Saab Chief Designer Michael Mauer Appointed Director Of GME Advanced Design

The improvement of engineering efficiencies at General Motors Europe - Opel, Vauxhall and Saab - is fully on track and continues to take shape. The latest move forward is the appointment of Michael Mauer as Executive Director, Saab Design and GME Advanced Design, effective May 1, 2003.

NORCROSS, GA May 27, 2003; In addition to his ongoing responsibilities as Saab's Chief Designer, Michael Mauer, 40, will become more involved in the design of other GM vehicles in Europe, with new responsibilities to coordinate Advanced Design for GME brands. With this organizational change, the existing Saab Advanced Design Center in Pixbo, Sweden, near Gothenburg - along with studios in Rüsselsheim, Germany and elsewhere in Europe - will see broader use by other brands in the GME portfolio. Overall responsibility for the respective design languages remains with the specific studios and brands.

Mauer will continue to report to GME Vice President, Saab Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Peter Augustsson, and will report for GME projects to Hans Demant, Vice President, GM Europe Engineering. On Advanced Design projects pertaining to Opel/Vauxhall, he will coordinate directly with Martin Smith, Executive Director Design, Opel /Vauxhall.

Michael Mauer joined Saab in his current role in May 2000. Since then, he has been responsible for developing and driving Saab's new design direction, as exemplified by the stunning and widely-acclaimed 9-X and 9-3X concept cars.

"We are very excited about the prospects of working much more closely aligned within GM Europe, and the clearly defined intent is to do things only once within the company," said Hans Demant. "Michael Mauer has done an excellent job at Saab Design, particularly focusing on Advanced Design as a critical, brand-defining function. Developing the Pixbo studio into an excellent facility has enabled Saab to make significant progress in anticipating future vehicle design trends. Utilizing this capability on a broader scale is a most logical step which allows us to leverage synergies at a higher rate and to further improve our overall design capabilities."