Global Marketing Chief Joel Ewanick leaves GM

General Motors Global Marketing Chief Joel Ewanick is no longer with the company. A press release issued by GM states that Ewanick had "elected to resign immediately," while a report by Automotive News claims he was dismissed, with GM spokesman Greg Martin commenting, "He failed to meet the expectations the company has of an employee." With no further elaboration, it's impossible to say what circumstances led to Ewanick's abrupt departure, but his rather short two-year tenure at the company is at an end regardless. His interim replacement is Alan Bately, current vice president, U.S. Sales and Service.

Ewanick, 52, was hired by General Motors as U.S. Marketing Chief in May 2010 and named Global Marketing Chief, a new position, in December 2010. Previously he did a short stint as the head of marketing at Nissan North America, but was best known for his work before that at Hyundai Motor America.

Ewanick might be remembered most for the GM's decision to pull its advertising dollars from Facebook, citing the social network's ineffectiveness shortly before its initial public offering of stock. He also announced that GM would not be advertising in next year's Super Bowl and was the man in charge when Chevrolet unveiled its controversial "Chevy Runs Deep" campaign.

Other decisions made by Ewanick may have a more lasting, if less visible, effect on General Motors. For instance, Ewanick led a recent effort to consolidate GM's creative marketing and advertising agencies, a move that has been estimated to save the company $2 billion over five years. In the case of Chevrolet, the brand transferred all of its business from dozens of agencies around the world to one newly created joint venture called Commonwealth of Detroit that located itself in the city of Detroit, bringing with it new talent and 280 new jobs.