GM's defense subsidiary names new president

Detroit — GM Defense LLC, a subsidiary of General Motors Co., named Steve duMont its new president Tuesday as it celebrated the opening of a new production facility in Concord, North Carolina. 

DuMont, from Raytheon Intelligence & Space, a business of Raytheon Technologies, is joining GM Defense as it prepares to begin manufacturing its Infantry Squad Vehicle, a light and agile all-terrain troop carrier to fulfill a $214.3 million U.S. Army contract — the first major defense contract for GM Defense since its 2017 inception.

GM Defense will manufacture 649 Infantry Squad Vehicles, based on the Chevrolet Colorado midsize pickup, for the five-year contract. It will support additional production of up to 2,065 vehicles if authorized over an eight-year period.

The new 75,000-square-foot plant in North Carolina will support ISV full-rate production. GM Defense has already started manufacturing the ISVs out of the new facility. 

DuMont is taking over for Tim Herrick, who served as interim president since November 2020 after the departure of former GM Defense President David Albritton. Herrick will return full-time to his role as vice president of GM’s Global Product Programs.

At Raytheon Intelligence & Space, duMont led and implemented global growth strategies  He spent more than 13 years at Raytheon and previously worked for BAE Systems and Boeing. DuMont has military experience as an aviation officer and attack helicopter pilot in the U.S. Army.

GM left the defense business in 2003. It announced a comeback with a small startup unit inside the parent company in 2017 after working with different branches of the military on power and propulsion programs. 

"If you think about all the innovation that GM brings from our parent company with a focus on areas like electrification, autonomy ... and connected vehicles ... there's a tremendous amount of investment from GM that's directly applicable to help solve some of the toughest challenges that our warfighters are facing," duMont said in an interview Tuesday with The Detroit News. "I'm really proud to be here today in this role and I'm excited about what the future holds for GM Defense."

khall@detroitnews.com

Twitter: @bykaleahall