DETROIT -- Kathleen Ligocki, a former Ford Motor Co. executive who later led supplier Tower Automotive Inc., is now CEO of a green-vehicle startup.
Ligocki, 54, replaces interim CEO Ray Lane at the newly renamed Next Autoworks Co. Lane remains chairman.
In June 2009 the San Diego company, then known as V-Vehicle Co., said it had the backing of Texas billionaire T. Boone Pickens and other investors to build “environmentally friendly” vehicles in a Monroe, La., plant that once belonged to General Motors.
At the time, V-Vehicle said production could begin in 15 months. In a statement issued Wednesday, Next Autoworks listed Pickens among its investors and said it will “introduce a safe, high-quality, fuel-efficient car for the U.S. market.”
“Every automotive leader dreams of running a successful new car company,” Ligocki said in the statement. “I firmly believe that Next Autoworks is destined to be one of the truly great American success stories.”
