• by Steve McClellan  @mp_mcclellan, July 29, 2012

Joel Ewanick is out as global CMO at General Motors, the auto giant confirmed late Sunday. Alan Batey, vice president U.S. Sales and Service, will assume the role of global chief marketing officer on an interim basis, GM said.

GM said Ewanick resigned effective immediately. Some news outlets were reporting that he was forced out. 

Ewanick was with GM for two years and significantly shook up the companies ad agency roster. Earlier this year, he replaced Publicis Groupe's Starcom MediaVest Group with Aegis Group's Carat as the company's global media agency of record. 

He also consolidated the Chevrolet global creative account under a new joint venture agency between Interpublic Group's McCann-Erickson and Omnicom's Goodby Silverstein & Partners called Commonwealth. 

Ewanick, 52, joined GM in May 2010 in charge of marketing for the company’s North America unit. He was named global chief marketing officer in December 2010. 

Prior to joining GM, Ewanick was vice president of marketing and chief marketing officer for Nissan North America. Before joining Nissan, he served as vice president of marketing for Hyundai Motor America.