Gary L Cowger

Gary L. Cowger was named president of General Motors North America on November 13, 2001. In this role, Mr. Cowger has responsibility for all GM operations in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. In addition, he functions as the global process leader for manufacturing. He is a member of the Automotive Strategy Board and chairman of the North America Strategy Board. Previously, Mr. Cowger had been group vice president in charge of GM manufacturing and labor relations since January 1, 2001; group vice president - labor relations, since November 1, 1998; and chairman and managing director of Adam Opel AG since June 19, 1998. Mr. Cowger was named vice president, manufacturing, General Motors Europe, on January 1, 1998, and placed in charge of the overall coordination of all Opel/Vauxhall vehicle manufacturing, assembly, and component operations in Europe, which comprise 14 plants in 10 countries. Prior to that, he had been president and managing director of General Motors de México since September 1, 1994. He was elected a vice president of General Motors Corporation, effective October 1, 1994. Mr. Cowger began his General Motors career in 1965 at the GM Assembly Division plant in Kansas City, Kansas, as a co-op student for General Motors Institute (GMI), now known as Kettering University. He held a variety of engineering and manufacturing assignments of increasing responsibility at the plant. In 1978, he attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) as a GM Sloan Fellow and, upon his return, was appointed superintendent of the Kansas City plant. Mr. Cowger was appointed manufacturing manager of Cadillac Motor Division in 1987. He was instrumental in helping Cadillac win the coveted Malcolm Baldrige Award for quality. In 1990, he became executive director of advanced manufacturing engineering for the Advanced Engineering Staff at the GM Technical Center in Warren, Michigan. In 1993, he was appointed executive in charge of the North American Operations Manufacturing Center. The following year, he was named to the GM de México position. Mr. Cowger was born in Kansas City, Kansas, on April 18, 1947. He earned a bachelor's degree in industrial engineering from GMI in 1970 and a master of science degree in management from MIT in 1978. He died in Plano Texas on February 17 2023. He is survived by his loving wife of 54 years and high school sweetheart, Kay Cowger of Dallas, Texas, his son Christopher Cowger of Austin, Texas and four grandchildren: Alex Narvaez of Forney, Texas, Sydney Narvaez of Dallas, Texas, Bretton Cowger of Austin, Texas and Bodhi Cowger of Austin, Texas. He was preceded in death by daughter Melinda Narvaez of Dallas, Texas and grandson Mark Narvaez of Dallas Texas.