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WESTLAKE VILLAGE, Calif. — J.D. Power and Associates on Wednesday announced a new head of global automotive operations by promoting an executive already with the company.

Taking on the position is John Humphrey, who most recently served as senior vice president of international operations at J.D. Power. The company opted to move Humphrey into this role to align its automotive operations on a global basis more effectively and enhance and extend its industry benchmarks.

J.D. Power detailed Humphrey's extensive foreign work, including overseeing the company's activities in Asia Pacific, Canada, Europe and the Middle East. J.D. Power operates offices in Tokyo, Singapore, Bangkok, Beijing, Shanghai, Toronto, London and Munich.

Humphrey has also served as director of the company's China operations, residing in Shanghai from 2005 through 2006.

Finbarr O'Neill, president of J.D. Power, elaborated on how Humphrey's appointment further enhances the company's overall strategy.

"As domestic and international automakers move further along the curve of leveraging global scale, J.D. Power is aligning itself to better assist the industry with actionable voice-of-the-customer insights that will help drive profitability," O'Neill explained.

"J.D. Power is moving to a global alignment that reflects today's competitive environment, and John will fully leverage J.D. Power's global reach and capabilities," O'Neill added.

The company also revealed that as a result of this change Gary Dilts will be leaving J.D. Power after three years of service.

"Gary is a highly regarded industry executive who led J.D. Power's U.S. automotive operations in the face of a very difficult environment," O'Neill noted.

"We thank him for his many contributions," O'Neill concluded.