidiary.

GM did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Acevedo sees the move as tightening the integration between GM Financial and the OEM’s other operations. GM is “laddering up top-level perspective to make sure all of GM’s branches are really working together, especially long-term, as [GM] is pairing its manufacturing prowess with electrification and autonomous driving,” Acevedo said.

For now, no one is set to replace Ammann at GM, which would keep Barra overseeing the captive. “If it’s going to be Barra up top, this could be a lateral movement to really get all the business components [of GM] talking to each other by having one oversight,” Acevedo said.

“The auto sector is so siloed, so to have that umbrella oversight to bring things together makes sense,” he added. “It could be an interim thing, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s a longer-term solution to see if it is functional for their ultimate goals.”

Ammann’s move follows just a week after the OEM announced plans to shutter five North American plants, cut 15% of its staff, and halt the manufacture of several car models to improve near-term performance and set itself up for a future of electronic and autonomous vehicles.