He is originally from Naperville, Illinois, United States and has been moved around several General Motors design studios during his career.

[1] In 2002, Lyon was appointed Director of Design for the three Truck Interior Studios in where he led teams working on all GM future production interiors, including the Cadillac Escalade, Chevrolet Tahoe/GMC Yukon, and Hummer H3.

In 2004, Lyon was Executive Director of GM Asia Pacific Design where he led teams in Korea, China and Australia to develop the Chevrolet Cruze, Sonic and Spark.

[2] In 2007, he relocated back to Michigan when he was appointed Executive Director Interior Design of North America.

In that role, Lyon was responsible for 7 studios, including Perceptual Quality, Color & Trim, User Experience, and several Design Studios responsible for the design of Cadillac, Buick, GMC, and Chevrolet interiors.