General Motors Chief Rick Wagoner Said to Step Down

[Dino Scuderia]

Now what?

By Doron Levin and Jeff Green

March 29 (Bloomberg) -- General Motors Corp. Chief Executive Officer Rick Wagoner will step down after more than eight years running the largest U.S. automaker, people familiar with the situation said.

The Obama administration asked Wagoner, 56, to leave the company and he agreed, an administration official said. Wagoner said March 19 that he didn’t plan to resign.

The departure of Wagoner comes as President Barack Obama prepares an address tomorrow morning on his plans for the future of the U.S. auto industry. GM is surviving on $13.4 billion in U.S. loans and is asking for as much as $16.6 billion in additional aid to survive. Wagoner was asked to step down as part of the company’s restructuring, the official said.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?p...HgA&refer=home

[Kitdy]

This is pretty huge news - Bob Lutz I coulda seen being the next CEO but he is retiring soon so no dice. It doesn't mention whether or not Wagoner will stay on with the company or he's booted out the door however.

I glanced over the article and saw this: "He wrung concessions from labor unions in 2007, including cutting wages in half for new hires," nice to see that the union is willing to not take cuts for itself, but instead levy that tax on those that have not yet even joined the union. It pays to keep an eye out for yourself.

[RacingManiac]

I still think the fact that the "auto task force" contains no one from the industry is a mistake. They don't like the existing exec, but who are they proposing to run the companies? Car companies are still being asked for more concession, when they are still giving out money to the wall street. The car companies is in a very odd position, sure they may have had product issue, but the changing american economy and the gas prices isn't making it easy. 4-5 months ago people are blaming GM and the rest of the US maker for not having products that meets American's need for economic cars. Now they cut a bunch of trucks in the lineup and boosted the production for small cars, and no one is buying them. GM, Chrysler and TOYOTA all have more than 150 days worth of inventory of their small cars. Because now that the gas is cheap, people don't want to buy small cars.....

rather to blame the car company, I think the general public need to have more foresight.....its hard to give people what they want when the people have no clue what they want...

[NSXType-R]

Great. Now what? Carlos Goshn (sorry for the spelling)!

[Rockefella]

I still think the fact that the "auto task force" contains no one from the industry is a mistake. They don't like the existing exec, but who are they proposing to run the companies? Car companies are still being asked for more concession, when they are still giving out money to the wall street. The car companies is in a very odd position, sure they may have had product issue, but the changing american economy and the gas prices isn't making it easy. 4-5 months ago people are blaming GM and the rest of the US maker for not having products that meets American's need for economic cars. Now they cut a bunch of trucks in the lineup and boosted the production for small cars, and no one is buying them. GM, Chrysler and TOYOTA all have more than 150 days worth of inventory of their small cars. Because now that the gas is cheap, people don't want to buy small cars.....

rather to blame the car company, I think the general public need to have more foresight.....its hard to give people what they want when the people have no clue what they want...

Well put. The majority of car buyers these days are rather ignorant I think, if not that then they struggle to see past their biases.

[roosterjuicer]

Great. Now what? Carlos Goshn (sorry for the spelling)!

the way things are going, probably just add some more pork to the government and they will run it. yay socialism!

seriously, this pisses me off pretty bad. this is why it makes sense for certain governors not to accept federal bailout money because it comes with too many strings attached.

soon enough they are gonna make GM stop making silverados and other kickazz stuff...and i might have to make my next truck a FORD

i never thought i would say that

[pimento]

I doubt they'll stop making trucks entirely, but there may be less exciting ones. It's a shame they stopped development on their turbo V8 diesel, it was looking pretty nice for trucks.

[pimento]

This just in: Henderson to replace Wagoner, more aid on its way to GM and Chrysler. Exact amounts not specified, GM get 60 day terms, Chrysler 30.

[roosterjuicer]

here's a take from someone qualified to make one

Rants - Autoextremist.com ~ the bare-knuckled, unvarnished, high octane truth...

[togos452]

How could Obama's "auto tast force" not have people like Roger Penske?

Is this for real?

- (3/25/09)

State of the Motor City Nation: The “Polishing of the Pitchforks” Edition.

By Peter M. De Lorenzo

Rants - Autoextremist.com ~ the bare-knuckled, unvarnished, high octane truth...

President Obama finds it funny that “the only thing less popular than putting money in banks is putting money into the auto industry” as he told 60 Minutes last Sunday..

---

Could it be that the financial mess we are in today is due in part because some people have lived and continue to live beyond their means? They ought to know their financial crunch better than banks.

[baddabang]

the way things are going, probably just add some more pork to the government and they will run it. yay socialism!

seriously, this pisses me off pretty bad. this is why it makes sense for certain governors not to accept federal bailout money because it comes with too many strings attached.

soon enough they are gonna make GM stop making silverados and other kickazz stuff...and i might have to make my next truck a FORD

i never thought i would say that

If you do make it a King Ranch. Those things are tits.

I doubt they'll stop making trucks entirely, but there may be less exciting ones. It's a shame they stopped development on their turbo V8 diesel, it was looking pretty nice for trucks.

They won't stop making trucks. Talking about them stopping truck production is ridiculous.

How could Obama's "auto tast force" not have people like Roger Penske?

Is this for real?

- (3/25/09)

State of the Motor City Nation: The “Polishing of the Pitchforks” Edition.

By Peter M. De Lorenzo

Rants - Autoextremist.com ~ the bare-knuckled, unvarnished, high octane truth...

President Obama finds it funny that “the only thing less popular than putting money in banks is putting money into the auto industry” as he told 60 Minutes last Sunday..

---

Could it be that the financial mess we are in today is due in part because some people have lived and continue to live beyond their means? They ought to know their financial crunch better than banks.

Well that is how the whole mess started. Insurance giants such as AIG purchased chunks of bad mortgages made by banks who, in some cases, did not even do credit checks on the individuals they loaned money too since Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae insured them and the American people they can successfully live the American Dream. Next thing you know people are failing to make mortgage payments, the insurance giants shit bricks, stocks fall, and banks stop loaning money to corporations so unemployment goes up. Then everyone gets scared and stops buying cars to the point where dealerships that are older than my grandfather start to close up shop.

[LTSmash]

Could it be that the financial mess we are in today is due in part because some people have lived and continue to live beyond their means?

If you mean the many middle-class/upper-middle/high-class people who were trying too hard to live by appearances and bought a McMansion, an Escalade and a Boxter, and a $600,000 boat in a land-locked state while they only made $275,000 a year in mortgage lending, then yes. It's called the "never ending line of credit that really does end and then you're f*cked, credit."

Well, this is actually* only one of the causes.

Also, the example used is a real client who did not save, thought the housing boom would last forever, and has now resorted to selling anything with equity: really big house, ridiculous boat purchase, 401k, 529, SUV that made him look stupid in the first place, and a pseudo sports car that only the biggest of bastard's drive... wait he didn't own any of that.

NOTE: This guy was a dishonest snake as it is so he got what he deserved.

Lesson for everyone to learn: save when the times are good, that way you can spend when everything is undervalued.

[nota]

From what I'm seeing its goodbye Chrysler as we know it within 30 days, with maybe FIAT to pick the bones. And likely the Government enforced Chapter 11 for GM within 60 days, if no last minute domestic reprieve, which in either case is a game changer.

Or with GM maybe hello Chinese investment to salvage this Britsh Leyland style mess.

[henk4]

Lesson for everyone to learn: save when the times are good, that way you can spend when everything is undervalued.

undervalued? No longer overpriced might be the better expression....and yes, that is what I have been practising for the last 25 years. Leaving me with no mortgage, no loans, no shares to ever worry about and a healthy sum of money in my savings account.

Anyway, I don't know what will happen to the US automotive industry, but having done some work related to the shipbuilding industry, it should be a sobering thought that during the 50-ies the US shipbuilding industry was the largest in the world, while in today's statistics the US is not even mentioned separately, but is part of the "Rest of the World" which accounts for 5% of the total output....and putting that in the automotive perspective, Korea, China and Japan together have a share of almost 80% in the 2008 output.

[Ferrer]

Maybe I'm wrong on this, but I doubt tha change of an executive will solve all (or any for that matter) of the US car maker problems.

I still think the fact that the "auto task force" contains no one from the industry is a mistake. They don't like the existing exec, but who are they proposing to run the companies? Car companies are still being asked for more concession, when they are still giving out money to the wall street. The car companies is in a very odd position, sure they may have had product issue, but the changing american economy and the gas prices isn't making it easy. 4-5 months ago people are blaming GM and the rest of the US maker for not having products that meets American's need for economic cars. Now they cut a bunch of trucks in the lineup and boosted the production for small cars, and no one is buying them. GM, Chrysler and TOYOTA all have more than 150 days worth of inventory of their small cars. Because now that the gas is cheap, people don't want to buy small cars.....

rather to blame the car company, I think the general public need to have more foresight.....its hard to give people what they want when the people have no clue what they want...

If you run a bussiness it's your job to anticipate those kind of changes. If you can't, you get sacked or your company goes bankrupt. It's as simple as that.