General Motors appoints South African to head up the company’s Chevrolet Business in Southeast Asia
PORT ELIZABETH – General Motors today announced the reorganization of its Chevrolet business in Southeast Asia. Its units in Thailand, Indonesia, and Vietnam will be placed under a new leadership team led by incoming GM Southeast Asia President Ian Nicholls, effective 01 September 2017.
Nicholls who currently serves as President and Managing Director of GM Sub-Saharan Africa, will in his new role be based in Bangkok and report to Stefan Jacoby, GM executive vice president and president of GM International. He will continue to remain in his current role at GM South Africa and support the operations through its transition during the balance of the year.
“Southeast Asia is a focus of GM,” said Jacoby. “We are manufacturing several products in the region, including award-winning trucks and SUVs at our plant in Rayong, Thailand. The Chevrolet Colorado and Trailblazer are crucial for Southeast Asia markets and for export.”
He added, “Together with new SUVs that include the Trax, Chevrolet has been able to develop a strong image as an American brand, and we are seeing continuous sales growth in key emerging markets such as Vietnam. With Ian overseeing the region, we will continue transforming our business by simplifying our structures to support the growth of the Chevrolet brand and garner greater efficiencies.”
Nicholls began his automotive industry career in South Africa in 1990 at Delta Motor Corporation. He held several positions including Manager of new business development, Managing Director of a catalytic convertor subsidiary company, Director of Materials Management, Director of Sales and Marketing and Director of Planning. During this time he also undertook a special assignment at Adam Opel in Germany.
In 2004, when General Motors acquired the business, he served in a variety of roles including an international assignment in Warren, Michigan as Global Segment Director for utilities and pick-ups, Vice President of Planning for South Africa, and up until now as President and Managing Director of GM’s Sub-Saharan Africa operations.
Michael Sacke, currently CFO for GM South Africa, will be appointed as Chief Operations Officer and CFO to assume responsibility for the day to day operations of the company and manage its transition through the end of the year.
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