Official: Bob Socia to replace retiring Kevin Wale as head of GM China

Official: Bob Socia to replace retiring Kevin Wale as head of GM China:
Filed under: China, Europe, Hirings/Firings/Layoffs, GM




Kevin Wale, President of General Motors in China, has announced that he is stepping down at the end of this month. Wale (inset) will be succeeded by the man shown above, Bob Socia, who is currently vice president of the company's purchasing and supply chain. The transition will take effect October 1.



Wale, 57, has also been operating as chief country operations officer in the automaker's China, India, and ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) regions. Socia will take over these duties as well. Wale started his work with GM back in 1975 at the Holden brand. There, he took on the roles of director of finance as well as director of sales and marketing. He followed that up with a stint with GM's Asia Pacific operations, as the executive responsible for that outfit from 1998 to 2001. Wale took over as chairman and managing director for Vauxhall from 2001 to 2005 when he took the helm of the Asia Pacific branch of GM.



Wale's presence in GM's China outpost will be missed - he presided over a period of great growth for the company in the region. Greater Chinese sales were 560,000 units in 2005 when Wale took over. Contrast that with 2011, when GM China moved 2.5 million units in the rapidly maturing market.



The 58-year-old Socia, who will be taking over for Wale at the end of the month, has spent time in just about every region GM has operations in. He started in Detroit with Cadillac in 1975. From there, he moved on to hold top positions at GM Asia Pacific, GM Europe, GM Latin America, Africa and the Middle East. Despite stepping down, Socia will remain a member of GM's Executive Operations Committee. His successor at his soon-to-be-vacated position has yet to be named.



The GM of China announcement is the latest high-level management change for GM in what has been a tumultuous year. CEO Dan Akerson has pledged to shake up the way the company does business, and there have been substantial head executive changes in the company's power structure. Big changes have come in areas like infotainment and manufacturing, not to mention the controversial ousting of global marketing chief Joel Ewanick in late July.



Read more in the official announcement by scrolling below.
Continue reading Bob Socia to replace retiring Kevin Wale as head of GM China

Bob Socia to replace retiring Kevin Wale as head of GM China originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 12 Sep 2012 13:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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