During a morning conference call with reporters, General Motors CEO Fritz Henderson announced that Mark LaNeve, head of sales for the company in the U.S., will resign effective October 15.

GM is enduring a sales plunge of 36 percent for the first nine months of 2009 with total sales for the automotive industry down 27 percent. In explaining LaNeve's exist, however, Henderson said only that he would "join another company to pursue an interest outside the auto industry."

No replacement has yet been appointed and Henderson indicated the company was open to "outside talent," adding, "We are working with Washington to finalize how we pay people and our compensation packages. Prior to bringing in people from the outside, we need to be able to explain how we pay people."

In the statement issued by GM, LaNeve was credited with contributing to the company "in several key positions, including transforming the Cadillac brand and leading the vehicle sales, service and marketing organization during one of the most challenging periods in GM's history."

LaNeve's initial position with GM was as brand manager for the Pontiac Bonneville before moving to Cadillac. In 1997 he left GM to became vice president of marketing and eventually CEO of Volvo Cars in North America. Returning to GM in May 2001, he worked as general manager of Cadillac and became vice president of marketing and advertising for GM in North America in September 2004.