23.1.2006
Rita Forst honored with “Woman of the Year” award

Every January, the specialist magazine “Automotive News Europe” honors a woman who has distinguished herself in the automotive industry as “Woman of the Year”. This year, the award goes to Rita Forst, Executive Director, Product Engineering at GM Powertrain Europe.

With this award, the magazine recognizes an extraordinary career. Roger Johansson, Vice President, GM Powertrain Europe, says: "I congratulate Rita very warmly on this excellent achievement. The award reflects Rita's outstanding work, leadership and personality. We at GM Powertrain Europe are proud to have Rita on our team.”

Rita Forst was born in Wiesbaden, Germany, and graduated from the University of Applied Sciences in Darmstadt, where she studied Mechanical Engineering with a focus on energy and thermal engineering. She began her career in Opel's engine design in 1977. From 1981, she was Project Engineer for new engine designs at Opel and was responsible for the introduction of the catalytic converter and four-valve technology. Following this, she managed the design and development of GM’s globally used Family II engines. In addition, she was a member of the core team on the global light-alloy engine project and was Project Manager for the integration of this new generation of engines in Opel's Astra, Zafira, and Vectra models. As Chief Engineer, she assumed responsibility for Manufacturing Engineering of all Powertrain facilities in Europe, including the new engine plant in Kaiserslautern, in 1999.

With the establishment of the Powertrain organization in 2001, Rita Forst took on new responsibilities, which led up to her move from Rüsselsheim to Turin, Italy, in the summer of 2005. There, she took over a key role in the launch of the newly founded GM Powertrain Europe organization.

As Executive Director, Product Engineering, she oversees the design, development and integration of gasoline engines, passenger-car diesel engines and manual transmissions for all GM Europe brands.