Susan Docherty will take on sales, service and marketing for GM's International Operations.
Susan Docherty, former marketing chief for General Motors’ core North American operations has been given a new assignment as head of sales, service and marketing for the maker’s International Operations.
Promotion or demotion? That depends on how you look at GM’s long-term prospects. Reporting to International Operations (IO) Chief Tim Lee, Docherty will be responsible for some of the fastest growing markets in the automaker’s empire. This year, places like China, Brazil and Russia will be responsible for nearly half of the vehicles GM sells and eventually that is forecast to reach 75% of the company’s volume.
“We are fortunate to have Susan joining us at this important time in GMIO’s history, as we focus on growth throughout the region” said Lee. “She brings a wealth of sales and marketing experience with a fresh perspective to the way we approach our business.”
The 47-year-old Docherty is a Canadian native who earned two degrees from the University of Windsor – a Bachelor of Commerce in Business Administration with a major in Marketing and a Bachelor of Arts majoring in Economics. Docherty also spent 2004 on a year-long Sloan Fellowship at Stanford University, where she studied under Eric Schmidt, then the relatively unknown head of rising Internet powerhouse Google.
“It was incredible to step out of this business and hear what was happening in other industries,” she recalls. “It provided a perspective I could learn from and bring back to the company. It was worth every dollar they spent to send me to Palo Alto.”
Immediately prior to GM bankruptcy, last year, Docherty ran the Buick-Pontiac-GMC group, and was responsible for setting in motion the launch of two of the group’s most important – and successful products in a number of years, the Buick LaCrosse and GMC Terrain.
Following the maker’s emergence from Chapter 11, last July, it began to phase out Pontiac, but Buick and GMC are now two of the four surviving brands General Motors plans to operate in North America.
Asked in a recent interview about her role in the downsized GM, Docherty said, “I’m a very driven, Type-A personality, but we have to do more with less, so the one thing I’ve changed about my leadership style is how I prioritize the things we need to do to generate results.”
In the months since the bankruptcy, Docherty as been caught up in the whirlwind of management changes enacted by GM’s new CEO, Ed Whitacre. She was initially appointed head of North American sales, then given the added duties of marketing. Early this year, sales were shifted to GM’s new president of North American operations, Mark Reuss. And then, Docherty had marketing pulled away and given to new Chief Marketing Officer Joel Ewanick, the former CMO at Hyundai.
As head of sales, service and marketing for IO, Docherty replaces Don Johnson. The 53-year-old GM veteran is expected to be named to another company post soon.
“Growth in China and other emerging markets is important to the company’s future,” said GM Chairman and CEO, Ed Whitacre. “We are counting on Susan to make a significant contribution and I am glad to have her running this critical part of our business.”