Coda Automotive names new CEO
California electric car developer Coda Automotive Inc. has hired a General Motors Co. veteran to lead the company.
Coda named Philip Murtagh CEO, replacing former chief Kevin Czinger, who resigned in November. Murtagh spent more than 30 years at GM in various leadership positions, capped by a five-year stint at CEO of GM China that ended in 2005. He’s credited with growing the automaker’s China presence and overseeing more than 15 vehicle rollouts on three continents.
In recent years, Murtagh worked in executive posts for Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp. and Chrysler LLC and served as a consultant.
He arrives at a critical time for Coda, which is looking to deliver its battery-powered electric vehicle to some customers later this year. The company also plans to build a crucial component to the car – a lithium-ion battery – in Columbus, a project that could bring 1,000 jobs and a more than $500 million investment to the city. That is contingent, however, on Coda’s joint venture with a Chinese company securing a loan of $400 million to $500 million from the U.S. Department of Energy.
Mac Heller, the Coda co-chairman who served as interim CEO, said in a statement that Murtagh is “an industry veteran with large-scale manufacturing, sales and marketing experience who has the precise combination of skills necessary to lead Coda’s mission to transform the auto industry by accelerating the adoption of clean, zero emissions technology.”
As Murtagh joins the company, Coda founder Miles Rubin is retiring as co-chairman but retaining a director and chairman emeritus title along with the largest stake in the company.
Source:
http://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/news/2011/01/24/coda-automotive-names-new-ceo.html
