High-profile GM exec to retire to focus on ending distracted driving

Steven Kiefer, senior vice president and president, GM South America and International Operations

The head of General Motors international operations is retiring to focus on his mission to end distracted driving. 

GM said Thursday that Steve Kiefer, 58, will retire effective April 1. Shilpan Amin, 47, will replace Kiefer as senior vice president and president of GM International.

Amin is currently GM vice president of Global Purchasing and Supply Chain. GM said it will name his replacement soon.

GM appoints Shilpan Amin GM senior vice president and president, GM International effective April 1, 2022 when Steve Kiefer retires.

Amin will lead GM’s global operations outside of North America and China. Its biggest markets include South America, the Middle East, Korea, Europe, Japan, Australia, Israel and Uzbekistan.

GM said Kiefer is retiring to focus his efforts on the Kiefer Foundation, which he established in 2016 after his son Mitchel was killed by a distracted driver on Sept. 19, 2016. The foundation is dedicated to ending distracted driving and all associated traffic deaths and injuries.

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Kiefer has been with GM for 40 years. Amin joined GM in 1996 as an engineer in advanced product development and has held various leadership roles within GM’s Vehicle Engineering and Global Purchasing and Supply Chain organizations. 

GM CEO Mary Barra said Amin’s experience leading GM’s purchasing and supply chain and his extensive global engineering background uniquely qualify him to run international markets.

Back seats (L-R): Mitchel Kiefer, Juliana Kiefer; Front seats (L-R): Blake Kiefer, Steve Kiefer

“His leadership during the global supply chain crisis is a testament to his ability to build relationships and manage complex global issues,” Barra said.

Barra is referring to the year-long global shortage of semiconductor chips that has caused production disruptions across the industry. GM, like some other automakers, redirected what chip parts it could get to its highest-profit and most popular pickups and big SUVs, helping it report a record $14.3 billion in pretax profits for 2021.

GM VP of purchasing Steve Kiefer and GM CEO Mary Barra shake hands after announcing in August 2017 that the Kiefer Foundation will donate $300,000 to help the state of Michigan erect a 1.7 mile cable barrier along I-96 where Kiefer's son, Mitchel, died a year ago in a traffic accident caused by distracted driving.

Kiefer took over as the head of GM International on Nov 1, 2019. Since that time he has built “strong momentum” for GM’s global operations, Barra said. The region achieved a significant financial turnaround in three of the last five quarters. The region is on track to deliver sustainable profitability and to be a net contributor to GM globally, she said in a statement.

“Under his leadership we have turned around our performance throughout the international markets,” Barra said. “I thank Steve for his many contributions to GM, and I wish him and his family all the best in retirement and in his important work with the Kiefer Foundation.”

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