• The Detroit News, Thursday, April 17, 2008 10:30 AM

In a move to simplify its organization and create a more focused sales and marketing strategy, General Motors says it will have four sales channels instead of eight, each headed by a general manager.

Saturn and Chevrolet will have their own channels. There will be a channel for the premium brands and one for Buick, Pontiac and GMC. As part of the shuffle, former Nissan North America sales and marketing chief Mark McNabb will run the premium Cadillac, Hummer and Saab brands.

Having a large number of brands has forced GM to hang on to overlapping or slow-selling products, along with the bureaucracy of managing each one. Under the old system, a general manager who focused on marketing ran each brand. The general managers will now oversee all aspects of each brand channel, including sales, marketing and working with dealers.

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