urbexHHR

Just saw this when going to check my inbox....

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100812/...i_ge/us_gm_ceo

Old Lar

He'll walk away with a multi million dollar golden parachute. The rats are abandoning the GM ship. They built the Obama Volt that no one will buy. His "big" accomplishment.

Lets see what this next clown does to screw up GM.

urbexHHR

Well, no one can be as bad as Roger Smith...

Snoopy

I understand and agree with some of your frustrations, but your assessment of the Volt is a little off. It was intellectually conceived in 2006 and funded in January of 2007....a bit before Obama had GM "by the neck".

Crazy Kid....

I think you're right on !! He was the worst "bean counter" that I worked with/for......Not to mention the EXTREMELY large "parachute" he introduced and had the BOD approve shortly beforre he retired.

ChevyMgr

Who Is Dan Akerson? GM CEO 'Wants Turmoil,' Enjoys Pulling Tubes From Arm
By Max Abelson
August 12, 2010 | 1:22 p.m

Ed Whitacre, who has led General Motors to a vastly new era or optimism and profit, shocked the business world today when he announced that he's stepping down in a few weeks. His replacement will be a relatively anonymous director named Dan Akerson, currently at the strange and omnipotent Carlyle Group. As everyone scrambles for details about who exactly Mr. Akerson is, a 1994 profile of the man that the Observer dug up may be of help.

"Sidelined by a painful gall bladder ailment in Germany several years ago, Daniel Akerson decided to take things into his own hands," the Forbes piece begins. "He pulled the tubes out of his arm, checked himself out of the hospital and then got on a plane for the States. 'The German doctors were not moving fast enough,' the U.S. Naval Academy graduate complains."

The article says, metaphorically, that pulling out tubes is something Mr. Akerson does often. "I want turmoil; I want excitement," the executive declares in the profile, written after he had left MCI to replace Donald Rumsfeld at the helm of General Instrument, which supplied those petite cable boxes that sat atop TVs once upon a time.

According to the article, he envisioned "a box in every home," which sounds like something Alfred Sloan ("A car for every purse and purpose!"), the iconic General Motors head, might have said. Maybe Mr. Akerson will fit in well.

hyperv6

No need to panic right now.

Everyone thought Ed was going to trash the company and for the most part he let most of the car people do what they do best...make cars. Ed did little with deciding product accept for the flagship Cadillac he pushed for.

The Volt was a whole GM deal and not a Bama project. It will do what it was concieved to do and that is to get GM into the electric car game. In the future everyone will sell one and GM was behind. For the most GM technology is a little more cost wise right now but the price and range will decrease with each new model.

GM never expected the Volt to sell in massive numbers for the first two gens. It was kind of like the Chicken and the Egg. THey had to build the car to create the market and a place for the technology to go before suppliers would invest in the parts needed to build this kind of car. For the most this car is one of the only electric cars to ride amd drive like a normal car. Also it is one you can live with 24 7 and drive it anywhere.

GM is headed in the right direction and the changes will not all happen in a year or two. It takes time and capital to bring cars to market. The Cars they have brought are getting very good reviews and are improving their image.

This cat is a money guy at a time GM needs a money guy. He will steward them through the IPO. THis will be very important for GM to regain their independents from the goverment and for future investment in new product.

GM is in a pretty good spot right now compared to others. Ford is still paying off the 24 Billion in loans they have out standing. Contrary to what many think Ford has taken loans form several goverments to help try to pay off the loan leveraged on their plants. They tank in a economic down turn they could lose many plants.

It will be tough on all Auto companies for a while. They have the economy, new EPA standards CARB standards and CAFE standards to deal with and it will take capital to do so.

If Mr Rip the tubes out keep like Ed and lets people like Mark Reuss make the product plans and just worry about paying for these plans for Mark he will do fine.

Dan was a head officer on a Nuke Sub so he is no idiot an knows how to work as a team. I think his military training will help in deligation of duties and letting people do what they do best.

Time will tell.

Snoopy

Since this issue was mildly discussed in this thread, I didn't think it appropriate to open a new thread.

Here's some additional information.....

http://www.smartmoney.com/investing/...tock/?cid=1122


Oh by the way, GM's bankruptcy stock is UP over 15% in 2 days.

hyperv6

I almost think GM wants to wait till after Nov elections. The changes that are coming will spur Wall Street prices and help in a IPO.

Right now the climate is not all that great as companies and investors are holding on to their money with next years market out look still being foggy.

I see it in the inventories of the many companies I deal with. Few are investing in product on the shelf.

Black2010 1LT

I have to admit, I was very skeptical of Whitaker when he was "appointed" to the post. He started to win me over when he stepped in front of the cameras to pitch GM vehicles. He surprised and baffled me a bit as well as some of the people were on revolving post at GM, but it seems that overall, he pushed for GM to go ahead with some needed products. I'd have liked to see what more he may have done.

Hopefully, the new CEO will be one to push for competitive, if not class leading, products for the brands.

I personally think the demise of the SS HHR/Cobalt was a mistake, but maybe that had more to do with government interference than customer demand.

hyperv6

Ed did a good job to get the right people in place to lead the company. A good CEO today lets his people do their jobs and puts the best people in those slots. That has happened.

Right now the IPO is very important and money and increasing value of a company is what this new guy does well.

They are aleady pushing Competitive product, if you read reviews on most of their new cars they are praised. If they miss it will be his job to make sure they are ready to address the short comings asap. No more of this waiting around till the next Gen.

The demise of the HHR SS and Cobalt was all due to the fact they were old cars on platforms that are in the last years. GM will just build out the Cobalr this year and the Delta 1 platform is dead.

Right now it is more important to get the Cruze and it's related higher volume models out. The sedan is only the first of several more versions.

I disagree with most of what Obama is doing but they have been pretty much hands off on GM contrary to what some want to beleive. The fast the SS models sold in such small numbers hurt them more than anything. Neither sold over 5000 units in their best years and it only went down from their.

Some want to blaime price but the fact it was an old car with a old GM interior had more to do with it. Local dealers here could not move Cobalt SS even at $18,999 new a year ago. That is a shame.

GM has a lot of new plans and performance to come. GM is not telling us everything so far ahead anymore. Suprises and new models will appear out of no where. As long as they show a profit the Gov is hands off. They have no clue what to do anyway.

Right now Chevys goal is to make small cars that make a profit. They have never really done that and it is the key to moving forward. This is the profit center for most imports. Add this to the Truck sales profits they could be in very good shape if they get the cars profitable.

Right now the real danger is the economy. It is not good and will still take time to turn around at the rate it is going. Pending new taxes and cost for companies has them keeping inventories down as well as highering. Because of this it really hurts car sales. Note the present sales are up but they all are deep back into fleet sales and that can not go on for ever.

Even Ford is looking for loans from different goverments to pay of the loans they took on their plants. They are around 23 Billion in on loans and need to find lower interest. Their cars are selling but they are the highest in fleet sales at over 30%+. GM is the losest at 24%. Ford needs to remove the higher interst as GM and Chrysler avoided that with the goverment deals.

Either way GM should move ahead just as they are and look for some new things to pop up often. GM has a new V8 coming in the new DI Chevy, There also will be wide use of turbo 4 an V6 engines coming. GM is just now talking Twin Turbo V6 and we should see it in 2013.

GM is also working to replace old cars like the Impala and Malibu with new models as well as a flag ship for Cadillac that will compete with the S Benz. New pick ups are also on the way large and small. Chevy is even working on a new Camaro and a C7 and C8 Corvette. A lot is going on!