Women are right at home in automaker design, engineering, manufacturing, sales, finance, information technology, customer experience, diversity, and social responsibility.

General Motors has promoted Alicia Boler-Davis, 2014 Women of Color Technologist of the Year, to executive vice president for global manufacturing and labor relations, succeeding Jim DeLuca, who is retiring after 37 years with the automaker.

In her new role, Boler-Davis reconnects with the manufacturing area where she began her career in 1994. She will lead 180,000 employees at 171 facilities in 31 countries and have responsibility for labor relations, reporting to Mary Barra, GM chairman and CEO.

Boler-Davis is the highest-ranking African-American woman among the Detroit Three automakers.

She has been senior vice president of GM’s Global Connected Customer Experience since November 2014. In that job she has overseen the introduction of 4G LTE wireless connectivity throughout the U.S. product lineup and the integration of Apple CarPlay and Android Auto into GM’s infotainment systems.

In a previous position, she was responsible for enhancing the automaker’s customer experience to a level that keeps its customers coming back to company brands such as Chevrolet, Chrysler, Cadillac, Buick, GMC, and advancing the global quality of those brands into the future.