GM hires Fritz to consult

[HeatherR]

The "seperation" must not have been as ugly as some suggested at the time...

Doubt he would have agreed if he had been "fired" as was reported....

http://www.freep.com/article/2010021...s-a-consultant

[Russell James]

Originally Posted by HeatherR

The "seperation" must not have been as ugly as some suggested at the time...

Doubt he would have agreed if he had been "fired" as was reported....

http://www.freep.com/article/2010021...s-a-consultant

I wish I could contract in only 1 meeting per month.

Sorry boss, we already chatted this month, catch me in March.

[MikesZ]

Honestly, we don't know the circumstances around Fritz Henderson's resignation.

But here's something that is interesting to me:

Changes at GM under Fritz Henderson's brief time as CEO at GM:

Experience in automotive industry: Over 20 years

Product Guidance:

Chevrolet Camaro:
Status: In Production
Result: Successful Product

Buick LaCrosse:
Status: In Production
Result: Successful Product

Chevrolet Equinox
Status: In Production
Result: Successful Product

GMC Terrain:
Status: In Production
Result: Succesful Product

Cadillac SRX:
Status: In Production
Result: Successful Product


As for Ed Whitacre:

Experience in automotive industry: None

Product Guidance:

Chevrolet Volt:
Status: Not in production
Result: N/A

Chevrolet Cruz:
Status: Not in production - delayed further until Q4 2010
Result: N/A

Cadillac ATS:
Status: Not in production
Result: N/A

Buick Regal:
Status: Not in production
Result: N/A

Chevrolet Spark:
Status: Not in production
Result: N/A

Question:

How can I get Mr. Whitacre's 9 Million Dollar per year compensation package for accomplishing nothing?

[FenwickHockey65]

Regal is going into production soon.

As for the rest of the products on your list, they're still in engineering stages. Cruze is delayed supposedly because of a supplier issue.

[HeatherR]

Time will tell how successful Whitaker will be in the auto industry and for GM's sake I hope he is super successful.

I agree that Fritz has experience and was successful (especially in certain areas) and I am just glad to see that his vast knowledge is being tapped as a consultant...the fact that he is willing to means to me the seperation was not nearly as ugly as some claimed

He also spent his career at GM and I bet he really wants them to succeed and wants to help

9 million dollars is a lot of $, but Whitaker doesn't need it. He wants the job cuz he tried retirement I wants the challenge. He has proven himself as a leader (not in the auto industry, but still). Besides most of his compensation is tied to stock...so the $ is directly tied to his success. If only the banks would start requiring the same

[MikesZ]

Originally Posted by HeatherR

Time will tell how successful Whitaker will be in the auto industry and for GM's sake I hope he is super successful.

I agree that Fritz has experience and was successful (especially in certain areas) and I am just glad to see that his vast knowledge is being tapped as a consultant...the fact that he is willing to means to me the seperation was not nearly as ugly as some claimed

He also spent his career at GM and I bet he really wants them to succeed and wants to help

9 million dollars is a lot of $, but Whitaker doesn't need it. He wants the job cuz he tried retirement I wants the challenge. He has proven himself as a leader (not in the auto industry, but still). Besides most of his compensation is tied to stock...so the $ is directly tied to his success. If only the banks would start requiring the same

Whitacre worked in telecommunications since college...he came up through the ranks and knew the business. IMO Chairman Of The Board should not act as CEO...seems like a conflict of interest or at least a severe blurring of role and boundaries. Nonetheless, he is now the HMFIC and needs to show that he can a) make sound product decisions and b) guide those products to market in a timely & efficient manner. I have some concerns about how he is doing with both a & b so far. Example: bloggers went crazy over the BNT (small truck) design featured at the design lab awhile back. Has a path to production and time-frame been identified? As for the Cruz...as CEO its your role/responsibility to remove barriers to production. Sorry, but 6 month delays are not acceptable when your current small cars are tanking (sales wise) and essentially costing you money to keep in production.

[DGthe3]

Originally Posted by MikesZ

Honestly, we don't know the circumstances around Fritz Henderson's resignation.

But here's something that is interesting to me:

Changes at GM under Fritz Henderson's brief time as CEO at GM:

Experience in automotive industry: Over 20 years

Product Guidance:

Chevrolet Camaro:
Status: In Production
Result: Successful Product

Buick LaCrosse:
Status: In Production
Result: Successful Product

Chevrolet Equinox
Status: In Production
Result: Successful Product

GMC Terrain:
Status: In Production
Result: Succesful Product

Cadillac SRX:
Status: In Production
Result: Successful Product


As for Ed Whitacre:

Experience in automotive industry: None

Product Guidance:

Chevrolet Volt:
Status: Not in production
Result: N/A

Chevrolet Cruz:
Status: Not in production - delayed further until Q4 2010
Result: N/A

Cadillac ATS:
Status: Not in production
Result: N/A

Buick Regal:
Status: Not in production
Result: N/A

Chevrolet Spark:
Status: Not in production
Result: N/A

Question:

How can I get Mr. Whitacre's 9 Million Dollar per year compensation package for accomplishing nothing?

Most of the vehicles you list for Fritz should be attributed to Wagoner who green lighted them back around 2005-2006. Same for the ones you list for Whitacre. I don't know what all Fritz gave the go-ahead for, but the concepts from the 2010 Detriot Autoshow and maybe a couple other cars we don't know about yet are probably all there is.

[MikesZ]

Originally Posted by DGthe3

Most of the vehicles you list for Fritz should be attributed to Wagoner who green lighted them back around 2005-2006. Same for the ones you list for Whitacre. I don't know what all Fritz gave the go-ahead for, but the concepts from the 2010 Detriot Autoshow and maybe a couple other cars we don't know about yet are probably all there is.

But yet those successful products (Camaro, LaCrosse, Equinox, Terrain, Cadillac SRX) got launched under Fritz Henderson...amid bankruptcy proceedings and getting wheels/momentum on Operation Garbage Dump (Hummer, Saab).

Everyone wants to gouge Henderson's eyes out, castrate him, and have him tarred/feathered and burned at the stake for Opel.

Well, let's look at that:

Opel, a GM subsidiary located in Germany, an EU member country...you know, the European Union...that abomination of a socio/political/economic - sorry we can't make a decision on that right now because we'll be on "holidays" for the next six weeks and while we're gone don't even think about firing any cafe workers because you cannot by law even when they call in sick every other day and if you're an EU member who only has a 200% Debt/GDP ratio, well then by all means break out the Brie and red wine because you're doing damn good by EU economic standards - system.

Gee Fritz, I can't imagine how you ever could have gotten bogged-down in that process.

P.S. - Sorry we pissed all over your 20+ years of hard work at GM. Nothing personal, its just business (insert cotton between lower cheek and gum).

P.P.S. - And as it turns out, looks like Opel is more of an asset than a liability.

[The_Blur]

Originally Posted by DGthe3

Most of the vehicles you list for Fritz should be attributed to Wagoner who green lighted them back around 2005-2006. Same for the ones you list for Whitacre. I don't know what all Fritz gave the go-ahead for, but the concepts from the 2010 Detriot Autoshow and maybe a couple other cars we don't know about yet are probably all there is.

Henderson, no doubt, was very important to GM, but no time in the industry could aptly prepare anyone for the industry near-collapse of last year.

[DGthe3]

Originally Posted by MikesZ

But yet those successful products (Camaro, LaCrosse, Equinox, Terrain, Cadillac SRX) got launched under Fritz Henderson...amid bankruptcy proceedings and getting wheels/momentum on Operation Garbage Dump (Hummer, Saab).

Everyone wants to gouge Henderson's eyes out, castrate him, and have him tarred/feathered and burned at the stake for Opel.

Well, let's look at that:

Opel, a GM subsidiary located in Germany, an EU member country...you know, the European Union...that abomination of a socio/political/economic - sorry we can't make a decision on that right now because we'll be on "holidays" for the next six weeks and while we're gone don't even think about firing any cafe workers because you cannot by law even when they call in sick every other day and if you're an EU member who only has a 200% Debt/GDP ratio, well then by all means break out the Brie and red wine because you're doing damn good by EU economic standards - system.

Gee Fritz, I can't imagine how you ever could have gotten bogged-down in that process.

P.S. - Sorry we pissed all over your 20+ years of hard work at GM. Nothing personal, its just business (insert cotton between lower cheek and gum).

P.P.S. - And as it turns out, looks like Opel is more of an asset than a liability.

My point is that it doesn't matter that Henderson was at the helm when cars like the LaCrosse were launched. All the work, even the planned launch date, was done before he was CEO. Once a project has 3 years of work behind it, it has so much momentum that it doesn't really matter who is in charge during the last few months. Nothing will change, and the only influence the CEO might have is in the advertising campaign. Likewise, I hate seeing these new cars being labelled as products from the 'new GM'. To me, the car would have to be designed, approved, engineered, tested, and built after bankruptcy in order to deserve that moniker. If so, we won't be seeing anything from the new GM until maybe 2013.

This is just like all the problems that lead to the bankruptcy were around before even Wagoner took the job of CEO. Wagoner could have done more to ward off disaster, but thats another issue all together. Point is, it takes years to see the real effect that someone has in a company like GM. Fritz barely had enough time as CEO to set anything in motion.

As for the Saab, Opel, Hummer, and Saturn deals ... I never blamed him or praised him for his work there.

[2ndgenz28]

Consultants make allot of money and do very little, but they get that cause they know something other can figure out.

My uncle got rich doing that, build a plastic injection mold plant, get customers and turn a profit, sell it to the Japs for big money, then wait for them to call and milk em on consultant fee's when they can't run the place like he did.

[Brokinarrow]

Originally Posted by DGthe3

Point is, it takes years to see the real effect that someone has in a company like GM. Fritz barely had enough time as CEO to set anything in motion.

That actually goes for a LOT of things. But people these days are too short sighted to see the big picture items that they NEED to be worrying about. All they are concerned about is 'will it help me now?' Not 'will what helps me now hurt me 10 years down the road'.

[derklug]

GM would have actually come out better if they had been in worse shape, like Ford was , earlier, and had made the hard choices that Ford did. The end results would have been the same, downsizing product line, but financing could have been secured and the bankruptcy could have been avoided. Hind sight being 20/20 it is all so obvious. Then again if I was so smart, I would have told them $4.00 gas was going to bury them in 07.