Former GM Europe chief Forster joins autonomous tech firm's board

Carl-Peter Forster, a former CEO of Opel and a BMW veteran, has joined the advisory board of Vayavision, an Israeli developer of autonomous vehicle technology that plans to expand in Europe.

Vayavision develops software for automated driving that it says can reliably and accurately detect small obstacles and "unexpected" objects.

Forster's appointment brings the company "closer to helping OEMs and Tier 1s implement safer and more reliable perception software for autonomous vehicles at an affordable price," Vayavision said in a news release.

In March, the company received a 2.45 million euro ($2.74 million) grant from the EU to support promotion and penetration of its technology in the European market

Forster has spent over 35 years in the auto industry, beginning his career in 1986 with BMW where he rose to head manufacturing before leaving the company in 2000.

He was appointed head of Opel in 2001 and was promoted to president of parent General Motors Europe three years later. Forster resigned from GM in 2009 following his criticism of the automaker for reversing a decision to sell Opel to Canadian supplier Magna International Inc. and its Russian partner Sberbank.

The following year he joined Tata Motors as Group CEO, where he took responsibility for the Jaguar and Land Rover brands.

In 2013, Forster joined Volvo Cars' board of directors before retiring from the role earlier this year.