General Motors has replaced the head of its Cadillac division, naming Steve Carlisle to replace Johan de Nysschen, who is leaving the company immediately.

Carlisle steps into the role of Cadillac president and senior vice president with General Motors. Travis Hester is replacing Carlisle as president and managing director of GM Canada.

The move ends de Nysschen's nearly four-year effort to boost sales of GM's luxury brand. He had led Infiniti and prior to that Audi USA for eight years.

While he made a few splashy moves, such as moving Cadillac operations to New York City and introducing several new vehicles, de Nysschen was unable to grow Cadillac sales, which reached 156,440 in 2017. Cadillac sold 182,543 units in 2013 and 170,750 in 2014.

Under de Nyschenn's tenure, Cadillac introduced the CT6 full-size sedan and XT5 midsize SUV. In March, Cadillac announced it would introduce the 2019 XT4 compact SUV in the fall.