News: GM's Rick Wagoner to step down ASAP

[killain]

I just read that General Motors CEO Rick Wagoner is planing on resigning ASAP, and that makes tomorrows meeting with the Obama admin. 'Auto Task Force' that much in doubt. I'm worrying the the plans for restruction are both not done or too promising. But perhaps a 'new' captain at the helm would give a sunny morning landscape in DC ? :ugh

 

[catbert]

Rick is the face of GM in this time of overall concern for the viability of GM. Being the face of a corporation in trouble usually doesn't translate into job security UNLESS you are also seen as the one person to lead the company out of trouble - like Iacocca back in the day. Rick now knows first hand how tens of thousands of other people felt on the way out. At least he has the millions in salary plus bonuses he has accumulated over the years. Change is painful.

 

[vett boy]

So maybe A community organizer will be able take charge.

 

[markmark]

So maybe A community organizer will be able take charge.

otflotfl

 

[Kid_Again]

Look, I'm not a fan of ANY politician but it's about time that Wagoner's out on his ass. How in the world could you expect a guy who came up through the ranks be the guy who could make the tough decisions? Too many favors owed.

I agree that he made more fundamental changes than any GM CEO in history but he's not the guy for the long term. Why? Unfortunately, it hits close to home - take the ZR1 as an example. It's like Nero fiddling while Rome burned. Only an idiot would put the engineering talent into that kind of anachronism and let the rest of the Corporation go to hell in a hand basket. I don't care if only took a few MIT engineering interns to fit a blower onto a small block. Wrong, wrong, wrong.

Sure, I like performance Corvettes but it's only a halo brand, not the investment of the future. An all electric car? That's REALLY pushing the technology envelope and now that gas is "cheap" again, the gas mizers like the Prius are sitting unsold on dealer's lots. He never forced fundamental long term investments - he was purely reactive. Yet another example that Wagoner doesn't have clue.

Blue Devil my ass.

Do I have all the answers? No. But neither did Rick nor does Fritz. Fire the Board and put Ralph Nader in charge. I don't think you can do worse.

Hey, either that or the new CEO will be a yellow man.

 

[njlouc]

Rumor has it that he was told to step down or no dough for GM.
WOW was I wrong I thought that he was a jerk, but I never realized how bad!
They said that under his "rule" from 2000, that Gm has not been profitable in those primo years.

 

[njlouc]

BTW last year the Feds gave GM ~ $25billion to develop an "electric" car. Talk about being out of touch!! you could buy 1million Prius - They already exist. Does GM think that they will beat toyota/honda??

 

[Rob]

FOR RELEASE: 2009-03-30

GM Statement on Officer and Board Announcements

Detroit, MI

GM is announcing the following changes in the corporate officers and the board of directors:

Rick Wagoner is stepping down as chairman and CEO, effective immediately. Wagoner, 56, was named president and CEO in 2000, and assumed the role of chairman in 2003.

Fritz Henderson, GM president and chief operating officer, will serve as CEO. Henderson, 50, was named to his current position in 2008. He was previously vice chairman and chief financial officer.

Kent Kresa, chairman emeritus, Northrop Grumman Corporation, has been named interim non-executive chairman of the board of directors. Kresa became a GM director in 2003

GM is awaiting further announcements by the President and the Task Force on Automotive Reconstruction, and we will have additional comments at that time.

GM Board of Directors statement, attributable to Kent Kresa, Chairman

“The Board has recognized for some time that the Company’s restructuring will likely cause a significant change in the stockholders of the Company and create the need for new directors with additional skills and experience. The Board intends to work to nominate a slate of directors for the next annual meeting that will include a majority of new directors taking into account the addition of new directors, retirement, and decisions by individual directors not to stand for re-election, although the specific individuals who will be nominated or choose not to run or leave the board are not yet known.”

CONTACT(S):
Renee Rashid-Merem
313-665-3128 (o)
313-701-8560 (c)
renee.rashid-merem@gm.com

 

[Rob]

FOR RELEASE: 2009-03-30

GM Message from Rick Wagoner

On Friday I was in Washington for a meeting with Administration officials. In the course of that meeting, they requested that I “step aside” as CEO of GM, and so I have.

Fritz Henderson is an excellent choice to be the next CEO of GM. Having worked closely with Fritz for many years, I know that he is the ideal person to lead the company through the completion of our restructuring efforts. His knowledge of the global industry and the company are exceptional, and he has the intellect, energy, and support among GM’ers worldwide to succeed. I wish him well, and I stand ready to support him, and interim Non-Executive Chairman Kent Kresa, in every way possible.

I also want to extend my sincerest thanks to everyone who supported GM and me during my time as CEO. I deeply appreciate the excellent counsel and commitment of the GM Board and the strong support of our many partners including our terrific dealers, suppliers, and community leaders. I am grateful as well to the union leaders with whom I have had the chance to work closely to implement numerous tough but necessary restructuring agreements.

Most important of all I want to express my deepest appreciation to the extraordinary team of GM employees around the world. You have been a tremendous source of inspiration and pride to me, and I will be forever grateful for the courage and commitment you have shown as we have confronted the unprecedented challenges of the past few years. GM is a great company with a storied history. Ignore the doubters because I know it is also a company with a great future.

CONTACT(S):
Renee Rashid-Merem
313-665-3128 (o)
313-701-8560 (c)
renee.rashid-merem@gm.com

Tom Wilkinson
313-667-0366(o)
313-378-6233 (c)
tom.wilkinson@gm.com

 

[Mac]

I don't know about Wagoner's fiddle playing skills but his term as CEO saw GM's market share plummet and their stock drop like a stone. Yes, it's unfair to blame the boss when everything goes wrong but the bitter reality is Wagoner was out there making statements about how he was the best man to guide the company during these troubled times... He had to go.

-Mac

 

[muddywaters]

America has become a deceptive country. Too much fine print, too much corporate greed, too much arrogant elite-ness. If your looking for the truth, you won't find it in the US. While our goverment (past and present) preaches rightousness to the rest of the world, we screw over each in the name of profit, some make enough money for 100 life times and that's not illegal, but is immoral and unethical. There is no conscious, just greed. The greatest financial minds in the world have turned out to be basic thieves. I hope they get the Genie back in the bottle, but I feel it's bigger than any one man or group of men.......

 

[Patrick]

Whether or not Wagoner's departure is a good thing for GM, I'm more than a little concerned about the precedent being set here: the occupant of the White House can dictate to a private company who gets to keep their job. Isn't this what a Board of Directors is for?

Or have we finally shed all pretense of still being a free market, capitalistic society, and decided to just nationalize the auto industry as one step on the march toward a community organizer's socialist utopia?

 

[Kid_Again]

Well, America, you got what you wanted. An administration that has no problems nationalizing any industry it wants to.

Whether GM can survive ( I really think it should seek a structured bankrutpcy) will roll out in the next few weeks. But just think about some career government employee making the decision about which cars GM will sell. Any color, as long as you like white (to save the taxpayers money). Any engine option above 1.5L will be taxed into oblivion. Your auto loan will come from a state-controlled bank and rates will not be negotiable (OR you can spend days filling out the paperwork to appeal the government's decision and wait years for a decision).

Just one step away from the government controlling the price.

We'll wind up just like the UK where everybody works for the government.

You know, we'll all look good driving Trabants.

 

[jrose7004]

As good of a job the US government does governing the country, I'm sure they'll do an outstanding job running an auto manufacturer!

 

[Kid_Again]

At least Obama says (let's see what he'll do) that bankruptcy is an option for GM. That great former Leader Of The Western World, Dubbya, didn't have the guts to do that.

I wonder how GM would feel if their headquarters were moved to Guongdong Province? "More noodles, Mr. Henderson?"

 

[Kid_Again]

So, you're the CEO of a major global auto company, you run it into the ground fastern' a cop driving a ZR1 to Dunkin' Donuts and what do you get?

A $23 Million severance package:crazy


Where do I sign up for a job like that?


And now, the gummint will print money to make GM and Chrysler warranties worth something.

I WANNA BE A DEMOCRAT:cry

 

[GO_VETTE]

RICK....................
dont leave us!
whats going to happen to Chevy, C. C. c c. c.......
CAVALIER!
:W:W:W
WHATS GOING TO HAPPEN TO oLDSMOBILE DELTA 88,
make more SUVs with extra steel reinforcements and steel bumpers.

 

[catbert]

Well, America, you got what you wanted. An administration that has no problems nationalizing any industry it wants to.

Wasn't it GM who went to the government for the bailout? GM could have walked away anytime they wanted to, and still can. The truth is that ineptitude and greed brought GM down. Don't blame Uncle Sam.

 

[markmark]

Whether or not Wagoner's departure is a good thing for GM, I'm more than a little concerned about the precedent being set here: the occupant of the White House can dictate to a private company who gets to keep their job. Isn't this what a Board of Directors is for?

Or have we finally shed all pretense of still being a free market, capitalistic society, and decided to just nationalize the auto industry as one step on the march toward a community organizer's socialist utopia?

Thanks for saying what I couldn't put into words Patrick. I was rather shocked to hear "By the administration" when the story broke. Lousy thing is, it didn't help.

 

[Patrick]

Wasn't it GM who went to the government for the bailout? GM could have walked away anytime they wanted to, and still can. The truth is that ineptitude and greed brought GM down. Don't blame Uncle Sam.

A couple of points in response:

1. There were calls back in December (and ever since, actually) that what GM should have done was entered into a pre-packaged Chapter 11 re-organization. For whatever reason, GM (Wagoner) refused to consider that option, even though a bankruptcy court could have restructured GM's debt and the UAW legacy costs.

2. Should Wagoner have been fired? I think his failures out-weigh his successes, so yes. But that decision should have come from the Board of Directors, on behalf of the shareholders, not from the oval office. This is unprecedented in the history of this country, and it frightens the hell out of me.

3. The irony is that in as much as the Obama administration has done this, and in the process, made a Chapter 11 Re-organization far less likely, doesn't this mean that Obama now owns the situation at GM? If it continues to flounder, you can't blame anyone else.

4. I'd like to know when the head of the UAW is going to be pressured to resign by the White House. Isn't he as culpable for this mess as Wagoner?