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General Motors (NYSE: GM) today announced the appointment of Sterling Anderson, co-founder and chief product officer of autonomous trucking company Aurora, as executive VP, Global Product and Chief Product Officer. This can be viewed either as a GM poaching or grabbing an itinerant executive. He will report to GM President Mark Reuss. Anderson joins GM on 2 June 2025 and will be based in GM’s Mountain View Tech Center in California. The latest move comes at a time when Chinese companies are challenging traditional automakers with stunningly short development times and new product debuts with a variety of electronic systems. (Read AutoInformed.com on: Hyundai, Kia Announce Autonomous Investment in Aurora, and McKinsey on EVs – China Most Advanced Region by Far)
“Our customers are expecting more from our vehicles than ever before,” Reuss said. “We have an opportunity to evolve the way we build from the ground up, with tighter integration between software and hardware, shorter development cycles, and an unwavering focus on a seamless customer experience. Sterling brings decades of leadership in automotive engineering and transformative software innovation to his new role and is the right leader to help GM continue leading now and into the future.”
Aurora recently launched America’s first commercial, fully driverless trucking service in Texas, running regularly between Houston and Dallas. Before co-founding Aurora in 2017, Anderson worked at Tesla, where he led both the Model X program and the team that delivered the, ahem, Tesla Autopilot. (read Autoinformed.com on: Tesla Recalls 2,031,220 Autopilot Equipped Vehicles)
Anderson holds a master’s and Ph.D. degree in robotics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He developed MIT’s Intelligent Co-Pilot, a semi-autonomous vehicle safety system, which GM said helped lay the foundation for major progress in how humans and machines can work together more effectively.
“GM has a deep heritage, bold vision, and the technical foundation to create products that millions of people love,” Anderson said. “The world is at an inflection point. Advances in foundational technologies have opened opportunities to revolutionize not just how we create products, but what those products can be and do. I look forward to partnering with the talented team at GM to build on the transformation they’ve already begun.”
“Sterling joins GM at a critical time as our industry continues to reinvent itself,” said GM Chair and CEO Mary Barra. “He brings decades of leadership in automotive engineering, tech start-ups, and software innovation. Sterling will help accelerate the pace of progress – he shares our passion and vision for beautifully designed, high-performing, and technology-forward vehicles.”
About Ken Zino
Ken Zino, editor and publisher of AutoInformed, is a versatile auto industry participant with global experience spanning decades in print and broadcast journalism, as well as social media. He has automobile testing, marketing, public relations and communications experience. He is past president of The International Motor Press Assn, the Detroit Press Club, founding member and first President of the Automotive Press Assn. He is a member of APA, IMPA and the Midwest Automotive Press Assn.
He also brings an historical perspective while citing their contemporary relevance of the work of legendary auto writers such as Ken Purdy, Jim Dunne or Jerry Flint, or writers such as Red Smith, Mark Twain, Thomas Jefferson – all to bring perspective to a chaotic automotive universe.
Above all, decades after he first drove a car, Zino still revels in the sound of the exhaust as the throttle is blipped during a downshift and the driver’s rush that occurs when the entry, apex and exit points of a turn are smoothly and swiftly crossed. It’s the beginning of a perfect lap.
AutoInformed has an editorial philosophy that loves transportation machines of all kinds while promoting critical thinking about the future use of cars and trucks.
Zino builds AutoInformed from his background in automotive journalism starting at Hearst Publishing in New York City on Motor and MotorTech Magazines and car testing where he reviewed hundreds of vehicles in his decade-long stint as the Detroit Bureau Chief of Road & Track magazine. Zino has also worked in Europe, and Asia – now the largest automotive market in the world with China at its center.
GM Poaches Aurora Exec for Chief Product Officer
Click for more.
General Motors (NYSE: GM) today announced the appointment of Sterling Anderson, co-founder and chief product officer of autonomous trucking company Aurora, as executive VP, Global Product and Chief Product Officer. This can be viewed either as a GM poaching or grabbing an itinerant executive. He will report to GM President Mark Reuss. Anderson joins GM on 2 June 2025 and will be based in GM’s Mountain View Tech Center in California. The latest move comes at a time when Chinese companies are challenging traditional automakers with stunningly short development times and new product debuts with a variety of electronic systems. (Read AutoInformed.com on: Hyundai, Kia Announce Autonomous Investment in Aurora, and McKinsey on EVs – China Most Advanced Region by Far)
“Our customers are expecting more from our vehicles than ever before,” Reuss said. “We have an opportunity to evolve the way we build from the ground up, with tighter integration between software and hardware, shorter development cycles, and an unwavering focus on a seamless customer experience. Sterling brings decades of leadership in automotive engineering and transformative software innovation to his new role and is the right leader to help GM continue leading now and into the future.”
Aurora recently launched America’s first commercial, fully driverless trucking service in Texas, running regularly between Houston and Dallas. Before co-founding Aurora in 2017, Anderson worked at Tesla, where he led both the Model X program and the team that delivered the, ahem, Tesla Autopilot. (read Autoinformed.com on: Tesla Recalls 2,031,220 Autopilot Equipped Vehicles)
Anderson holds a master’s and Ph.D. degree in robotics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He developed MIT’s Intelligent Co-Pilot, a semi-autonomous vehicle safety system, which GM said helped lay the foundation for major progress in how humans and machines can work together more effectively.
“GM has a deep heritage, bold vision, and the technical foundation to create products that millions of people love,” Anderson said. “The world is at an inflection point. Advances in foundational technologies have opened opportunities to revolutionize not just how we create products, but what those products can be and do. I look forward to partnering with the talented team at GM to build on the transformation they’ve already begun.”
“Sterling joins GM at a critical time as our industry continues to reinvent itself,” said GM Chair and CEO Mary Barra. “He brings decades of leadership in automotive engineering, tech start-ups, and software innovation. Sterling will help accelerate the pace of progress – he shares our passion and vision for beautifully designed, high-performing, and technology-forward vehicles.”
About Ken Zino
Ken Zino, editor and publisher of AutoInformed, is a versatile auto industry participant with global experience spanning decades in print and broadcast journalism, as well as social media. He has automobile testing, marketing, public relations and communications experience. He is past president of The International Motor Press Assn, the Detroit Press Club, founding member and first President of the Automotive Press Assn. He is a member of APA, IMPA and the Midwest Automotive Press Assn. He also brings an historical perspective while citing their contemporary relevance of the work of legendary auto writers such as Ken Purdy, Jim Dunne or Jerry Flint, or writers such as Red Smith, Mark Twain, Thomas Jefferson – all to bring perspective to a chaotic automotive universe. Above all, decades after he first drove a car, Zino still revels in the sound of the exhaust as the throttle is blipped during a downshift and the driver’s rush that occurs when the entry, apex and exit points of a turn are smoothly and swiftly crossed. It’s the beginning of a perfect lap. AutoInformed has an editorial philosophy that loves transportation machines of all kinds while promoting critical thinking about the future use of cars and trucks. Zino builds AutoInformed from his background in automotive journalism starting at Hearst Publishing in New York City on Motor and MotorTech Magazines and car testing where he reviewed hundreds of vehicles in his decade-long stint as the Detroit Bureau Chief of Road & Track magazine. Zino has also worked in Europe, and Asia – now the largest automotive market in the world with China at its center.