Anne Asensio, Executive Director of Design Interior Design, Quality & Brand Character General Motors Design Center

Anne Asensio, Executive Director of Design Interior Design, Quality & Brand Character General Motors Design Center
Anne Asensio was named Executive Director of Design, Interior Design, Quality and Brand Character, at General Motors Design in January 2002.

Asensio is responsible for the design and quality of vehicle interiors, and the brand character of GM's seven domestic brands - Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, GMC, Hummer, Pontiac and Saturn. She joined GM in October 2000 as executive director of the Brand Character Center.

Before joining GM, Asensio worked for the French automaker Renault, where she held a series of design assignments for small and medium cars, and utility vehicles. She was part of the Renault Design team that achieved great success with the popular Megane Scenic minivan, Clio subcompact and Twingo minicar. Asensio also participated in a one-year design project at American Motors when it was partnered with Renault to develop a smaller Jeep product.

In 1997, Automotive News named Anne Asensio "Automotive Woman of the Year," and recognized her again in 2000 as one of the top 100 women in the North American automotive industry. Fortune magazine featured Asensio in an article published in May 2001 titled "25 Rising Stars," which highlighted next-generation global leaders all age 40 or younger. Also in 2001, Crain's Detroit Business named Asensio to their list of "Michigan's Most Influential Women."

A native of France, Asensio began her college career in sculpture before switching to industrial design. She has a technical sciences in industrial design degree (1985) and bachelor of arts degree (1986) from the Ecole Nationale Superieure des Arts Appliques et Metiers d' Art in Paris. Soon after graduation, she attended the prestigious Center for Creative Studies in Detroit for one year of post-graduate coursework in automotive design.

Asensio was born July 13, 1962, in Versailles, France, near Paris.