General Motors announced today the restructuring of its business in Africa to capitalize on growing opportunities across the continent. Effective January 1, 2011, GM’s operations in Africa will be split into two sub-regions.
GM North Africa will include Libya, Algeria, Tunisia, Morocco, Western Sahara and Mauritania. These countries will be integrated with GM Egypt under the leadership of GM Egypt President and Managing Director Rajeev Chaba.
GM Sub-Saharan Africa will include other countries on the continent. They will be integrated with GM South Africa under the leadership of GM Africa President and Managing Director Edgar Lourencon.
“Africa’s emerging markets offer tremendous long-term potential for General Motors,” said Tim Lee, President of GM International Operations (GMIO). “Our new business structure will align our growing business in Africa with the rest of GMIO and provide better visibility for the continent within our entire company.”
Lee added, “By fully leveraging our existing structure as well as our global resources to focus on each individual market, we look forward to growing and strengthening GM’s business across Africa.”
In the first 10 months of 2010, GM’s sales in Africa (including Egypt and Israel) rose 15 percent on an annual basis to 146,000 units, giving it 12.9 percent of the market. GM’s two largest country markets on the continent, Egypt and South Africa, accounted for more than 70 percent of the company’s sales in Africa.
Chevrolet is GM’s primary brand across Africa. A range of popular Chevrolet models are offered, including the Aveo small sedan, Cruze compact sedan and T Series pickup.
About General Motors: General Motors, one of the world’s largest automakers, traces its roots back to 1908. With its global headquarters in Detroit, GM employs 209,000 people in every major region of the world and does business in more than 120 countries. GM and its strategic partners produce cars and trucks in 31 countries, and sell and service these vehicles through the following brands: Baojun, Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, FAW, GMC, Daewoo, Holden, Jiefang, Opel, Vauxhall, and Wuling. GM’s largest national market is China, followed by the United States, Brazil, the United Kingdom, Germany, Canada, and Russia. GM’s OnStar subsidiary is the industry leader in vehicle safety, security and information services
