General Motors Co (GM) has recently revealed a series of strategies to boost its global presence in several of the world's major markets and automotive segments.

On April 12, GM named Don Butler head of strategy for Cadillac, as the luxury brand seeks to become a globally recognized name. Butler, 49, had been marketing chief for Cadillac.

In the newly created role of vice president for global Cadillac strategic development, he will be in charge of driving the luxury brand's growth internationally. Butler, who had been in charge of global marketing for the brand, will continue to report to Bob Ferguson, GM's global Cadillac chief.

GM's drive to make Cadillac a global brand took shape after the company's 2009 bankruptcy and restructuring. While Cadillac has been marketed around the world, the pre-bankruptcy GM lacked the financial clout to boost demand beyond the small numbers sold outside the US.

People familiar with the company's discussions with suppliers previously said Cadillac might double its vehicle lineup to as many as 10 models over the next four years as part of GM's strategy to turn the brand into a global power. Besides the new ELR plug-in electric coupe due next year, the plans may include a flagship sedan, a small crossover and a smaller car to take on BMW's 1-Series.

In addition, Butler said last summer that the brand in two years should be challenging foreign automakers for the top spot in the US luxury auto segment, a position it has not held in 15 years. Officials said US sales of the brand should be double the 2010 total of about 147,000 vehicles within a couple of years.

Cadillac's US sales fell 1.7 percent last year to 149,782 vehicles. The US accounts for about three-quarters of the brand's global sales, which totaled about 200,000 in 2011 and 2012, down from 241,000 in 2007.

"Cadillac is continuing to expand in our home market and globally, which demands that we continually enhance our team's focus and capabilities," Ferguson said in a statement. "Don's international experience and deep product knowledge will be major assets as we take our global growth to the next level."

Africa on the rise

Besides the luxury sector, the US automaker is also eyeing the mass market in Africa, one of the most rapidly growing car markets in the world, and its emphasis will be put on Nigeria in particular.

Annual vehicle sales in Africa will rise nearly 20 percent in the next two years to hit the 2 million mark as the continent's burgeoning middle class trades up for new cars, the regional head of GM said on April 11.

The US car giant sold 180,000 vehicles on the continent last year, giving it a 10 percent market share and putting it narrowly behind rival Toyota, which recorded African sales of 237,000.

However, of GM's total sales, 100,000 went to North Africa and 70,000 to South Africa, leaving only 10,000 to the impoverished but fast-growing countries in between.

"That's where we see the huge opportunity for growth," GM Africa managing director Mario Spangenberg told the Reuters Africa Investment Summit in Johannesburg.

Although Africa offers enticing growth, sales volumes remain a drop in the ocean for GM, which sold 6 million vehicles last year outside its traditional US market.

As well as benefiting from the expanding overall market in one of the world's fastest-growing regions, Spangenberg hopes to increase GM's market share with models such as the Isuzu pick-up, which has proved resilient to Africa's rugged conditions.

"We want to defend our 10 percent and maybe grow it a little bit," he said.

Of Africa's 40-odd sub-Saharan frontier markets, Nigeria - the continent's most populous nation and its biggest oil producer - is the most attractive prospect, Spangenberg said.

"The next big market growth will be in Nigeria, where we have no presence. It will take a while," he said. "We need to do a better job there."

He also dismissed concerns that the arrival of Indian manufacturers such as Tata Motors, with its experience of making and selling cars in relatively low-income markets, threatened GM's African expansion plans.

"The international competition is going to get tougher no matter where you are," he said.

Opel for Russia

Meanwhile, GM's loss-making Opel brand will push growth in Russia as part of an export drive to offset slumping business in Europe but steer clear of China, Bild am Sonntag reported on April 13.

"For Opel, Russia is of great importance," GM chief executive Dan Akerson told the German weekly newspaper. "In a few years time, the Russian market could become bigger than the German one."

Ruesselsheim, Germany-based Opel, enjoys almost a "premium image" in Russia where the brand sold over 80,000 cars last year, said CEO Karl-Thomas Neumann, also citing Turkey as a key growth market with about 50,000 deliveries.

By contrast, boosting exposure in China would cost Opel "hundreds of millions of euros," Neumann said, adding the car maker has "other priorities."

Reuters - Global Times