DETROIT – Normal Motors’ long-time head of producing is retiring, and the corporate has employed a former Tesla and Google govt to fill his sneakers.

The Detroit automaker mentioned on Tuesday that Gerald Johnson, govt vp of World Manufacturing and Sustainability, will move the baton to Jens Peter “JP” Clausen, a former govt with Tesla, Lego and, most lately, Google.

Johnson’s departure is not surprising after a 44-year tenure with the automaker, nevertheless GM additionally introduced one other extra stunning departure on Tuesday: that of Mike Abbott, govt vp of software program and companies.

GM mentioned Abbott, a former Apple govt who began with the automaker in Might, shall be stepping down attributable to well being causes.

Baris Cetinok, present vp of product in software program and companies, has been named Abbott’s interim substitute whereas a search is performed. Cetinok, additionally a former Apple govt, began with GM in September.

The adjustments are efficient April 2, however GM mentioned Johnson will stay with automaker by means of the remainder of the 12 months.

Google didn’t instantly reply for remark concerning Clausen’s departure.

The hiring of Clausen is especially notable, as GM and different automakers try to match or surpass Tesla in manufacturing batteries and powertrains for electrical autos.

Clausen spent practically 14 years at toymaker Lego, then joined Tesla throughout a interval of intensive development and tumult on the firm, from 2015 to 2019.

Reporting to CEO Elon Musk and former CTO JB Straubel, Clausen served as vp of Tesla’s first battery manufacturing plant, often called the Nevada Gigafactory, exterior of Reno.

Clausen led a fast enlargement of that manufacturing facility and earlier than he left had been tasked with discovering methods for Tesla to scale back the quantity of scrap and waste it was producing whereas the EV maker was rising from a distinct segment participant to a mass-market autos enterprise.

When Clausen joined Tesla, the now U.S. EV chief was producing its higher-end sedan, the Mannequin S, and its falcon-wing Mannequin X SUV. By the point he left, the corporate had begun mass manufacturing and delivering its entry-level Mannequin 3 sedan, which stays its most accessible electrical automotive.

After his tenure at Tesla, Clausen labored at Zymergen, an artificial biology firm funded by Softbank  and later acquired by a giant competitor, Gingko Bioworks. After the merger, Clausen moved on to a task at Google as a vp of engineering for the corporate’s Information Middle Superior Know-how Innovation group, the place he labored on environmentally accountable cooling options for knowledge facilities, amongst different sustainable development initiatives.

Clausen will not be the one ex-Tesla govt to affix GM. The corporate’s board members embody former Tesla President of World Gross sales and Service Jon McNeill.