GM Canada Leadership Changes Announced: Travis Hester Promoted to GM Global Vice President of Customer Experience, Scott Bell Named GM Canada President and Managing Director
2019-09-05
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Oshawa, Ont. (September 5) – General Motors today announced the appointment of Travis Hester to the newly formed position of global vice president of Customer Experience, reporting to Barry Engle, executive VP and president, GM North America and Mark Reuss, GM president.
Scott Bell, currently vice president, sales, service and marketing, GM Canada is named president and managing director, GM Canada, replacing Hester. The transition will begin immediately.
Scott Bell Appointed President and Managing Director of GM Canada
Bell brings extensive leadership experience to his new role as president and managing director. Prior to his current position leading sales, service and marketing for GM Canada, Bell was the director of U.S. sales operations for Chevrolet, where he was responsible for leading the brand’s business planning, incentives strategy, customer experience and training, retail advertising and dealer relations.
“It’s a special honour to take on the role of GM Canada president and managing director in this pivotal 101st year for our company in Canada,” said Bell. “Having worked so closely with our dealers over the past year, I know the potential we can tap into together with renewed focus on growing our business and delivering for our customers.”
Bell will report to Barry Engle, executive VP and president, GM North America.
Travis Hester Appointed GM Global Vice President, Customer Experience
Hester has been president and managing director of GM Canada since April 2018 where he led the Oshawa Transformation Agreement which includes enhanced supports for Oshawa Assembly employees, and the transition of the site to a unique new parts manufacturing operation and state-of-the-art test track for advanced vehicle testing. Under his leadership and vision, GM Canada has become the largest automotive software engineering workforce in Canada and expanded its innovation network through partnerships with Canadian universities, start-ups and business incubators.
“I want to thank all my fellow GM Canada employees, our great Canadian dealers and our many other partners across Canada for their support during my time as president,” said Hester. “I look forward to elevating our customer experiences to new heights in this next chapter.”
A Letter from Travis Hester
I am honoured and excited to take on a new global position at the heart of GM’s core focus to put our customers at the center of all we do. I am also extremely pleased for GM Canada’s vice president of sales, service and marketing, Scott Bell who has become a great friend and an outstanding choice as GM Canada’s president and managing director. Scott will be ably backed by Sandor Piszar who moves from his most recent role in the U.S. with Chevrolet trucks to become GM Canada’s vice president of sales, service and marketing.
I want to thank all my fellow GM Canada employees, our great Canadian dealers and our many other partners across the country for their support during my time as president. We cannot anticipate every challenge that comes our way, but we can choose to tackle those challenges with creative solutions and compassion. Together, we have accomplished so much through hard work and a shared belief that everything can be made better, every day.
I am especially proud of our efforts over the past six months working with Unifor and our other partners to ensure we support all our employees and their families as we prepare to transform the Oshawa Assembly Plant. As challenging as the past year has been at times, I am confident that all our employees at Oshawa Assembly will either find new roles in other GM operations, have access to paid training leading to new careers at some 5,000 open GTA jobs we have identified with 45 employers, or they will be among some 1,200 hourly Oshawa hourly workers who will receive a well-earned GM defined benefit pension for life, up to $150,000 in lump sum payment, a voucher toward the purchase of a new GM vehicle and GM paid educational support should they wish to continue their learning with one of our excellent educational partners.
In January, we will see the beginning of a unique new parts manufacturing operation at the Oshawa plant that is poised for growth as well as the development of an exciting new test track on the property for advanced vehicle testing. This will keep Durham Region on the cutting edge of automotive technology development in Canada. Overall, working with our partners we have ensured General Motors will remain one of Oshawa’s largest private sector employers – and I believe that will be the case for decades to come.
Looking beyond Oshawa, GM Canada maintains a strong, high quality, diversified manufacturing base in Ingersoll and St. Catharines. It bodes especially well for GM Canada that we have become General Motors’ largest software and engineering operation anywhere outside the U.S. and the largest in Canada. Our deep relationships with Canadian universities, accelerators and hundreds of local start-up tech companies are unmatched in the industry in Canada. I could not be prouder of the amazing accomplishments of our employees in Oshawa, Ingersoll, St. Catharines, Markham, Kapuskasing and in all our parts, sales, service and customer support teams across Canada.
Above all, this business is about people. It has been very important to me that we take care of our people and support them as we transform our business. At the same time, we have remained focused with our dealers on serving our customers all across this amazing country. Working with our talented GM Canada team will always be something I’ll be proud to remember.
Thank you,
Travis Hester
A Letter from Scott Bell
It’s a special honour to lead GM Canada into this pivotal 101st year as president and managing director. As Travis noted, we are well positioned to emerge from the past year with renewed focus on growing our business and delivering for our customers. There is more work ahead, but GM remains a very strong and diversified presence in Canada. We have quickly become Canada’s largest automotive software development team as new technology drives important changes across our industry. We remain one of Canada’s largest manufacturers and exporters, and Canada is the 4th largest country for General Motors sales in the world.
Canada’s new vehicle sales market had a turbulent ride over the past year with an unprecedented shift in customer preference toward SUVs and trucks. The great news for GM Canada and our dealers is that no company in Canada has a better portfolio of new pickups and SUVs. With Chevrolet, Buick, GMC and Cadillac poised to win, our brands are strong, our electric vehicles are industry leaders and we have more great new vehicles and services coming soon. No company comes close to the excellence of our network of GM dealers and their 32,000 employees across Canada.
Having worked so closely with our dealers over the past year, I know the potential we can tap into together and I can’t wait to take on this new role along with our new GM Canada vice president of sales, service and marketing, Sandor Piszar. Sandor and I have worked closely together in the past and I know he will be an all-star on team GM Canada. Above all, I am extremely excited to work closely with all our employees and many partners across Canada.
Together, I look forward to launching GM Canada to win for the next 101 years.
Scott Bell
About General Motors Canada
General Motors of Canada Company markets Chevrolet, Buick, GMC and Cadillac vehicles through Canada’s largest dealer network, as well as OnStar and MAVEN services. Headquartered in Oshawa, Ontario, GM Canada employs more than 7,700 people across the country and is a recognized leader in advanced manufacturing, green operations, active safety, and autonomous and connected vehicle technology research and development. More information on the company can be found at www.gm.ca or by following @GMcanada on Twitter.
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