Rita Forst (born 31 March 1955) is a German automotive engineer and executive with
General Motors Europe
General Motors Europe (often abbreviated to GM Europe) was the European subsidiary of the American automaker General Motors (GM). The subsidiary was established by GM in 1986 and operated 14 production and assembly facilities in 9 countries, an ...
(GM Europe).
Early life
She was born in
Wiesbaden
Wiesbaden (; ) is the capital of the German state of Hesse, and the second-largest Hessian city after Frankfurt am Main. With around 283,000 inhabitants, it is List of cities in Germany by population, Germany's 24th-largest city. Wiesbaden form ...
, in
Hesse
Hesse or Hessen ( ), officially the State of Hesse (), is a States of Germany, state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt, which is also the country's principal financial centre. Two other major hist ...
in western Germany. She studied Mechanical Engineering at
Darmstadt University of Applied Sciences (''Hochschule Darmstadt Maschinenbau'', a ''fachhochschule'').
Career
She started her career in engineering in 1977.
General Motors
In 1997 she became Project Manager for the new
GM Family II engine
The Family II is a straight-4 piston engine that was originally developed by Opel in the 1970s, debuting in 1981. Available in a wide range of cubic capacities ranging from 1598 to 2405 cc, it simultaneously replaced the Opel CIH and Vaux ...
range. She was responsible for the
GM Ecotec engine
The GM Ecotec engine, also known by its codename L850, is a family of inline-four engines, displacing between 1.2 and 2.5 litres. Confusingly, the ''Ecotec'' name was also applied to both the Buick V6 engine, Buick V6 Engine when used in Holden Veh ...
(L850).
GM Powertrain Torino was established in Turin in 2005, and the whole division employs around 10,000 people. In September 2005 she was named as Executive Director of Product Engineering at GM Powertrain Europe.
From 2010 until 2012 she was the overall head of Engineering (''Entwicklungschefin'' of research & development) at GM Europe. She has also held positions at Opel and subsidiaries of General Motors.
Personal life
She is married and has two sons.
Automotive News Europe
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References
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Forst, Rita
1955 births
General Motors people
German automotive engineers
People from Wiesbaden
Living people
20th-century German engineers
21st-century German engineers
20th-century German women engineers
21st-century German women engineers
Engineers from Hesse
Women automotive engineers
Automotive engineers