Harold L. Smith Jr. has been named general manager of the Detroit Diesel Allison Division, General Motors Corporation; he is also a GM vice president. Mr. Smith replaces Donald J. Atwood, who has been appointed group executive in charge of GM's Electrical Components Group.
Mr. Smith joined General Motors with the Electro-Motive Division in LaGrange, Ill., as a detail project engineer in 1946. Working his way up through the engineering ranks, he became assistant chief engineer in 1960, then chief engineer in 1965.
He was promoted to general manager of Electro-Motive Division and was elected a GM vice president in 1973. The following year he was appointed group executive in charge of the GM Power Products Group, the position he held until his latest assignment.
Detroit Diesel Allison was formed in 1970, when GM merged the former Detroit Diesel Engine and Allison Divisions. DDA has manufacturing operations in Redford Township and Romulus near Detroit; Indianapolis, Ind.; Wellingborough, Northamptonshire, England; and Peterhead, Scotland.