GMSA appoints Brain Olson

Brain Olson

He takes over from Malcolm Gauld who has worked at the company for over 26 years with the bulk of his time spent in the parts and accessories and vehicle sales, service and marketing areas of the business.

Brian Olson who is currently Retail Network Development Manager for Chevrolet Europe will succeed him in the role from 1 October 2013 and will report direct to Ian Nicholls, Vice President of GM South Africa Operations.

"Brian is a welcome addition to the local leadership team and is familiar with our business, having previously occupied various roles in the South Africa Vehicle Sales, Service and Marketing team between October 2005 and May 2012," emphasised Nicholls. "He brings a wealth of experience into the company and will form an instrumental part of our strategy to further strengthen and build our brands in South Africa."

Olson who is originally from Bismarck in North Dakota, has held numerous sales and marketing positions within General Motors' global and North American organisations since 1997.

He began his career as a District Sales Manager for GM's Buick division in Flint Michigan. Following this he worked at GM's operations in Detroit where his responsibilities included marketing for the GMC Division's midsize sports utility vehicles, integration between central office and the regional sales teams and diversity marketing.

In 2005 he joined GM South Africa where he worked for seven years, first in the Marketing Manager role and from 2010 as Sales Manager. In 2012 he moved to Europe where he worked in various roles for Chevrolet and Cadillac.