Johan Willems joins the Opel management board next week as head of communications for Opel/Vauxhall, taking over from Susanne Wegerhoff who has decided to leave the company, Opel said in statement.
Willems, who is currently vice president, communications, for GM International Operations based in Shanghai, China, will be responsible for all product, brand, corporate and internal communications at Opel/Vauxhall in Europe.
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Willems, a former automotive journalist in his native Belgium, joined Opel in Antwerp in 1992. Between 1996 and 2007, he was in charge of Opel/Vauxhall and GM Europe product & brand communications, working at the Opel headquarters in Rüsselsheim for several years. He has also worked at GM’s Detroit HQ where he was director of global environmental and advanced propulsion communications. He speaks fluent Flemish, French, German and English.
Other changes announced by the company see Mary Barra, GM senior vice president, global product development, join the Opel supervisory board. At GM, Barra is responsible for global design, engineering and programme management. She succeeds Walter Borst on the supervisory board.
GM said that the new appointments ‘demonstrates GM’s support for Opel/Vauxhall and commitment to Europe,’ following the appointment of Stephen Girsky as Opel chairman with Daniel Ammann, GM chief financial officer, and Tim Lee, president GM International Operations, also becoming regular members of the supervisory board.
