Simcoe’s legacy as a designer is best defined by the resurrected Monaro which entered production in 2001 (Image: Holden)
Australian automotive designer Mike Simcoe has announced his pending retirement after an illustrious 42-year tenure with at General Motors which saw him pen iconic designs for both our market and the rest of the world.
Joining Holden in 1983, Simcoe rose through the ranks despite reportedly being discouraged from automotive design by his university lecturers, seeing the job as a way to make quick money. By 1987, he was already Holden’s chief designer.
Simcoe went on to oversee the creation some of Australia’s most important vehicles of the past few decades – the VT Holden Commodore, the best-selling generation in the Commodore lineage, along with the revitalised V2 Holden Monaro which he first sketched on a wall at home.
Simcoe led the VT Commodore design team, with the model going on to be the best-selling in the Commodore lineage (Image: Holden)
The VX-based Monaro model paved the way for Aussie cars to experience great overseas success, with it sold in other markets as the badge-engineered Pontiac GTO for the US and Vauxhall Monaro in the UK. Mind you, the VT before it gained some traction in the Middle East and Brazil under the Chevrolet badge.
The same was done with Holden’s ‘billion dollar baby’, the Zeta platform VE-VF Commodore which was also designed under Simcoe, which was offered as the Pontiac G8 (VE) and Chevrolet SS (VF) in America, while Brits received it as the Vauxhall VXR8.
Simcoe’s V2 Monaro tried its luck in America as the Pontiac GTO, along with in the UK under the Vauxhall badge (Image: Pontiac)
It wasn’t just Aussie cars Simcoe played a role in, however, with other roles he spent time in saw him working with GM’s Asia Pacific partners such as Daweoo, Isuzu, Subaru, and Suzuki.
In 2004, Simcoe was appointed executive director of the company’s North American exterior design arm, overseeing the design of the second-generation Cadillac CTS and Zeta-based fifth-gen Chevrolet Camaro.
Finally, in 2016, Simcoe was promoted to his current position of senior vice president of GM Global Design, making him head of the company’s design operations. It’s a job that rarely comes up, with Simcoe only the seventh-ever appointment to the role and the first non-American.
Simcoe, left, will be replaced in the top job by current Cadillac design boss Bryan Nesbitt when he retires in July 2025 (Image: General Motors)
Simcoe will retire on July 1, 2025, after focusing on the brand’s transition to electric models in recent years, overseeing models including the high-end GMC Hummer EV.
Bryan Nesbitt, currently Cadillac’s design chief, will be Simcoe’s successor in the illustrious role.
“Michael is a visionary designer and leader [who] has elevated automotive design not just at GM, but the world over,” said GM president Mark Reuss, singing the Aussie’s praises in the company’s official announcement of his pending retirement.
“Under his leadership, GM Design has created a stunning vehicle portfolio that customers love. His focus on the customer, keen eye for detail, and an emphasis on the future made Michael everything we could have asked for in a chief designer. He also fostered a deep, collaborative relationship with engineering and manufacturing to push the boundaries of creativity and execution. Michael and his team have cemented design as a fundamental competitive advantage for GM.”
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The fifth-generation Camaro, based on the VE Commodore’s Zeta platform, was one of the global models Simcoe oversaw the design of (Image: Chevrolet UK)
