Yahoo Autos Tony Roma to Replace Tadge Juechter as Corvette's New Head Honcho
General Motors has announced that Tony Roma will serve as executive chief engineer for the global Corvette and performance cars team.
Roma replaces Tadge Juechter, who announced his retirement in April after a 47-year career at GM.
Roma currently leads the Cadillac Celestiq engineering team and has worked on Corvettes as well as Cadillac's V-series and Blackwing performance cars.
Tony Roma has been named executive chief engineer for the global Corvette and performance cars team. He takes over for Tadge Juechter, who famously led development of the C7 and C8 Corvettes and is now retiring.
Roma, who currently serves as the chief engineer for the electric Cadillac Celestiq, will take over starting on July 1. He'll also lead GM's newly formed luxury and performance car team. In a press release, GM President Mark Reuss said, "Tony is a natural fit to succeed Tadge... I see a great future for Corvette and the other vehicles that Tony's team will create."
Roma has previously worked on the Corvette program as well as on Cadillac's performance cars under the V-series and Blackwing banners, such as the CTS-V and ATS-V. GM asserts that Roma is a car guy through and through, with Roma claiming that his first words were "blue Nova" in reference to his mother's 1970 model. He also owns several Corvettes—a C4 ZR1, C6 ZR1, and C8 Z06—as well as a CTS-V Wagon.
GM says that Roma is certified to drive on the Nürburgring, where he has collected more than 1500 laps during the "Industry-Pool" sessions where automakers put their cars to the test during development. Just recently, Roma raced in the 24 Hours of Nürburgring in a Cupra Leon. Fun fact: He also races with Car and Driver alumn Csaba Csere.
“I’m approaching this opportunity with deep respect and admiration for the hard work from those who came before me, going back to the first-generation Corvette in the 1950s up to this day,” Roma said in the release. “Corvette earned and continues to earn its place in American car history thanks to the people behind it, like Tadge Juechter. These are big shoes to fill, but we will work every day to continue the strong legacy this nameplate deserves.”
Juechter spent 47 years at GM and pioneered the Corvette's transition from front-engined to mid-engined with the C8 generation that debuted for 2020. His final mark on the Corvette world will be the new twin-turbo ZR1, which will be revealed this summer. By that time, Roma will have taken over the wheel, and we think he's the right man for the job.
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