G.M. Names Designer to Head Cadillac
Bryan Nesbitt, vice president of G.M. North America Design, has been named general manager of Cadillac. Mr. Nesbitt, most noted for helping design the PT Cruiser, will become the top executive of General Motors’ top brand, reporting directly to the vice chairman, Robert Lutz, a surprising leap for a designer.
It has been extremely rare for designers — even top executives in design — to move into wider executive positions in the automobile industry. Tom Gale, Chrysler’s widely respected chief of design, was discussed for several years as a potential top executive, even chief executive, but never made the move.
Mr. Nesbitt was born in Phoenix in 1969. After restless months studying architecture and industrial design at the Georgia Institute of Technology, he moved to the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, Calif. He found an internship at the Pacifica Advanced Product Design Center for Chrysler in Carlsbad, Calif., and was hired by that automaker in 1994.
As a young designer, he worked with Mr. Lutz and the French-born psychologist Clotaire Rapaille, exploring customer desires for new designs. One result became the 2001 PT Cruiser, the retro vehicle, part truck, part gangster getaway car, that won plaudits.
Mr. Nesbitt came to G.M. in 2001 as head of design at Chevrolet. He offered up a less successful equivalent of the PT Cruiser, the HHR truck, for Chevrolet. He was put in charge of G.M. design in Europe, supervising the much-praised Saab 9-X concept and the Opel Insignia, which won industry awards. In January 2002, Mr. Nesbitt was appointed executive director, design, body-frame integral architectures, for all of G.M.’s North American brands.
G.M. Names Designer to Head Cadillac - Wheels Blog - NYTimes.com
It has been extremely rare for designers — even top executives in design — to move into wider executive positions in the automobile industry. Tom Gale, Chrysler’s widely respected chief of design, was discussed for several years as a potential top executive, even chief executive, but never made the move.
Mr. Nesbitt was born in Phoenix in 1969. After restless months studying architecture and industrial design at the Georgia Institute of Technology, he moved to the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, Calif. He found an internship at the Pacifica Advanced Product Design Center for Chrysler in Carlsbad, Calif., and was hired by that automaker in 1994.
As a young designer, he worked with Mr. Lutz and the French-born psychologist Clotaire Rapaille, exploring customer desires for new designs. One result became the 2001 PT Cruiser, the retro vehicle, part truck, part gangster getaway car, that won plaudits.
Mr. Nesbitt came to G.M. in 2001 as head of design at Chevrolet. He offered up a less successful equivalent of the PT Cruiser, the HHR truck, for Chevrolet. He was put in charge of G.M. design in Europe, supervising the much-praised Saab 9-X concept and the Opel Insignia, which won industry awards. In January 2002, Mr. Nesbitt was appointed executive director, design, body-frame integral architectures, for all of G.M.’s North American brands.
G.M. Names Designer to Head Cadillac - Wheels Blog - NYTimes.com
