General Motors Company (GM) Announces Departure Of Two Top Execs

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Melissa Howell, senior Vice President and Global Head of Human resources and Selim Bingol, Senior Vice President in charge of Communications are leaving GM, according to news broken by CNBC on Monday morning. General Motors Company (NYSE:GM) has announced the departure of two key executives in the wake of the company’s massive recall earlier in 2014.

General Motors crisis continues to sting

The loss of the executives comes at a pivotal time for the American auto manufacturer. General Motors recalled 1.5 million cars after a fault was discovered with the ignition systems of some models produced over the last decade. The firm says it will take a $1.3 billion charge against first-quarter earnings for costs of the recall. General Motors Company linked the problem to 31 crashes and the problem has been implicated in 12 deaths since it was made public earlier this year.

According to the company, John J. Quattrone will replace Melissa Howell as Senior Vice President, Global Human Resources. Quattrone has been with the company since 1975, and has held several positions in human resources and labor relations. A successor to Bingol has not yet been named, and the company said that the next executive in charge of Communications would be named at a later date.

General Motors executives sidelined in crisis

Both Howell and Bingol are both relatively recent additions to the executive team at General Motors Company (NYSE:GM). Howell became a Senior Vice President in February of 2013 after leading the company’s North American HR department.

Bingol was appointed Senior Vice President, Global Communications & Public Policy in October 2012. He joined the company in 2010 after a stint as Senior Vice President in charge of Corporate Communications at AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T). Both executives are, according to the company, leaving GM in order to pursue other interests.

Stock in General Motors Company (NYSE:GM) was recovering in this morning’s market. At time of writing the firm’s shares were trading up close to 3%. The increase in value puts little dent in the 20% loss since the start of 2014, but it shows that investors may be ready to forgive the company, particularly in the context of a rebounding stock market.

The news of the departure of the executives appears to have done little to impact the company’s stock price, but it has had little time to. The news shows the proactive approach that new chief executive Mary Barra is taking at the company. That may impress investors as the company faces its greatest challenge since going public in 2010.

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