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GM Appoints Jess Bala As New Managing Director For Australia And NZ

GM has appointed Jess Bala, who currently serves as Director of Global Product Planning and Product Strategy for The General’s Cadillac brand, as Managing Director of GM Australia and New Zealand, with oversight over many aspects of the GM’s Oceania branch.

Bala will take up her duties at GM Australia and New Zealand starting on September 1st, while the previous managing director Marc Ebolo will become the sales director for GM Middle East.

The badge of GM brand Cadillac on the Cadillac Escalade IQ teaser.

During her tenure at Cadillac, Jess Bala was a key figure in the process of making the premium GM brand an all-electric vehicle lineup by 2030, with no remaining ICE Cadillac models available at that time. She provided leadership during the North American and Chinese launch of the Cadillac Lyriq.

Bala is originally from Australia and started her automotive career at GM Holden in 2009 as a District Sales Manager in the Adelaide area. According to her LinkedIn profile, she then became a planning analyst, assistant product manager, and product planner before moving to Detroit in 2013 to begin 9 years and 11 months of direct employment by GM itself.

President and Managing Director of the GM Strategic Markets, Alliances and Distributors region Ernesto Ortiz praised Jess Bala as “a highly experienced GM professional who has 15-plus years leading and implementing winning product strategies, including the introduction, and positioning of electric vehicles in both retail and commercial markets.”

The GM Holden logo.

Bala’s appointment to an important role in the GM Australia and New Zealand region has kindled speculation about the return of the Cadillac brand to “Down Under” after a more than half-century hiatus. Cadillac sold LaSalle Series 50 and Cadillac Series 60 vehicles in Australia, but sales ended in 1969, the same year Elvis Presley’s “Gold Cadillac” 1960 Series 75 Fleetwood limousine toured the country.

GM filed for trademarks in Australia and New Zealand for three Cadillac EV models within the past year. The General filed for a Cadillac Lyriq trademark in December 2022, though a company representative denied the filing had any significance, remarking that it is “common practice for GM to secure key trademarks globally.”

Since then, GM has also filed for Australian trademarks of the upcoming Cadillac Optiq all-electric crossover and the Cadillac Escalade IQ full-size luxury SUV. Some news sources have pounced on these facts and claim that Jess Bala will oversee the launch of an initial three-model Cadillac EV lineup for Australia.

Front three quarters view of the 2024 Cadillac Lyriq.

Regardless of whether Jess Bala supervises the return of the Cadillac brand to the land of koalas, kangaroos, and wombats 54 years on, she stated that GM Australia “will remain focused on putting the customers first by bringing winning products and a world-class ownership experience.”

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Comments

  1. I miss Holden.
    And stuff the stupid EVs.

    Reply
  2. So, if I get this right, by 2030 Cadillac will be all EV models, and I will not be able to get an ICE model. What if I, and thousands more don’t buy into this EV thing, what are we supposed to do? I have driven nothing but Cadillac since 1980, and my parents before that. Have I bought my last Cadillac? I don’t understand this complete sweeping through an entire car company, and probably disenfranchising so many loyal customers, such as myself. I say it’s a good thing Bala is gone, maybe some clear thinking and planning for the future can return to GM’s luxury brand!

    Reply
  3. I’ve been an American Car enthusiast, for a long time, and have never heard of any Cadillacs being officially sold by GM,in either Australia or New Zealand in the 1960s.Only private imports.

    Reply
  4. In the early 2000s GM-H was just about to launch Cadillac in Australia. At the last moment when the first load of cars had hit the docks down under, the scheme was scrapped and the cars were shipped to New Zealand to be sold there.

    Reply
  5. A major stumbling block to this “rumour” is that GM has adopted a world wide left hand drive only policy, whilst Australia and New Zealand are right hand drive only markets. Tesla’s decision to stop making Model S and Model X vehicles has killed sales of those 2 models in Australia.

    Reply

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