BREAKING: Ed Whitacre Stepping Down From GM CEO September 1st

[FenwickHockey65]

Originally Posted by d69chris

The word is he made a statement at an industry show that "being know as GM - "Government Motors" was hurting sales. It is thought that he was asked to leave by the Obama administration.

Bad timing when you have an IPO coming out, but the government has never really been that smart when it comes to business matters. Instability at the top does not breed confidence in the market.

NO NO NO NO NO.

Okay folks.

A little after Whitacre announced he was stepping down, I noticed Mark Reuss was on Facebook. I was chatting with him and asked if he had any idea why Whitacre was leaving. Basically, the guy is getting old, and he never planned on staying for the long run, and it's time for him to retire. Plus, they want a finance guy in charge during the IPO period.

[a_Username]

Originally Posted by FenwickHockey65

NO NO NO NO NO.

Okay folks.

A little after Whitacre announced he was stepping down, I noticed Mark Reuss was on Facebook. I was chatting with him and asked if he had any idea why Whitacre was leaving. Basically, the guy is getting old, and he never planned on staying for the long run, and it's time for him to retire. Plus, they want a finance guy in charge during the IPO period.

Seems reasonable, but aren't they afraid this would backfire? Investors surely want to see some authoritative stability, and since the bankruptcy emergence it has been everything but.

[FenwickHockey65]

Originally Posted by a_Username

Seems reasonable, but aren't they afraid this would backfire? Investors surely want to see some authoritative stability, and since the bankruptcy emergence it has been everything but.

The instability has been caused mainly by Whitacre firing people from their jobs if they aren't doing their jobs, which is a good thing. Supposedly Akerson's the same way, coming from a military background. Lutz said this morning that he's fairly confident in his abilities.

Basically, this is sudden, but expected. Whitacre said from the start that he was just in this to put the company on the right path and that was it. In fact, when Lutz informed Whitacre that he was retiring, Whitacre told him that he'd be following shortly.

[a_Username]

Originally Posted by FenwickHockey65

The instability has been caused mainly by Whitacre firing people from their jobs if they aren't doing their jobs, which is a good thing. Supposedly Akerson's the same way, coming from a military background. Lutz said this morning that he's fairly confident in his abilities.

Basically, this is sudden, but expected. Whitacre said from the start that he was just in this to put the company on the right path and that was it. In fact, when Lutz informed Whitacre that he was retiring, Whitacre told him that he'd be following shortly.

Hopefully the public sees it as the way you've put it, but I'm not so confident that this is the investor's perception. Anyways, Whitarce sure did put the company on the right path, and all that credit surely goes to him and GM's employees.

[FenwickHockey65]

Originally Posted by SSLarry

Cancelling the G8 and Solstice (along with the whole Pontiac division) may have been the dumbest thing GM has ever done. They could have phased out the division and folded those cars into Chevy, for example. Imagine 3 Chevy convertible coupes for all price points.

But I don't think any CEO will get rid of a profitable car like the Camaro. That would be even dumber.

No, it definitely wasn't. I agree about the G8, but pretty much everything else about Pontiac had no future. G3 was pathetic, G5 was no better than a Cobalt, G6 offered nothing more than a Malibu besides the coupe/convertible and was basically a massive fleet queen, Solstice was unprofitable from the start, and Torrent offered nothing over Equinox. Add the fact that Pontiac had no overseas market besides NA and GM's push towards global brands, and Pontiac's fate was set.

[derklug]

Akerson was put on the board by the car czar, and now he is going to lead the company. This will have the conspiracy theorists out in force.

[All-Or-Nothing]

.......and the musical chairs at GM continue.

[1bad65]

Interesting article about Whitacre's 'Government Motors' comments and GM's upcoming IPO.

http://www.usatoday.com/money/autos/...cre06_ST_N.htm

[King Sun]

Originally Posted by d69chris

The word is he made a statement at an industry show that "being know as GM - "Government Motors" was hurting sales. It is thought that he was asked to leave by the Obama administration.

Bad timing when you have an IPO coming out, but the government has never really been that smart when it comes to business matters. Instability at the top does not breed confidence in the market.

[Berean]

Originally Posted by derklug

Akerson was put on the board by the car czar, and now he is going to lead the company. This will have the conspiracy theorists out in force.

It's not a conspiracy. The administration will direct the new CEO to allow the UAW to unionize the robots, thereby increasing the UAW's representation at the companies expense.