Batey takes charge of Chevrolet worldwide

FORMER Holden chairman Alan Batey is now in charge of General Motors’ biggest and arguably most important division – Chevrolet – worldwide, overseeing the continued growth of the bow-tie brand that accounts for more than half of the US auto giant’s sales across the globe.

At the same time, GM has also restructured its global design operations, with Australian designers Andrew Smith and Sharon Gauci among those to be promoted.

Mr Smith moves from his role as Holden design director to executive director of global Cadillac and Buick design, while Ms Gauci becomes design director of global colour and trim, having previously been responsible for Buick and Holden.

Mr Batey moves into the role at Chevrolet as GM is rolling out 25 all-new or upgraded Chevrolet vehicles this year – some of which will be rebadged as a Holden for Australia – under the ‘Find New Roads’ strategy that aims to extend its reach beyond its current 53 per cent of GM volume worldwide (and 73 per cent of its volume in the US).

These models include the new Corvette Stingray, Silverado and Impala in the US, and the Trax, Spin, Orlando and Colorado in major markets around the world.

“Chevrolet is our mainstream global brand, and with the growth we are experiencing and the barrage of new products we have coming, the time is right for us to have a single leader responsible for managing the brand around the world,” said GM chairman and CEO Dan Akerson, to whom Mr Batey now reports.

“Alan Batey has worked in markets all over the world, has demonstrated the ability to deliver great business results and understands how to balance global brand consistency while maintaining the local voice of the customer.”

Mr Batey continues in the role as head of US sales, service and marketing, reporting to another former Holden chief Mark Reuss (now GM North America president) and overseeing all other GM brands in its home market including Cadillac, Buick and GMC.

His marketing responsibilities remain, with Mr Batey having taken over the global marketing reins with the departure of Joel Ewanick last August, although former Volkswagen of America marketing chief Tim Mahoney was recently installed as Chevy’s chief marketing officer.

Mr Batey moved from Australia to Detroit in March 2010 to take up the role of vice-president of Chevrolet sales and service.

From top: Design director of global colour and trim Sharon Gauci and executive director of global Cadillac and Buick design Andrew Smith.

An Englishman who started his career with Vauxhall in Britain in 1979 as a mechanical engineering apprentice, Mr Batey was appointed Holden chairman and managing director in September 2009, rising from the position of executive director of sales, marketing and aftersales – a position for which he joined Holden in January 2006.

Before becoming a Holden board member, Mr Batey was vice-president of commercial operations (sales, marketing and aftersales) for GM Daewoo, a role he took on in 2002 when the new business was formed.

Along with former GM International Operations and GM Europe president Nick Reilly, Mr Batey is credited with transforming the bankrupt Daewoo business into a successful global hub for Chevrolet.

Figures released in April show that Chevrolet posted more than 1.18 million sales worldwide in the first quarter, its 10th consecutive quarter of record global sales attributed to key new models such as the Cruze small car, which has struggled in Australia but recently passed the two-million mark in total global sales since its launch in 2009.

In 2012, GM sold 4.9 million Chevrolet vehicles worldwide, which was enough for the company’s bean-counters to conclude that someone, somewhere, bought a car with a bow-tie badge every 6.39 seconds.

The US is by far Chevrolet’s biggest market and racked up 469,000 sales in the first quarter (up 4.8 per cent), with China next on 165,000 (up 2.5 per cent) and Brazil third on 165,000 units (up 3.2 per cent). Rounding out the top-five markets for Chevy are Mexico on 44,000 Q1 sales (up 5.9 per cent) and Argentina, on 37,000, although this was down 11 per cent.

Mr Batey’s appointment comes just days after Chevrolet and Cadillac Europe president and managing director Susan Docherty announced plans to leave the company, effective September 30, after 27 years of service with GM.

As well as growing Chevrolet’s market share in the depressed European market, Ms Docherty has played a key role in “redefining the positioning” of the Chevrolet brand in all markets outside North America.

She will be replaced by Opel strategy chief Thomas Sedran, who steps in on July 1.

Meanwhile, General Motors’ global design team overhaul is meant to “further enhance the focus on joint strategies, theme development and innovation” and increase the emphasis on the company’s brands, including Opel and Buick. The changes take effect on September 1.

As chief of Cadillac and Buick design based at GM headquarters in Michigan, Mr Smith will replace Mark Adams, who is returning to Germany as vice-president of design for General Motors Europe and has a clear brief to resurrect the Opel brand.

Mr Smith had only returned to Holden’s Port Melbourne headquarters as design director a year ago, replacing Tony Stolfo and leaving his role as managing director of architecture and advanced design, based in Seoul, South Korea.

He had held that position for two years, creating such concepts as the 2011 Chevrolet Mi-Ray, and previously spent five years in Detroit, where he moved through several senior design roles including director of interior design, director of advanced design and director of architecture strategy.

In other moves, Chevrolet/GMC design chief Ken Parkinson will now concentrate solely on the Chevy brand, while Helen Emsley will take charge of GMC design, moving from her role as design director of full-size trucks and performance cars.

Global colour and trim design director John Puskar takes over Ms Emsley’s role, while Ms Gauci slots into Mr Puskar’s position. Clay Dean will continue to lead the advanced design studio in North America.

GM’s vice-president of global design Ed Welburn said: “I am confident that this alignment will continue to unite our global team around its passion for designing vehicles that make an emotional connection with customers – and our mission that every new product we develop has to be a great vehicle.”