A woman gets in a self-driving Chevy Bolt EV car during a media event by Cruise, GM’s autonomous car unit, in San Francisco, California, November 28, 2017.

General Motors President Dan Ammann is taking over as CEO of the automaker's Cruise autonomous vehicle unit, the company said Thursday.

Current CEO and co-founder Kyle Vogt will become chief technology officer and president. The changes will take effect on January 1, 2019, the company said.

"These appointments further demonstrate our commitment to transforming mobility through the safe deployment of self-driving technology and move us closer to our vision for a future with zero crashes, zero emissions and zero congestion," GM Chairman and CEO Mary Barra said in a statement. "As we move toward commercial deployment, adding Dan to the strong team led by Kyle is the next step."

GM's shares were slightly down in intraday trading.

Now that Ammann will head Cruise, GM's international businesses and its financial wing will report directly to Barra, GM said.

GM's autonomous unit is currently valued at $14.6 billion, GM said. The business received an investment from Japanese conglomerate Softbank in May. In October, the company announced a partnership with Japanese automaker Honda to build an autonomous vehicle.

Ammann is credited with leading GM's acquisition of the San Francisco-based autonomous vehicle technology company in 2016.