GM CEO Henderson resigns after 8 turbulent months

[faninc]

The sad truth is the inept GM board let Wagoner stay on way too long! They let him ride the GM stock price down from $70/share to basically worthless...at some point in the $30-$40 range he should have been ousted and perhaps others would have seen Saturn was bleeding $, Pontiac was not going to make it, ditto Saab and Hummer.

Even the Gov't figured out how bad he was, if not for them, would the board ever have ousted him? The GM board should be a case study of what being asleep at the wheel is all about.

[Coldpants]

Originally Posted by faninc

The sad truth is the inept GM board let Wagoner stay on way too long! They let him ride the GM stock price down from $70/share to basically worthless...at some point in the $30-$40 range he should have been ousted and perhaps others would have seen Saturn was bleeding $, Pontiac was not going to make it, ditto Saab and Hummer.

Even the Gov't figured out how bad he was, if not for them, would the board ever have ousted him? The GM board should be a case study of what being asleep at the wheel is all about.

[camaro5]

December 1, 2009, 5:56 pm

Henderson Out at G.M. Is Lutz In?

By RICHARD S. CHANG

Fritz Henderson resigned as chief executive of General Motors late Tuesday. The news was delivered by Ed Whitacre, G.M.’s chairman, who will fill Mr. Henderson’s role on an interim basis until the automaker can find a replacement.


Bob Lutz, G.M.’s vice chairman, has spent time at all three Detroit automakers, but has never served as chief executive. Has his time finally come?Mr. Henderson served as chief executive for about eight months. He was supposed to deliver the keynote speech at the Los Angeles auto show tomorrow morning. But now he will be replaced by Bob Lutz, G.M.’s vice chairman, which conjures an intriguing scenario: Could Mr. Lutz also eventually replace Mr. Henderson’s role as chief executive?

It would be a remarkable comeback for an executive who was pretty much laid out to pasture even before Rick Wagoner was fired by the Obama administration. In February, he announced his gradual retirement by the end of the year. In April, he was nowhere to be found at the New York Auto Show, bedridden after having back surgery. The man known as “Maximum Bob” was silenced.

But since then, Mr. Lutz has slowly returned to the limelight. He rejoined G.M. as vice chairman of advertising, marketing and communications, and immediately hit the computer, churning out blog posts on G.M.’s FastLane blog. He said that the Pontiac G8, his baby, would live on under a different brand, then backtracked, then reversed that second decision. This was classic Bob Lutz in his full garrulous grandeur.

Then came G.M.’s “May the Best Car Win” campaign and the infamous conference call, during which Mr. Lutz declared that the Cadillac CTS-V super sedan could best all comers on the racetrack. When Jalopnik called him out on the boast, challenging Mr. Lutz and the CTS-V to a timed duel, he agreed. And he turned the competition into a publicity stunt that was covered on YouTube, Twitter, Facebook and an upcoming television program on Speed TV.

Think about it. Mr. Lutz has always been considered G.M.’s product guru, even while serving under Mr. Wagoner. And now his reputation at G.M. has never been higher or his presence more visible. If anything, he’s proven himself to be a survivor. Mr. Wagoner is gone. Mr. Henderson, out. Mark LaNeve, the Chevrolet brand manager, out also. And who’s still there? Bob Lutz, who, at 77, has never been an auto chief executive. Yes, it’s a stretch, but who ever thought a Boeing executive would be running Ford?

So, tomorrow, the keynote speech. The next day, who knows?

Go Maximum Bob!


http://wheels.blogs.nytimes.com/2009...er=rss&emc=rss

[Milk 1027]

I called it!!

You were first to hear it from me!!!

[RetroDude]

Hey, If Bob Lutz becomes Chief, does this mean the G8 / Caprice will be on again?

[Captain Awesome]

Originally Posted by Milk 1027

Yes he is serious. There is a reason why we don't allow politics on this forum. So you either abide by the rules or you won't last too long here.

Who needs to discuss politics. There's plenty of important issues we can discuss.

For instance, now that the CRU's emails have been leaked, I think we can finally put this Global Warming Hoax to bed. The data and science has finally been exposed as dubious and the scientists have been revealed to be dishonest cheats.

The upside is that we can now stop hamstringing future vehicles with expensive and heavy mandated equipment and CO2 emissions standards.

[Pct1theory]

This is sad, I liked Fritz, he seemed like a good guy with good plans for the company. Such a shame.

[OUR72GTO]

Well Fritz and Bob no longer have to avoid each other in the hallway!

[MightyT]

Originally Posted by Da Hose

is it just me or did she seem pissed when she posted that?

Sheesh ... That's what happens when you have a rich daddy and are brought up as a brat. He must be so proud of the little lady he raised!

Wonder if she thought of all the other GM workers who daddy asked to leave??

Ugg ... Makes you want to ....

OK ... I feel better now ... ... And I said all that without one F-bomb.

[camaro5]

Profanity edited

Sarah Henderson, daughter of Fritz Henderson, the just-resigned-minutes-ago GM CEO, posted some choice words about Ed Whitacre, the random white guy taking her dad's place at the top of the just-emerged-from-bankruptcy automaker, on the automaker's public Facebook page!

Now don't get us wrong — we feel for Sarah, but when you pop them up in public in a place like GM's public page, well, all bets are off. Plus, comments like Ed Whitacre being "selfish" help us to understand the new interim CEO just a little bit more. Here's the full text:

"HE FUING GOT ASKED TO STEP DOWN ALL OF YOU FUING IDIOTS. IM FRITZ'S FUING DAUGHTER, AND HE DID NOT FUING RESIGN. WHITACRE IS A SELFISH PIECE OF SHIFT, WHO CARES ABOUT HIMSELF AND NOT THE FUING COMPANY. HAVE FUN WITH GM, I HOPE TO NEVER BUY FROM THIS GOD FORESAKEN COMPANY EVERY AGAIN. FU ALL OF YOU."

http://jalopnik.com/5416549/daughter...eo-on-facebook

[DkknightX]

Well, I definitely believe Fritz left for personal reasons. I mean everything with GM is picking up. The Camaro's success can attribute to this in no small part, though I don't have the stats and facts to back this up. Thinking about it logically. It makes perfect sense.

*Aftrer reading Sarah Henderson whining like a a baby and making an embarassing public spectacle of herself, I retract my statement above.*

That link could be fictitious because if you search for "Sarah Henderson" on Facebook, she doesn't come up, at least not Fritz' daughter. Fritz probably took away her Barbie dolls and forced her to delete her Facebook account. LOL

"The Early Show" on CBS reported that Fritz Henderson and GM were at odds over GM's future and therefore he resigned. Forcefully or not was not speculated.

[FenwickHockey65]

Originally Posted by MightyT

Sheesh ... That's what happens when you have a rich daddy and are brought up as a brat. He must be so proud of the little lady he raised!

Wonder if she thought of all the other GM workers who daddy asked to leave??

Ugg ... Makes you want to ....

OK ... I feel better now ... ... And I said all that without one F-bomb.

My dad was forced to retire early. We also lost dental/vision insurance. I never went on Facebook spouting hatred for GM.

Her dad's probably going to get a decent severance package anyways. She has nothing to complain about.

[Da Hose]

Originally Posted by MightyT

Sheesh ... That's what happens when you have a rich daddy and are brought up as a brat. He must be so proud of the little lady he raised!

Wonder if she thought of all the other GM workers who daddy asked to leave??

Ugg ... Makes you want to ....

OK ... I feel better now ... ... And I said all that without one F-bomb.

Impressive!!!!!

[Hylton]

Originally Posted by Milk 1027

Maximum Bob for CEO?

Give me a break.