Brent Dewar, new head of Chevrolet (Photo from GM)
Less than a day after news broke that Bryan Nesbitt, of PT Cruiser design fame, will be appointed to lead Cadillac, it's apparent there's going to be a change in leadership at Chevrolet, too. Automotive News reports that Brent Dewar will replace Ed Peper as the head of Chevrolet. He will report to Bob Lutz, vice chair of marketing.
Dewar has been leading General Motors' Europeans sales operations since last summer. Before that, he was GM's VP of field sales, service and parts. He was general marketing manager for Cheverolet in the early years of the 21st century during the brand's "Chevrolet: An American Revolution" ad campaign. Peper, meanwhile, moves over to Cadillac sales and will report to Mark LaNeve.
GM also announced that Susan Docherty will stick around to lead both Buick and GMC (less Pontiac). This stand-pat move doesn't exactly strike us as a vote of confidence in either Buick or GMC, as these are the "New GM" brands that need the most help. It's hard to imagine Docherty will have the wherewithal to resurrect both at the same time.
Automotive News (sub.req)
1487 says:
12:44 PM, 07/23/09
"This stand-pat move doesn't exactly strike us as a vote of confidence in either Buick or GMC, as these are the "New GM" brands that need the most help. It's hard to imagine Docherty will have the wherewithal to resurrect both at the same time."
Pretty silly statement. GMC is their 2nd best selling division and the Acadia has done well. Buick has only had one new product in the last 3 years. They are adding two more cars in the next 2 years. Thats the help they really need. You cannot produce results with an old lineup of cars.
stovt001 says:
01:50 PM, 07/23/09
Not much needs to change at GMC itself. GM just needs to realize splitting sales and ad dollars isn't the same thing as adding sales. Buick's new products look good as well. The brand shouldn't need much help after that. Again, the problem isn't with the brand per se, its how it fits in without cannibalizing other GM sales.
inlinesix says:
08:06 PM, 07/23/09
Another plus for GM. Buick is topping the overseas companies in dependability according to 3-year dependability study from J.D. Power.
http://editorial.autos.msn.com/article.aspx?cp-documentid=435214