GM CEO Fritz Henderson steps down

Fired, no doubt in my mind. The GM press release first handed to fritz the requisite praise, then said along the lines of "now, we will focus on stuff we have to get done." Unclear to me is what Fritz flubbed up so badly. My guess is the Saturn and Saab sales.

 

The problem the task-force sighted long before the bankruptcy still persists: "too little, too slowly".

The failed sales of Saturn & Saab, combined with the tension of the Opel reversal, combined with the Two-Mode & BAS struggles, combined with the disenchantment from Volt (price & generator-efficiency), makes dealing with the remaining traditional production an overwhelming challenge... not to mention paying back the taxpayer loans. That's a lot of pressure.

Of course, expectations weren't all that realistic to begin with. What should we expect now?
.

 

Fired, good guy, too much of a bean counter. I was in Detroit last month and the handwriting was on the wall. I say keep Whitacre for the foreseeable future, the is quickly turning into a car-guy. GM does not need any more corporate bean-counter types, who just look good in a suit.

 

Marketshare, sales and revenue.

 

yes, he has not spent his whole career inuslated from the world inside the GM tower. He is a fireball who demands results now, the complete opposite of what I have lived with from GM my entire professional career. My other choice would be Bob Lutz, but he is pretty old.

 

I read this am that Whitacre was the guy who turned ATT around however, he has the reputation of cost cutting by layoffs, you do it my way or your out of here type of guy.

 

Again, that is EXACTLY what GM needs, the product is great and only getting better, but much of the messaging is mundane. It is time to take the gloves off and attack the competition, much of the competition is vulnerable.

 

Sounds like he may be just what GM needs? If they aren't beyond help already.

 

I am SO sick of this attitude.
Yes, spice up the advertising. Yes, continue to improve the product and innovate.
But the tactic of using your energy to throw mud at the other guy just results in the guy with the best marketers winning.
Focus on education and product.

 

No, i think the UAW has ousted itself. Until it can organize Toyota's US operation, it has very little power, especially if Chrysler does not survive.

 

I am not talking about mud-slinging, just telling the story in a meaningful way, ala the Howie Long commercials.

 

In six months, during a severe recession ?

Nah, even GM isn't THAT stupid.

 

GM internally has been very screwed up for years. Communication, distribution and marketing fixes would bring 2-5% of market share right now. The distributin system has been a disaster for 12 years.

 

Uh huh. Spend taxpayer money on more and more and more advertising. Ignore facts, focus only on perceptions.

Sounds like the GM we all know so well. And the Malorn.

Just musing a bit more, I can imagine the feds putting a GM CEO on a short leash to cut costs. Since the failing brands were a cornerstone of GM's plans to cut costs, the aborted sales probably did not go over very well with the people footing the bills. The last thing Obama's admin wants is to have GM begging for more handouts before the next election.

 

There is only one answer and that is to increase sales and revenue, you do that by building the right product, distributing the product properly, and coming up with clever marketing.

I don't think the aborted sales of Saturn or Saab, really matter, I think they should have buttoned up Hummer too. Saturn and Saab have ALWAYS been money pits.

I don't think GM will be begging for handouts, they almost made money in the 3rd quarter, without producing much in one of the months. The way the accounting happens, when GM builds a car, the second that car is deliverred to the dealer it considers it a sale and cash.

 

Sorry Malorn, when you used terms like 'attack' and 'vulnerable' I took that as you were talking about the unbased mudslinging that normally occurs.

The Howie commercials are actually decent for the most part. Of course, they completely ignore the Prius when they are talking about fuel efficiency.
If for no other reason than bragging rights, I still would like to see GM dust off and rebuild a few EV1s.