By CRM Staff
Toronto, Ontario – March 1, 2019 —General Motors will be losing two top executives effective April 1.
Alan Batey, executive vice president of North American, will be retiring after 40 years of service with the company.
Batey will be replaced by Barry Engle, the current executive vice president and president of GM international. Engle will be responsible to report to Mary Barra, chairwomen, and CEO of GM.
Alicia Boler Davis, executive vice president of global manufacturing, has chosen to leave GM to take a job with technology giant Amazon. Gerald Johnson, GM’s current vice president of North American manufacturing and labour relations, will replace Davis. Johnson, who will be joining GM’s senior leadership team, will also be reporting to Johnson, according to the company.
GM’s executive shuffle comes just months before the auto manufacturer begins renegotiating its national contract with the United Auto Workers.
Other recent GM employee changes include former chief Julia Steyn departing, former GM president Dan Ammann moving to head GM Cruise LLC, and former product chief Mark Reuss moving into second-in-command.
Barra explained in a statement Saturday that Engle, who previously worked with rival Ford Motor Company for 13 years before coming to GM in 2015, is the right candidate to replace Batey as the automaker “continues to streamline operations, simplify our systems and refine our global go-to-market strategies.”
