Opel Strategy Boss Will Head Chevy, Cadillac in Europe

General Motors Co. has appointed Opel executive Thomas Sedran to become president of Chevrolet and Cadillac European operations on July 1.

Sedran, a restructuring expert, has been Opel management board member for operations, business development and strategy since April 2012. He also served as the company's interim CEO from last July until Karl-Thomas Neumann took the job in March.

Sedran will replace Susan Docherty, who said last week she will step down on Sept. 1.

CEO Dan Akerson says Sedran brings a "fresh perspective" about how the Opel and Chevy brands should be positioned in Europe. His challenge, Akerson adds, will be to differentiate the two by price, content and image.

Chevy was initially positioned as a bargain marque with models priced below their Opel counterparts. But GM objected to the budget image when it decided to make Chevy a global brand.

The marque's sales across Europe plunged 31% to 59,400 vehicles in the January-May period of 2013, thus shrinking its market share to 1.1% compared with 1.5% a year earlier.

Cadillac has made little impression in Europe, where German and British carmakers dominate the luxury segment. The brand's deliveries across the region fell to 180 vehicles in the first five months of this year from 230 units in the same period of 2012.