Harley-Davidson has appointed former General Motors director of global vehicle integration Jim Federico as its vice-president of engineering. Harley’s announcement was released just 24 hours after GM corporate affairs spokesman Greg Martin claimed that Federico had decided to retire from his 36-year career at the US automotive giant with immediate effect.
Federico is one of a number of senior executives abruptly leaving GM, following their involvement in a botched decade-long investigation into faulty ignition switches that have been linked to at least 13 deaths and eventually led to a recall of 2.59 million cars. Federico’s direct boss, GM vice-president of global vehicle engineering John Calabrese, is also retiring.
Commenting on Federico’s appointment, Harley-Davidson spokeswoman Maripat Blankenheim said: “We’ve been talking to Jim about this position for some time.”