Barry Engle, a seasoned automotive executive and currently chief executive officer of Agility Fuel Systems, will join GM in September and succeed Jaime Ardila, General Motors executive vice president and president of South America, who is retiring.

In his new role, Engle will be responsible for operations in Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay, Chile, Peru, Colombia, Ecuador and Venezuela. He will also become a member of the GM Executive Leadership Team, reporting to GM President Dan Ammann, according to GM.

Engle has previously held management positions in South America including president of Ford of Brazil and Mercosul from 2005 to 2006, and director of Marketing, Sales and Service for Ford of Brazil from 2001 to 2003. His experience in the region dates to the early 1980s, when he lived and worked in Argentina. He speaks both Spanish and Portuguese, according to GM.

Since 2011, Engle has been CEO of Agility Fuel Systems based in Santa Ana, Calif. The company is a private equity-backed Tier 1 supplier of natural gas fuel systems for heavy truck and bus original equipment manufacturers. From 2010 to 2011, he was CEO of Think Holdings, another private equity-backed company based in Oslo, Norway. From 2008 to 2010, he served as President and CEO of New Holland Agricultural Equipment in Turin, Italy, according to GM.

From 1992 to 1997 and 2000 to 2008, Engle held various management positions at Ford in the United States, Mexico, Japan, Brazil and Canada. He also has automotive retail experience as a Chrysler-Plymouth-Jeep dealer in Salt Lake City from 1997 to 2000, according to GM.