GM Appoints Alan Batey Global Head Of Chevrolet

General Motors named U.S. Sales Chief Alan Batey as Senior Vice President of Chevrolet Worldwide, a newly created post charged with growing GM's largest brand into a global powerhouse.

Batey, 50, will keep his role as GM's Vice President of U.S. Sales, Service, and Marketing, excluding Cadillac, which he has had since June 2012.

The move gives Batey responsibility for Chevy, which accounts for half of the brand's sales worldwide, as well as GM's sales operations in the United States, the company's most profitable market.

"Chevrolet is our mainstream global brand, and with the growth we are experiencing and the barrage of new products we have coming, the time is right for us to have a single leader responsible for managing the brand around the world," GM CEO Dan Akerson said in a statement.

In his new role as head of Chevy globally, Batey will report to Akerson. As head of U.S. sales, service and marketing, he will continue to report to Mark Reuss, President of GM North America.

Akerson has said he wants to create clear accountability for the growth of Chevrolet and Cadillac, which he calls GM's two "global brands." Last fall, he assigned Bob Ferguson to a similar role as Global Vice President of Cadillac.