Joel Ewanick Leaves GM

G

eneral Motors head of global marketing, Joel Ewanick, has apparently left the company. Sources have told Automotive News that Ewanick has left GM, where he's been since May 2010. Ewanick started at GM as the head of U.S. marketing, before soon becoming the head of GM's global marketing.

Joel Ewanick

Before joining GM, Ewanick was briefly at Nissan, which he joined after working at Hyundai, where he was the brainchild behind the company's popular Assurance program, which sought to reassure nervous new-car buyers by allowing them to return their new car if they suffered an economic hardship such as a job loss.

Ewanick has been controversial at times—he consolidated all of GM's advertising into one firm, Commonwealth, and he also pulled GM's advertising off of Facebook a few days before Facebook's intial public offering. Not only that, but he pulled GM from advertising in the 2013 Super Bowl. He announced both moves in a Wall Street Journal interview that seemed to catch his bosses off guard.

The poorly received "Chevy Runs Deep" tagline is Ewanick's responsibilty as well.

GM has had little to say about Ewanick's departure, save for this statement to Automotive News: "He failed to meet the expectations the company has of an employee." AN attributed that quote to GM spokesman Greg Martin.

GM's statement also said that GM's vice president of U.S. sales and service will take over Ewanick's job in the interim.