(Yicai Global) March 19 -- General Motors has appointed Matt Tsien, president of GM China, to take over from Jon Lauckner as its new global chief technology officer next month.

The 60-year-old has rich experience in engineering technology and business operations and helped set up GM's major Chinese joint venture SAIC General Motors and position it long term in the electrification and intelligent networking sectors, the American carmaker said in a statement yesterday.

The move comes after GM China sales have fallen for two straight years due to the shrinking local market. GM sales fell 10 percent in 2018 and then 15 percent to 3.1 million units last year, when investment income from its China joint ventures dived 42.8 percent to USD1.1 billion, according to financial data GM published last month.  

Tsien has been global executive vice president and China chief since January 2014 and will be replaced in his China position by Julian Blissett, senior vice president of international operations. Lauckner will retire from the CTO position in July but stay on a global executive vice president, GM China said online.

Blissett has held his current position since April 2009 and was executive vice president of SAIC-GM for the five years prior. He has a wealth of experience doing business in China and helped expand the JV in the country.

Editor: James Boynton