GM exec Walter Borst named Navistar CFO

General Motors executive Walter Borst will join truck and engine maker Navistar International Corp. as executive vice president and CFO, effective Aug. 1, Navistar said today.

Borst, 51, will replace A.J. Cederoth, whose departure from the company was announced Monday. Borst will report to another former GM executive, Navistar CEO Troy Clarke, who was with GM for more than 35 years.

"We are pleased to have Walter joining our leadership team as we move through our turnaround and reposition our company for future profitability and long-term success," Clarke, 58, said in a statement.

"Walter is a highly qualified executive with broad and deep financial expertise. He has proven himself in a wide array of key financial leadership roles at one of the world's largest vehicle manufacturers, all of which makes him the right person to lead our financial operations and functions going forward."

Borst has been with GM for 33 years in various positions. Since May 2010, he has been CEO, chairman and president of GM Asset Management, responsible for handling about $85 billion in assets, mostly for GM benefits plans.

GM money man

From 2003 to 2010, Borst was vice president and treasurer at GM, and was succeeded in the treasurer's post by Daniel Ammann, who since has risen to become GM's current CFO. From 2000 to 2002, Borst was CFO of GM's Opel business in Russelsheim, Germany.

Before that, he held treasury, controller and financial operating posts with GM, including assistant treasurer and director of financial analysis and planning for GM Europe.

In 1985, Borst received a bachelor's degree in industrial administration from the General Motors Institute, now known as Kettering University, in Flint, Mich., and in 1987, he received a master's degree in business administration from Stanford University.

Strategic direction

"I'm excited to be joining Navistar and look forward to helping shape the company's financial and strategic direction for the benefit of its shareholders," Borst said in a statement. "I'm confident that Navistar is on the right track under Troy Clarke's leadership and am delighted that I'll have the opportunity to work with him and the rest of the Navistar team."

Navistar, of suburban Chicago, has gone through executive changes, including the ouster of former CEO Daniel Ustian in August after the company's bet on a new generation of diesel engines failed.

In May, Navistar named Bill Kozek president of the company's North America Truck and Parts business, replacing Jack Allen, who was promoted to COO in April.