GE GE Aerospace

   By Justina Vasquez 
 

GE Appliances Chief Executive Chip Blankenship will leave his post at the end of 2017, an announcement that comes about a year after China's Haier Group completed its purchase of the former General Electric Co. unit.

The company said Kevin Nolan, vice president and chief technology officer at GE Appliances and Haier subsidiary Qingdao Haier, will serve as its next CEO.

Mr. Blankenship began his career with GE in 1992.

GE Appliances said earlier this year it plans to cut manufacturing costs for some of its major appliances to better compete with long-time U.S. rivals and emerging Asian competitors. It may also cut employee wages amid a battle with unionized workers at its Kentucky manufacturing plant, which the company said is losing hundreds of millions of dollars per year.

Haier bought GE's appliance unit last year for $5.4 billion in a bid to expand its global manufacturing reach and have access to the U.S. market. It is now the second-largest manufacturer of white goods in the U.S. GE Appliances generated $6.4 billion of revenue in 2016.

Haier also appointed Melanie Cook as chief operating officer and Rick Hasselbeck as chief commercial officer. Ms. Cook had been the company's vice president of sourcing, and Mr. Hasselbeck was chief marketing officer.

Write to Justina Vasquez at justina.vasquez@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

June 21, 2017 10:54 ET (14:54 GMT)

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