Cadillac’s Global Strategy Chief Resigns

Don Butler, who has headed global growth strategy for General Motors Co.'s Cadillac brand since April, has unexpectedly quit.

GM, which reportedly was surprised by Butler's resignation, says it tried to persuade him to stay. Butler tells Automotive News he is stepping down because of personal priorities, not a disagreement about Cadillac's direction.

The brand's U.S. sales have soared 30% year over year to 99,300 vehicles in the January-July period of this year.

Butler has held a series of marketing jobs since joining the company in 1981. He briefly left GM for a job with telematics startup Inrix Inc. in 2009 but returned the next year as Cadillac's U.S. marketing chief.

The luxury marque's management has been in flux. The company hired advertising executive Steve Majoros in April for the newly created post of director of global Cadillac marketing. Last month GM fired the brand's U.S. sales head Chase Hawkins for violating an unspecified company policy.