GM is holding a presser to announce that CEO, Fritz Henderson - who succeeded ousted CEO, Rick Wagoner back in late March - is resigning after nine months on the job.
*** Link Removed as the Presser's over ***
More dialogue over the break.
News coming quickly, right out of the GM Ex. Board.
New interim CEO is Ed Whitacare, Jr.. He was the former head of AT&T.
No questions to be taken and I'll do some research to find out details.
Ed's Statement is full of platitudes. Promises to be available to ask questions later and in the coming days but "agree to let me off the hook for answering questions today. Sound like a fair deal?"
(audible grumbling can be heard by the sparse press members in attendance)
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GM Public Relations Manager, John Pruse, is taking questions:
JP- Talking about a shutdown of Saab and possible closure of their plants.
JP- "Why is he stepping down?" Detroit Action News asks.
JP- "It was a decision between Fritz and the board and we agreed to this."
JP- "It's not a mystery as to why we're not answering questions at this time."
Q&A (tried to get as much down as I could)
A: "There's going to be a change in the company and the Board's decision was to change the CEO as well" (paraphrase).
Q: "Has the chairman spoken to the President or anyone in the government about this decision?
A: "The government was notified of this decision earlier today, but they did not offer advice or input. This was a Board decision."
Q: "What are you looking for in a new CEO?"
A: "They should be somewhat self-evident, and will become more so in the coming days... There is an ongoing search at this time, however."
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Post Presser reporting.
This may be a change more internally based than due to external forces. According to Freep.com.
Whitacre and Henderson seemed to clash since the first board meeting in August. The Whitacre-led board has un-did a deal to sell GM’s Opel division, a deal put together under Henderson’s watch. Whitacre has also made public comments that have seemed to run contradictory to what Henderson’s plans for the future entailed.
However, those external forces are important to note as well. Also from Freep.com.
The announcement came on a day when GM announced its fourth month of year-over-year sales declines since emerging from bankruptcy. October was the first time GM had seen a sales increase over the previous year in 21 months.
Add in some talk about Saab closing and Saturn going under and this announcement looks more and more like a dumping of excessive or unwanted baggage.
Also, if the Board met on Monday and Tuesday and you have to think this would be on the top of the agenda that would suggest an organization of this size and structure should be capable of offering something more than just a hastily organized presser
As one member of the press asked Mr. Pruse, "Why not just send out a Press Release? Is this conference really necessary."