Top sales exec leaving GM

Robert Snell and David Shepardson / The Detroit News

General Motors Co.'s top U.S. sales executive is leaving the company to pursue "another opportunity."

Mark LaNeve, GM's vice president for U.S. sales will leave the company Oct. 15, President and CEO Fritz Henderson said in an e-mail obtained by The News. LaNeve is leaving for a job outside the automotive industry.

"Mark has contributed significantly to GM in several key positions, including transforming the Cadillac brand and leading the vehicle sales, service and marketing organization during one of the most challenging periods in GM's history," Henderson wrote. "Please join me in thanking Mark for his dedication and wishing him and his family well."

GM said late Wednesday that LaNeve will be replaced by Susan Docherty, who is general manager of Buick-GMC. Docherty also will take a spot on the company's executive committee. GM said it will look outside the company to replace Docherty.

LaNeve said in an e-mail it was a difficult decision to leave.

"It is very emotional to leave the great folks I have worked with and the dealers who have supported me and GM. It has been my honor to work with these people," he said, declining to disclose where he will be working next. "The new company wants to make an announcement in the next couple days. It's nonautomotive and a great opportunity for me."

Henderson also addressed reports that Chief Financial Officer Ray Young will be leaving GM but refused to say whether a change was pending.

"Ray's our CFO," Henderson said. "There are a lot of rumors in the press. I'm not going to comment any further."

Henderson also relayed that news during a conference call with analysts and reporters updating the company's progress 90 days after emerging from bankruptcy on July 10. Henderson said GM is leaner, building stronger brands and overhauling the company culture.

During the call, Henderson said GM has implemented a new global operating structure, streamlined its executive leadership team and installed a largely new board of directors.

"We are taking aggressive actions and moving quickly to transform our culture into one that is truly customer focused," Henderson said in a statement.

Henderson estimated GM will release third-quarter financial results in mid-November.

"We're on a path to achieve our structural cost reductions," he said.

Yet GM sales dropped 45 percent last month and have fallen 36.4 percent this year.

GM emerged from bankruptcy court July 10 after receiving $50 billion in federal aid, shedding brands, billions in debt and thousands of employees. The automaker is focusing on four core brands -- Chevrolet, Cadillac, Buick and GMC -- and is selling or phasing out its Saturn, Saab, Hummer and Pontiac brands.

Analysts say Henderson must stem the sales slide and market share erosion and boost revenues if he wants to keep his job.

To combat perceptions about GM and boost sales, the automaker unveiled a new marketing campaign, "May the Best Car Win," featuring appearances by Chairman Ed Whitacre Jr., and spotlighting several new models, including the Chevrolet Equinox, Cadillac SRX and Chevrolet Camaro.

Henderson also emphasized that the Chevrolet Volt extended-range electric vehicle remains on target for production late next year.

GM, he said, has a cleaner balance sheet, fewer employees, an improved cost structure and stronger dealer network.

Since last year, GM has slashed its work force from 29,700 salaried workers to about 24,300. Its hourly work force has been cut 21 percent, from 62,000 last year to 49,200.

Henderson said despite the salaried cuts, GM will need workers to take retirements in the fourth quarter.

Henderson said GM has made progress on the sale of several assets, including the Hummer brand to Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery Co. Ltd. GM also is working to complete the sale of its majority stake in Opel/Vauxhall. Magna International and Sberbank will hold a 55 percent stake in the deal.

Looking toward next year, GM will focus on its business performance and improving cash flow and work to boost revenues while stabilizing market share in the U.S. and growing in China, India and other emerging markets.

"We've made a lot of progress in 90 days, but we don't think for a second that we can begin to ease off the accelerator," Henderson said. "We have been granted an extraordinary second chance to reinvent this company. We are driving hard to change the way we interact with our customers, to ensure our new cars and trucks are the best in their segment, and to change the way we operate and how we think about the business. We need to prove ourselves every day, and we will."

LaNeve's departure, meanwhile, ends a 28-year auto industry career that started with stints in sales and marketing at Cadillac. He is a former brand manager for the Pontiac Bonneville.

In 1997, LaNeve was named vice president of marketing at Volvo Cars of North America, where he later served as president and CEO before returning to GM as general manager of Cadillac.

In September 2004, he was named North American vice president, marketing and advertising. The next year, he was promoted to vice president of North America vehicle sales, service and marketing.

But in July, he was named vice president of U.S. sales and speculation surfaced that he would be leaving the automaker amid a broad executive reshuffling.

"They really didn't seem to have a position for LaNeve. It was an unusual position, there's no counterpart," at other automakers, auto analyst Aaron Bragman of IHS Global Insight.

He said LaNeve was popular among dealers and well regarded.

"You can't point to one man and say they are the cause of GM sales issues," Bragman said. "It's been an ongoing problem for GM for a long time. The board has made it clear: either perform or you're gone. I don't think any position is safe. That's honestly how it should be."

rsnell@detnews.com (313) 222-2028