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Henderson resigns as GM CEO

Drew Dowdell

By Drew Dowdell
in General Motors

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Drew Dowdell Grand Master

Drew Dowdell

Posted
Posted

Henderson to step down

gallery_51_2_37656.jpg

Details are just now coming that General Motors CEO Fritz Henderson will step down from his post, and Ed Whitacre will act as interim CEO.

Henderson took over the CEO spot when the federal government gave his predecessor, Rick Wagoner, walking papers.

Fritz Henderson was undoubtedly part of the discussions involving the sale of the HUMMER brand, though it's unlikely that this will have an impact on an eventual sale.

Late last week we found out GM's attempt to sell the SAAB brand had fallen through, similar to the Saturn deal fallout.

Ed Whitacre taking over as interm CEO. Repaying American and Canadian tax payers as soon as possible is top

priority.

Official Statement:

At its monthly meeting in Detroit today, the General Motors Board of Directors accepted the resignation of Fritz Henderson as Director, President and CEO of the company.

Fritz has done a remarkable job in leading the company through an unprecedented period of challenge and change. While momentum has been building over the past several months, all involved agree that changes needed to be made. To this end, I have taken over the role of Chairman and CEO while an international search for a new president and CEO begins immediately. With these new duties, I will begin working in the Renaissance Center headquarters on a daily basis. The leadership team – many who are with me today – are united and committed to the task at hand.

I want to assure all of our employees, dealers, suppliers, union partners and most of all, our customers, that GM’s daily business operations will continue as normal. I remain more convinced than ever that our company is on the right path and that we will continue to be a leader in offering the worldwide buying public the highest quality, highest value cars and trucks. We now need to accelerate our progress toward that goal, which will also mean a return to profitability and repaying the American and Canadian tax payers as soon as possible.

In closing, I want to once again thank Fritz Henderson for his years of leadership and service to General Motors; we’re grateful for his many contributions. I look forward to working with the entire GM team as we now begin the next chapter of this great company.

Government had no role in the decision. U.S. Government was informed of the decision after the fact.

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ZL-1 Newbie

ZL-1

Posted
Posted

Like I commented on C&G's status on Facebook, Fritz did his job, now it's time for Ed to carry the company through the rest of the transition into 'New GM'.

I don't see a new CEO stepping in that soon, unless they want to run the risk of changing CEO again in a year. They need to choose well.

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hyperv6 Newbie

hyperv6

Posted
Posted

For a guy tosse into a tough job at a very bad time he did as well as he or most others could considering.

I just hope they get a good money man that will work well with Bob Lutz. We have the product and marketing in the the right direction we just need to get the business side moving in the right direction a little better.

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gm4life Newbie

gm4life

Posted
Posted (edited)

I like big Ed alot. I would actually like to see him have a go at it, I think a fresh face is needed. As for Mark Reuss, hell yes! Now let Lutz do what he does best spill the beans on future products, like that new RWD Chevy or two.

Edited by gm4life
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Robert Hall Veteran

Robert Hall

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That's pretty freakin' hiliarous.

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FloydHendershot Newbie

FloydHendershot

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I find myself wondering about the "why" of this, at this time.

There are always reasons, it would be interesting to know what they are.

I second that!

Board of Directors outnumbers him. If I'm not mistaken he wasn't thrilled about keeping Opel and the Saturn and Hummer deals fell flat. Again, if I recall he was supposed to pack his bags with Wagoner but let him stay to finish making the beds.

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vonVeezelsnider Newbie

vonVeezelsnider

Posted
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I think it's better to have new blood and Whitacre has made no bones about him being in charge. This is fine since I think it seems he can recognize the need for moving quickly to establish a foothold.

That being said I had no idea that Fritz would be gone so quickly.

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daves87rs Collaborator

daves87rs

Posted
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I think it's better to have new blood and Whitacre has made no bones about him being in charge. This is fine since I think it seems he can recognize the need for moving quickly to establish a foothold.

That being said I had no idea that Fritz would be gone so quickly.

Quick change never comes without blood....

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z28luvr01 Newbie

z28luvr01

Posted
Posted

I didn't see this coming, though with the Saab and Opel things not going the way he wanted, I suppose I should have. If there is a silver lining, from a product perspective, it's this:

"I am not a fan of rebadging."

Remember that quote, who said it, and what it pertained to? Well, that roadblock is gone now :smilewide:

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NINETY EIGHT REGENCY Grand Master

NINETY EIGHT REGENCY

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GM board, CEO Henderson split over pace of change

By TOM KRISHER and KEN THOMAS (AP) – 7 minutes ago

DETROIT — GM's board and CEO Fritz Henderson parted ways Tuesday, the board upset that the automaker was changing too slowly and Henderson frustrated with second-guessing, two people close to Henderson said.

Board Chairman Ed Whitacre Jr., former head of AT&T Inc., will take over as CEO while a global search is conducted.

It was unclear whether Henderson or the board moved first in the surprise resignation, which came just hours before Henderson was to be the high-profile keynote speaker at the Los Angeles Auto Show.

At a hastily called news conference at General Motors Co.'s downtown Detroit headquarters, Whitacre would not answer questions, but said the board and Henderson agreed that he should step down.

Whitacre thanked Henderson, 51, a lifelong GM employee, for his leadership and said the company is on the right path toward offering high-quality cars and trucks worldwide.

"We now need to accelerate our progress toward that goal," the 68-year-old Whitacre said in a brief appearance on a stage.

Both men were chosen for their jobs by the U.S. government, which owns more than 60 percent of the Detroit automaker in exchange for giving it billions in loans. But Henderson is a GM insider, while Whitacre is an outsider to the whole industry.

Still, Whitacre and the board have become increasingly active in the company's decisions, at times challenging some of Henderson's moves.

In November, the board voted to abandon plans to sell GM's European Opel unit, reversing an earlier option favored by Henderson to sell it to a group led by Canadian auto parts supplier Magna International Inc.

Henderson, who rose through GM's ranks over a 25-year career, was chosen by the Obama administration to run GM in March after it forced out former CEO Rick Wagoner. His brief tenure was marked by GM's record-fast departure from bankruptcy court but also some failed deals and weak sales.

The people close to Henderson, who asked not to be identified because Henderson has not spoken, said he was frustrated from the beginning by the board and government push for faster change and other questions about his decisions.

Henderson, one of the people said, was confident that the company was making progress and thought he deserved more autonomy. In the past few months GM has stabilized its U.S. market share at around 20 percent and has shown some monthly sales increases in the U.S. and Asia.

But on Tuesday, GM released November sales figures that were 2 percent below the same month last year, when sales hit a 26-year low. The decline came after Whitacre began pushing for increased sales and market share.

Henderson, the other person close to him said, had expressed concern that his tenure was doomed from the start.

"I don't think this has much to do with Fritz Henderson's performance, I think it's just the wrong time to be a GM lifer," said Logan Robinson, a former Chrysler attorney and professor of corporate governance at University of Detroit Mercy.

Henderson was the government's choice to run the beleaguered company after Wagoner left. Whitacre, picked by the government in June to be chairman of the new GM, ran AT&T for 17 years.

GM could face difficulty in recruiting Henderson's replacement. Like other struggling companies that have received federal bailout money, any compensation package would have to be approved by federal pay czar Kenneth Feinberg.

Henderson replaced Wagoner a few months before GM entered bankruptcy protection. He led the company through a painful government-led and court-supervised reorganization.

"I think there was a perception he was too much of an insider," said Ken Elias, partner with Maryann Keller and Associates, an auto industry consulting firm. "The bankruptcy was not something that occurred because of the recession last August, it was coming for decades. The reality is GM truly needs an outsider as a leader that has no attachment."

With the government's help, the company emerged from court protection in just 40 days cleansed of massive debt and burdensome contracts that would have sunk it without roughly $52 billion in federal loans.

An Obama administration official said Tuesday in a statement that "this decision was made by the Board of Directors alone. The Administration was not involved in the decision."

Henderson continued to downsize the automaker after its emergence from bankruptcy. He sought to scale down GM to just four core brands: Chevrolet, Cadillac, Buick and GMC.

While he has largely succeeded in that goal, attempts to sell the company's other brands have hit obstacles. Swedish luxury sports car maker Koenigsegg Group AB backed out of a deal to buy GM's Saab brand. GM said Tuesday it has some interested bidders but will wind down Saab if nothing materializes by the end of the year.

Henderson's bid to sell Saturn to race car mogul Roger Penske fell through and the brand is now liquidating.

But GM was successful in winning a tentative sale of Hummer to a Chinese construction machinery maker.

In an agreement reached in October with pay czar Feinberg, Henderson's pay was cut 25 percent to $950,000, about half of what he made in 2008. In addition, Henderson received shares worth $4.2 million, to be exercised when GM became a public company again, perhaps late next year.

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NINETY EIGHT REGENCY Grand Master

NINETY EIGHT REGENCY

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Posted

GM board ousts CEO Henderson; Whitacre is interim replacement

JAMIE LAREAU

AUTOMOTIVE NEWS

DECEMBER 1, 2009 - 4:50 PM ET

UPDATED: 12/1/09 6:20 P.M.

DETROIT -- General Motors Co.'s board of directors ousted CEO Fritz Henderson after eight months, saying it wanted to chart a new course as the biggest U.S. automaker pushes ahead with its restructuring.

Chairman Ed Whitacre, 68, will succeed Henderson on an interim basis while a search for a new president and CEO starts immediately, Whitacre said at a press conference today.

Henderson, 51, guided GM through the automaker's 39-day bankruptcy in June and July after replacing the fired Rick Wagoner in late March.

The company, which hasn't posted an annual profit since 2004, is desperately trying to rebound from 2009's sales collapse.

“Fritz has done a remarkable job in leading the company through an unprecedented period of challenge and change,” Whitacre said. “While momentum has been building over the past several months, all involved agree that changes needed to be made.”

The decision was made today at GM's monthly board meeting. At the same meeting, the board decided to evaluate potential bids for Saab through Dec. 31 after a deal to sell the brand collapsed last week.

GM Spokesman Chris Preuss said Whitacre, who was appointed chairman in June, does not have long-term intentions to remain CEO.

“These things usually take months, not weeks, to find CEOs and execute this change,” he said.

Whitacre read from a written statement and declined to answer reporters' questions. Preuss did answer some questions and said Henderson's resignation was a mutually agreed upon decision by the board and Henderson.

“After a discussion with the board and given where the company currently is, it was a decision by Fritz and the board that it's best for him to resign,” he said. “It was best to initiate a change in direction and that was the board's decision.”

Whitacre has an office at GM's world headquarters in Detroit and he will be there on a daily basis running the company.

Meanwhile, GM's vice chairman and marketing chief, Bob Lutz, will step in for Henderson at a speech Henderson was due to give Wednesday at the Los Angeles auto show.

GM's CFO Ray Young remains despite persistent rumors that GM is searching for his replacement.

GM's largest shareholder is the U.S. government. Preuss said GM informed U.S. officials of the decision to replace Henderson this afternoon. “There were no questions,” Preuss said. “This was a board-led decision -- which is how we've been running all along.”

Preuss declined to specify what criteria GM will use in the search for a new CEO or if the company will seek one outside the industry.

White House spokeswoman Amy Brundage said in an e-mailed statement: “This decision was made by the board of directors alone. The administration was not involved in the decision.”

With the appointment of Whitacre, all three U.S. automakers are now headed by outsiders to Detroit.

Ford Motor Co. CEO Alan Mulallly left Boeing Co in 2006. Chrysler, also rescued this year by the U.S. government, is now headed by Fiat S.p.A. CEO Sergio Marchionne.

Reuters, Neil Roland and Charles Child contributed to this report.

PRESS RELEASE: GM Statement Attributed to To Chairman Ed Whitacre

At its monthly meeting in Detroit today, the General Motors Board of Directors accepted the resignation of Fritz Henderson as Director, President and CEO of the company.

Fritz has done a remarkable job in leading the company through an unprecedented period of challenge and change. While momentum has been building over the past several months, all involved agree that changes needed to be made. To this end, I have taken over the role of Chairman and CEO while an international search for a new president and CEO begins immediately. With these new duties, I will begin working in the Renaissance Center headquarters on a daily basis. The leadership team – many who are with me today – are united and committed to the task at hand.

I want to assure all of our employees, dealers, suppliers, union partners and most of all, our customers, that GM's daily business operations will continue as normal. I remain more convinced than ever that our company is on the right path and that we will continue to be a leader in offering the worldwide buying public the highest quality, highest value cars and trucks. We now need to accelerate our progress toward that goal, which will also mean a return to profitability and repaying the American and Canadian tax payers as soon as possible.

In closing, I want to once again thank Fritz Henderson for his years of leadership and service to General Motors; we're grateful for his many contributions. I look forward to working with the entire GM team as we now begin the next chapter of this great company.

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regfootball Community Regular

regfootball

Posted
Posted

'that's harsh. i'm a writer, i know dialogue, that's particularly harsh'

what a potty mouth little lady. i suppose she has da tongue rings, and is into sexting too.......

I hear Jim Dollinger is available.

lol

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camls7 Newbie

camls7

Posted
Posted

Remember the statement - Bob Lutz works for me? Now FH is gone - RWD Chevy is BACK - as BL does not work for him anymore!!!

Contrary to my initial impressions FH did a better job.

i hope you are right.

Remember the statement - Bob Lutz works for me? Now FH is gone - RWD Chevy is BACK - as BL does not work for him anymore!!!

Contrary to my initial impressions FH did a better job.

i hope you are right.

Remember the statement - Bob Lutz works for me? Now FH is gone - RWD Chevy is BACK - as BL does not work for him anymore!!!

Contrary to my initial impressions FH did a better job.

i hope you are right.

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