Elizabeth Griffith
Co-Chair, AutomotiveNEXT Director of Engineering - GM Global
Faurecia Interior Systems
Spanning over 45 years in the automotive industry, Ms. Griffith’s career has been diverse. In her role as the Director of Engineering for Faurecia Interior Systems, Ms. Griffith supports a team of 14 people on the GM Global account. Some of her responsibilities include: growing the business and developing customer relationships; achieving GM and Faurecia safety, quality and cost objectives; and understanding the complex customer product systems to ensure that the product, processes and people are focused on success over the product’s execution timeline.
Before coming out of retirement to join Faurecia in 2010, Ms. Griffith held various positions—among them vice president of advanced engineering and program management—at Magna’s Intier Automotive from 2001-2007. Prior to that, Ms. Griffith was the vice president of engineering and program management at Peregrine Incorporated.
Ms. Griffith’s career began at General Motors, where she was part of the first large class of women to go through the General Motors Institute program. After graduating from the program in 1977, she held various positions within General Motors, including manufacturing general supervisor, platform program manager and chief manufacturing engineer mechanical components and interiors.
Beyond her professional accolades, Ms. Griffith was named one of the “100 Leading Women in Automotive” by Automotive News in both 2005 and 2015. She also champions various women-in-automotive groups, inspiring women to join STEM fields and careers. She is also the co-chair of AutomotiveNEXT, inspiring and supporting the next generation of automotive leaders.
Ms. Griffith holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from General Motors Institute (Kettering University) in Flint, Michigan