General Motors combined the leadership of its International region with its South America region, effective Jan. 1, 2018, under Barry Engle, GM executive vice president and president of GM South America.

Engle assumed the leadership of GM’s International region following Stefan Jacoby’s retirement at the end of 2017. Jacoby, GM executive vice president and president of GM International, has led the company’s International region since August 2013.

With the combination of GM South America and GM International, Engle became GM executive vice president and president of the newly formed GM International, overseeing all GM operations outside of North America and China. His mandate is to deliver profitable growth in each market in which the company competes. Engle is based in Detroit and reports to GM President Dan Ammann.

“Combining the leadership of the two regions supports our efforts to gain efficiencies in global markets,” said GM Chairman and CEO Mary Barra.

Engle joined GM in September 2015. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in economics, with a minor in Spanish, from Brigham Young University and a Master of Business Administration from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

GM Simplifies Regional Structure

Earlier, GM reorganized its GM South America regional business unit by establishing three new subdivisions: GM Mercosur, GM Andina, and GM Central. The purpose of the reorganization was to improve efficiencies, reduce bureaucracy, and speed up the decision-making process.

These regional operations were created in 2010. “Our primary focus with this renewed organization in South America is to improve efficiency, reduce bureaucracy and speed up the decision-making process,” said Engle. “We firmly believe that by simplifying our regional structure, we will contribute to the growth of the Chevrolet brand. Our ultimate goal is to have a customer-centric company delivering the best products and services and making our business competitive globally.”

Vehicle sales in the South American region are primarily under the Chevrolet brand. For the past 17 consecutive years, the Chevrolet brand has been the sales leader in South America.