DETROIT — General Motors’ captive finance company has restructured its leadership team to better align with its automaker parent, CEO Dan Berce said in a memo to employees.
A series of leadership shifts, including COO Kyle Birch’s promotion to president of North America, will lead to more coordination between GM Financial and GM.
In his newly created role of president of North American operations, Birch will continue to report to Berce, according to the memo. A few key leaders on Birch’s team will report not only to Birch, but also to executives within GM — Deborah Wahl, global chief marketing officer, and Travis Hester, global vice president of customer experience. Birch and much of his team will work closely with GM on marketing, customer experience and digitization.
In September, GM appointed Wahl as its first global chief marketing officer since 2012 and Hester to the newly created position of global vice president of customer experience.
The GM Financial reorganization “gives us more laser focus on how we work with our dealer body and our consumer customers and then really focus on the digitization of our platforms,” Birch told Automotive News.
Will Stacy becomes executive vice president, chief marketing and digital officer. He was previously senior vice president and chief marketing officer of North America. In his new role, Stacy will report to both Birch and Wahl.
Bob Beatty was elevated to a newly created role of chief experience officer. He was previously executive vice president of customer experience. Beatty will report to both Birch and Hester.
Jonas Hollandsworth, previously head of U.S. sales and credit operations, replaces Birch as COO. He reports to Birch.
All executive changes are effective immediately.
“We take … our partnering with GM and how we interact with dealers and consumers very seriously,” said Birch. The changes tie Birch’s team together “so we are aligned from a customer experience perspective in North America.”