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Cadillac President Johan De Nysschen replaced by head of GM Canada

04/18/2018 11:58 AM | Anonymous


Cadillac President Johan de Nysschen is leaving General Motors and will be replaced by the head of GM Canada, Steve Carlisle, the company said Wednesday. As head of the Cadillac business and a senior vice-president of the parent company, Carlisle will report to GM president Dan Ammann.

The automaker also named Travis Hester as the new president of GM Canada. Hester is currently vice-president of GM’s global product programs.
Carlisle has been at the head of GM Canada since November 2014.

Carlisle led a resurgence of the GM Canada franchise, the company said. The automaker led retail auto sales in Canada last year, and Buick, GMC and Cadillac set sales records in the country that year.

"We appreciate Johan's efforts over the last four years in setting a stronger foundation for Cadillac," said General Motors President Dan Ammann in a release. "Looking forward, the world is changing rapidly, and, beginning with the launch of the new XT4, it is paramount that we capitalize immediately on the opportunities that arise from this rate of change. This move will further accelerate our efforts in that regard."

The move comes as Cadillac takes steps to improve its performance in the luxury segment. De Nysschen had overseen a number of efforts to turn the brand around after years of lost market share in the United States. It moved its headquarters to New York City and said it would completely revamp its lineup with 11 new vehicles through 2021.

Cadillac has garnered praise for its luxury and high-performance sedans such as the CT6 and the CTS-V, but the brand has missed out on the shift in the market away from passenger cars and toward SUVs. Cadillac has recently attempted to address this shift with crossovers such as the mid-sized XT5 and the new smaller XT4 crossover, which debuted just before the New York Auto Show in March.

Cadillac also recently appointed a new chief marketing officer, former McDonald's executive Deborah Wahl, in early March.

De Nysschen had previously served in top roles at Infiniti and Audi of America before taking the helm at Cadillac.