OREANDA-NEWS. Jaime Ardila, General Motors executive vice president and president of South America, announced today he will retire after nearly three decades at the company. Barry Engle, a seasoned automotive executive and currently chief executive officer of Agility Fuel Systems, will join GM in September and succeed Ardila. 

“We appreciate Jaime’s 29 years of dedicated service and significant contributions in his many roles in North America, Europe and South America,” said GM President Dan Ammann. “We have made tremendous progress in South America under his leadership and I thank him for the support and strategic counsel he has given me over the past four years.” 

Said Ardila: “It has been an honor and a privilege to work for this great company for almost three decades and meet some of the best people in the industry. More than ever, I am convinced GM has the resources to be the most valued automotive company in the world: great leadership, product excellence, total customer focus and a winning mentality.

Ardila recently has led the company’s efforts to grow Chevrolet through a renewed product lineup with a focus on technology, fuel-efficiency and quality. As part of this product overhaul, he also has led an initiative to raise the percentage of component localization for cars made in Brazil. Ardila, 60, has held his current position since 2010. He began his career with GM in 1984 in Colombia. 

In his new role, Engle will be responsible for operations in Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay, Chile, Peru, Colombia, Ecuador and Venezuela. He will also become a member of the GM Executive Leadership Team, reporting to Ammann.

“Barry brings a wealth of leadership, global perspective and previous automotive experience to this significant position in our company,” said Ammann. “He also has valuable operations experience in the Brazilian market from earlier in his career.”

Said Engle: “I’m very excited to join the General Motors team and return to an industry that I love. I’m particularly looking forward to working with my colleagues in South America as we manage through some near-term macro challenges while building and positioning the business for continued long-term leadership in the region.”

Engle, 51, has previously held management positions in South America including President of Ford of Brazil and Mercosul from 2005 to 2006, and Director of Marketing, Sales and Service for Ford of Brazil from 2001 to 2003. His experience in the region dates to the early 1980s, when he lived and worked in Argentina. He speaks both Spanish and Portuguese.

Since 2011, Engle has been CEO of Agility Fuel Systems based in Santa Ana, Calif. The company is a private equity-backed Tier 1 supplier of natural gas fuel systems for heavy truck and bus original equipment manufacturers. From 2010 to 2011, he was CEO of Think Holdings, another private equity-backed company based in Oslo, Norway. From 2008 to 2010, he served as President and CEO of New Holland Agricultural Equipment in Turin, Italy.

From 1992 to 1997 and 2000 to 2008, Engle held various management positions at Ford in the United States, Mexico, Japan, Brazil and Canada. He also has automotive retail experience as a Chrysler-Plymouth-Jeep dealer in Salt Lake City from 1997 to 2000.

Engle holds a Bachelor of Arts in Economics, with a minor in Spanish, from Brigham Young University and a Master of Business Administration from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.