General Motors this week will name current US sales chief, Alan Batey, to head Chevrolet worldwide as part of a plan to make the mainstream brand more successful around the world, a person ‘familiar with the matter’ has said.
The announcement could come as early as Tuesday, the anonymous source told the Wall Street Journal.
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According to Reuters, Batey, 50, began his career with GM in 1979 as a mechanical engineering apprentice for Vauxhall here in the UK. He has held senior management positions in western Europe, South Korea, Australia and the United Arab Emirates. Prior to joining Chevy in 2010, he headed GM’s Holden operations in Australia and New Zealand.
He is currently vice president of US sales, service and marketing and has been the acting chief marketing officer since Joel Ewanick was forced out last summer. The new structure would echo an approach GM took with Cadillac when it named Bob Ferguson global chief for its luxury brand last October, the news agency said.
GM announced on Friday night that Susan Docherty, president and managing director of Chevrolet and Cadillac Europe, would leave “to spend time with her family” effective 30 September. A successor would be named later.
Reuters noted that GM has defined Chevrolet and Cadillac as its global brands, with other marques sold in specific parts of the world: Opel in Europe [it is also now on sale in Australia – ed]; and Buick in China and the United States. GM chief executive Dan Akerson had indicated a job much like Ferguson’s would likely be created to run Chevrolet.
Batey, from Luton, England, was credited with launching Chevrolet’s global advertising campaign, ‘Find New Roads’ in January. GM executives felt it would resonate better with consumers globally than the previous ‘Chevy Runs Deep’ campaign.
The advertising campaign is part of GM’s push to make Chevy even stronger globally. Ten years ago, the US market accounted for about 70% of the brand’s overall sales, but now makes up only 36% of the total as overseas sales have grown, especially in China and South America. Chevy is sold in more than 140 countries.
Tim Mahoney, a former Volkswagen AG executive, was named head of global marketing operations and chief marketing officer for global Chevy in February, and the source told the WSJ his job will not change. Ewanick’s old position will disappear as part of the new structure, Reuters added.
