Dr. Tobias Sünner appointed president of GM’s PATAC engineering and design JV

Dr. Tobias Sünner has been appointed president of the Pan Asia Technical Automotive Center (PATAC), effective June 1, 2015. He will be based at the Shanghai headquarters of GM’s automotive engineering and design joint venture with SAIC.

Sünner currently serves as GM executive chief engineer, Compact Cars. He will succeed Mark LaBaere, who will take over responsibility for defining and implementing the optimized Vehicle Set Strategy for GM’s Global Product Development organization in the United States.

“Tobias brings to PATAC a strong background in automotive engineering, including new energy vehicles, in both Europe and North America,” said GM executive vice-president and president of GM China Matt Tsien. “His expertise will benefit our team of professionals as they carry out projects for GM and its joint ventures.”

Sünner began his GM career with Adam Opel in 1993. After holding various positions in the areas of vehicle air conditioning, engine cooling, electric/electronics and acoustics, he assumed responsibility for vehicle performance/vehicle integration for GM Europe in 2006.

In 2008, he was seconded to GM in Detroit, where he spent two years overseeing the engineering of compact-class vehicles. He later led the development of electrical systems for hybrid and electric vehicles at Opel/GM Europe, and served as executive director, Vehicle Development, for GM Europe. He has been in his current position since July 2012.

“We appreciate the work that Mark has done overseeing PATAC since 2013,” said Tsien. “Under his leadership, PATAC carried out several important product programs for Shanghai GM and SAIC-GM-Wuling. It also developed the Chevrolet-FNR autonomous electric concept vehicle, which was one of the most talked about vehicles at Auto Shanghai 2015.”

PATAC is a 50-50 joint venture between GM and SAIC. It was founded on June 12, 1997. PATAC provides world-class automotive engineering services, including design, development, testing and validation. It has full-scale vehicle and powertrain development capability. Among its achievements is the development of the Chevrolet Sail 3, the new Buick Excelle and the Buick GL8 luxury MPV for Shanghai GM, as well as the Buick Riviera and Chevrolet-FNR concepts. PATAC broke ground for its new R&D facility in Shanghai in June 2013.