Several top General Motors Co. executives-including some who had only been in their current roles for a few months-got new jobs on Friday. The moves were orchestrated by Chairman Ed Whitacre, who ousted Fritz Henderson last Tuesday and will serve as interim CEO while a search is conducted for a replacement.

Whitacre says his aim is to permanently remove GM’s old corporate culture, giving executives more direct responsibility and authority, then holding them accountable for market performance.

The new structure makes Mark Reuss president of GM North America, reversing Henderson’s decision to eliminate such regional posts. The son of former GM President Lloyd Reuss, the younger Reuss has held a number of vehicle development positions since joining the automaker in 1983. He was head of GM’s Holden operations in Australia before being named vice president of engineering in July.

Nick Reilly, who in July was tapped to head GM’s international operations and was appointed in November to head the restructuring of Opel/Vauxhall, is now president of GM Europe. He gives up his previous role as president of GM International Operations to Tim Lee, who had been GM’s group vice president of manufacturing and labor relations.

Whitacre, the 68-year-old former CEO and chairman of AT&T Inc., was hired in June as part of a board shakeup shortly after GM filed for bankruptcy. The company emerged from Chapter 11 protection in mid-July, but analysts say he grew impatient with the recovery pace set by Henderson. Whitacre is GM’s third CEO this year. Henderson, a 25-year GM veteran, replaced Rick Wagoner as CEO in late March.

General Motors Co.’s latest round of executive reshuffling strips Vice Chairman Bob Lutz of his duties as global head of branding, marketing, sales and communications. His new role is special advisor on design and product development.

Lutz, 77, had been scheduled to retire at year-end but was asked to stay on after GM emerged from bankruptcy in July. He had stepped down as GM’s head of product development earlier this year. turning over those duties to Tom Stephens. Global purchasing, which will continue to be led by Robert Socia, has been added to Stephens’ oversight.

Karl-Friedrich Stracke, 53, is now vice president of engineering, reporting to Stephens. Stracke most recently was executive director of engineering, based at GM’s proving ground in Milford, Mich. He succeeds Mark Reuss, who occupied the position for five months before being named on Friday to head GM’s North American operations.

During his short tenure as chief engineer, Reuss solicited direct feedback from consumers who bought GM vehicles and returned them under the 60-day return program that began Sept. 13 and runs through Jan. 4. He also encouraged all GM’s engineers to speak up when they see potential quality problems-something he says many people in the organization haven’t been doing.

Other executives receiving new jobs on Friday include Diana Tremblay, GM’s top labor relations official, whose responsibilities now include manufacturing.

Denise Johnson, who had been vehicle line director and chief engineer for global small cars, becomes vice president of labor relations.

Susan Docherty, who was promoted to chief of sales in October from the head of the Buick-GMC division, now is vice president vehicle sales, service and marketing-duties that had been assigned to Vice Chairman Bob Lutz in July.

Ford Motor Co. plans to develop its future small cars on its own rather than in partnership with Mazda Motor Corp., effectively ending decades of close product collaboration between the two companies. The Fiesta small car and several other current Ford models share components with their Mazda counterparts.

Analysts note that Ford likely will develop future global small cars in Europe under CEO Alan Mulally’s “one Ford” strategy of integrating the company’s product development and manufacturing operations on a global scale.

Ford bought a 25% stake in Mazda 30 years ago, and increased ownership to a controlling 33.4% in 1996. The Detroit automaker sold off two-thirds of its equity in Mazda last year, but its remaining 11% share still makes it the Japanese company’s largest shareholder.

The Obama administration has appointed longtime congressional aide David Strickland, 41, to head the U.S. National Highway Transportation Safety Administration, which oversees auto safety standards and recalls. The nomination awaits confirmation by the Senate.

If approved, Strickland would replace Acting Administrator Ron Medford. David Kelly was NHTSA administrator until Jan. 20 under former President Bush. Obama’s first nominee, Charles Hurley, was forced to withdraw his nomination under pressure from environmentalists. They criticized him for siding with automakers over the safety implications of downsizing vehicles to increase fuel efficiency in the 1990s when he was at the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.

Strickland has been senior counsel to the Senate’s commerce subcommittee on consumer protection since August 2001. He has degrees from Northwestern University and Harvard’s Law School.

His work with the subcommittee includes help in drafting the 2005 five-year transportation authorization bill. He also helped write the 2007 energy bill, including provisions to increase fleetwide fuel efficiency standards to 35 mpg by 2020. The White House subsequently accelerated the target to 2016.

In conjunction with the new fuel-efficiency standards, NHTSA and the Environmental Protection Agency authored a joint regulatory proposal to set the first tailpipe emissions standards in the U.S. The final regulation is due to be issued by March 30.

Mitsubishi Motors Corp. will call its new crossover the RVR, reviving a name it used between 1992 and 2002. the new model debuts next spring in Japan and later in 2010 in Europe, North America, China and other global markets.

The RVR resembles Mazda’s 2007 Concept cX. Differences include a squarer nose, less radical rear hatch and more conservative colors. At 169 inches long, the RVR is nearly eight inches longer than the concept but still is much shorter than most of its rivals and is more than one foot shorter than MMC’s Outlander midsize crossover. The new car will be powered by a new 1.8-liter MIVEC four-cylinder engine instead of the concept’s diesel powerplant. Mazda hasn’t said whether the production vehicle will maintain the concept’s all-wheel-drive configuration.

The previous Japanese-market RVR was a tall wagon blended with a microvan. It was sold in other markets as the Space Runner and Expo LRV. In the U.S., it was sold under license by Chrysler as the Dodge/Plymouth Colt Vista and the Eagle Summit Wagon.

Volkswagen AG’s Audi A3 TDI sedan has been named Green Car of the Year by California’s Green Car Journal. The A3 beat out three hybrids-the Honda Insight, Toyota Prius and gasoline-electric version of the Mercury-along with the diesel-powered VW Golf TDI.

Powered by a 2.0-liter four-cylinder diesel and a dual-clutch automatic transmission, the A3 TDI has a U.S. EPA combined fuel economy rating of 34 mpg. The car’s highway rating of 42 mpg is 50% better than the A3 with a 2.0-liter gasoline engine.

Jurors included Green Car Journal editors and six other environmental and automotive experts. The outsiders include of Sierra Club President Carl Pope, performance guru Carroll Shelby and television personality Jay Leno, who is a longtime automotive enthusiast.