Nesbitt has pedigree to shape Buick design - Automotive News
DETROIT -- In his 14-year General Motors career, Bryan Nesbitt has overseen design at everything from Chevrolet and Cadillac to GM's Chinese joint-venture brands, Wuling and Baojun. Now, he's in charge of Buick. And he seems to have the pedigree to lead design for GM's near-premium brand as it seeks to build its U. S. lineup and maintain its heavyweight status in China. Nesbitt, 46, spent the last four years in China, where the roads swarm with Buicks -- it was the No. 4 brand there last year and will make a run at 1 million sales this year. He's no stranger to the brand: In the mid-2000s, he led the design team that penned the Enclave, the handsome large crossover that GM executives have credited as the workhorse of the brand's comeback from near death in GM's 2009 bankruptcy. Because Buick's portfolio increasingly is influenced by Opel under GM's tri-continent strategy to leverage the two regional brands by selling nearly identical vehicles in Europe as Opels and in China and the U. S. as Buicks. Buick continues to build out its U. S. portfolio, which was threadbare four years ago with just three nameplates. His new job was one of several personnel moves atop GM's brands made recently by GM global design chief Ed Welburn. Source: www.autonews.com
