Filed under: Chicago Auto Show, Trends
GM CEO Wagoner readying his golden parachutes?
Is General Motors’ embattled CEO, Rick Wagoner, close to resigning? The Car Connection is
reporting that the GM water cooler rumor mill is crankingup, and we’ve got to admit that we heard a
substantive rumor or two about the executive’s pending RenCen office cleaning during media days at the
Chicago Auto Show last month. That said, most of the aforementioned gossip tidbits came with a timetable that has since
come and gone (largely thanks to some postponed legal deadlines, etc.).
The question is, who would be bold (foolish?) enough to step into the breach and fill Wagoner’s vacancy? Kirk Kerkorian’s right-hand man, Jerry York, has been mentioned, though he hasn’t even fully warmed his new boardroom seat yet. To be sure, the General has shown positive signs in recent months, but it remains mired in systematic problems that appear increasingly unlikely to be fixed without navigating a much harder trajectory (read: bankruptcy).
What do you think... is Wagoner on the way out? Would his departure help or hinder GM's fortunes? Weigh-in by leaving a comment.
[Source: TheCarConnection.com]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Rastus 12:38PM (3/06/2006)
I sincerely hope Rick at least sticks around for the release of the Pontiac Cobalt. That would be the pinnacle of his tenure at GM.
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Richard Warren 12:43PM (3/06/2006)
I'll hold the door open for him on his way out.
Parachute, bonus, sorry pal, sue us. You were in charge, had time to work on all this for quite some time, go ahead, sue us, we'll counter sue for the job you did.
That answer the question?
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Al Bundy 12:45PM (3/06/2006)
It's quite clear that American Car company Execs have their heads up their asses. They brains are frost bitten by being holed up in God's rendention of hell on earth, ie Detroit.
MBA programs will use GM/Ford as case studies of how not to run a company.
Fire GM's CEO with no bonus, no nothing, tell the unions that they better get off their ass and restructure their sweat heart deals or risk having the company go BK where the union member will get screwed royally when they find out they have no job and if they want to be rehired back, the'l hvae to settle for 10 bucks an hour with no benefits at all.
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foodswami 12:49PM (3/06/2006)
what? he might be leaving while the company is just about to have tonnes of fun with cash problems
dude why dont they just hire the french guy that helped nissan and get it back up to speed.
oh wow, I just had a brain flash, maybe they should get donald trump to do a GM apprentiace reality show and hire the winner as the new CEO.
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Rastus 12:51PM (3/06/2006)
Speaking of MBA's, my respect for Harvard has fallen through the floor if indeed Ricky is a graduate.
Honest to God, when the obvious becomes a series of roadblocks destined to destroy a company, then a Harvard MBA is worthless.
But hey, it takes a bit of common sense, sense which a lineworker probably has in abundance compared to this twit.
How about them Blue Devils?
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bernie 1:16PM (3/06/2006)
Wagoner's departure would signal the end of the "bean counter becomes CEO" era in Detroit. I don't think Wagoner has been the biggest failure or reason for GM's failure.
Bob Lutz, the alleged "car guy" who supposedly lived and breathed "it's all about GREAT PRODUCT" is a sham. For what he's making he should have been canned years ago for malpractice.
Now what GM needs is somebody with a set of cajones to stand up to the UAW.
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Doug 1:23PM (3/06/2006)
Sadly, given the state of things, I don't know if anyone would do a better job than Rick. In many ways mgmt is hamstrung by the union contracts negotiated long ago. I'm sure GM would not be this bad off if mgmt had the flexibility to take care of the situation. If I were them, I'd be building plants in other countries capable of building for US needs, then declare bankruptcy. They are wasting $billions on buyouts, Fiat, etc. why not spend it on modern plants in more flexible work environments, then go to the unions and ask for change. Right now mgmt has no leverage. If the unions won't help, then screw them. I'm sure Wal-Mart is hiring.
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iQuack 2:02PM (3/06/2006)
GM should bring back Roger Smith from retirement. He'd show 'em how to run a company!
Give the whole company to the UAW so it can put the final nails in its own coffin.
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ROMA 2:11PM (3/06/2006)
FINALLY. HOPEFULLY THEY'LL FIND WHO CAN RUN THIS COMPANY. IF NOT, I'LL VOLUNTEER. I'LL EVEN GIVE THEM AN INCENTIVE - WILL WORK FOR COMISSION. COMPANY MAKES MONEY, I'LL GET PAID, IF NOT, THEN I WON'T GET PAID. SOUNDS REASONABLE RIGHT.
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Ville 2:25PM (3/06/2006)
Now what GM needs is somebody with a set of cajones to stand up to the UAW.
Exactly. Blaming UAW for asking benefits is just so wrong. It's not crazy to ask, but it is crazy to give. It might now be too late to fight the unions, but it has to be done.
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Barbed S 2:52PM (3/06/2006)
It's the Unions. It's always been the Unions. Fight the Unions. As a GM bondholder I can tell you this - if I lose a dime in a BK filing, I'll never, ever purchase another GM vehicle - and that's all I've ever bought. How many people do you think may think like me? The UAW has priced themselves out of the market. When that happens to any individual worker it's time for serious concessions or time to look for work elsewhere. Americans should be demanding UAW concessions to save GM.
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Bill 3:14PM (3/06/2006)
Trump should have a special version of the Apprentice and invite the top execs from GM and Ford. It would be funny to see these guys fail at selling Lemonade on streets of New York. LOL!!!
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fedupwithGM 4:08PM (3/06/2006)
General Motors CEO, Rick Wagoner has been hopelessly LOST for many years without a clue. He should press his
" ON-STAR " button in his car to get a clue where he is. OOOOPS I forgot.....he drives a Beamer...........
and his spouse drives a Lexus.........hmmmmmmmmm.
All this clueless guy has to do is to see what the competition has been doing for the past 30 YEARS and
start doing the same.....very simple.....even a complete idiot ( like me) could do the same thing.
Get rid of him asap and hire somebody who really cares
about the CUSTOMER and NOT his own wallet like Rick Wagoner. I am fed up with useless executives who plunder companies and then bankrupt them, while they psycho-babble and blame everybody else for their own incompetence. Put a couple of holes in his parachute
and help him out the door.
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dude 5:01PM (3/06/2006)
Once again ignornant fools blame the unions for GM's problems. Let me remind you- unions don't run GM- management does. The first thing bad managers do is blame the union for everthing. Thereby, deflecting blame away from themselves for their poor decisions.
But you say the unions are making too much money. Well, who the hell agreed to give them so much money? MANAGEMENT DID!
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Richard Warren 5:04PM (3/06/2006)
#11 No, sorry it's not the unions with this company or any other company, it's management, plain, simple and to the point.
Mnagement makes the decisions on stock prices, splits, factory locations,management salaries,advertising, cost per vehicle, quality of parts, warranty length, outsourcing, board of directors, health benefits for non union, shall I go on?
Oh, a couple of other things, management (including the board)signs the union contracts and decides how to take care of union employees that do not abide by the rules. They also decide who to buy/merge with sell off, (You know, like Hughes) jump into bed with and also to take advantage of things like NAFTA
They also make the decisions on "Badge Engineering"
The union employee works for and how what the management and the union agree to. If management does not make it's employees or the union responsible for their actions, that's, let's see MANAGEMENT
While the unions have pushed for many things and increases over the years, it is weak management that very seldom called the bluff and said, "fine go on strike". I've heard stories that managers would not go into sections of the plant due to fear, well, why the hell did it get like that(Yeah, I know it's really hard to get some off duty undercover cops to find the problem,uh huh) management did not do it's job of cleaning out the plant. If you know that the plant is a drug invested swamp and it's YOUR company, then you as management clean it out or you tell the union you clean it out or we close the plant. Get rid of a few bad apples, let the news get around and guess what, people get the message.
And here is a big part of the problem: "As a GM bondholder I can tell you this - if I lose a dime in a BK filing, I'll never, ever purchase another GM vehicle"
It's called greed and kissing the stockholders asses. Bet you never said boo when Roger Smith was in charge that caused a lot of this.
If things are not going well it's up to stockholders to put the heat on the board, but do they? No, most sit back and wait for the divedend check to roll in.
As a stockholder/bondholder you are an owner of the company, if you let this go on without saying anything well, look in the mirror and you'll see who's partly to blame.
The other thing that the Managers/Board do is to allow non car or "money men" to have wayyyyyyyyyy to much say in things. If I'd listened to all the money guys over the years, I would never have gone into business and had employees, because it "just does not look like it will make money, or we have to contain the costs" to a point yes, but not to the point where you don't pay attention to the real issue, CARS.
You know it's always easy to sit on your ass and do nothing as management and watch it go to hell, yet you do nothing much to stop it.
Union caused? Hardly. Do they add to the problem, of course, but that's what management is there for.
As to the UAW pricing it's self out the market, the average Japanese assembly worker is pulling down about 25.45 per hour that's about 90 cents less than a UAW worker. And keep in mind the Japanese have a government health plan and a 60 year mandatory retirement. Study what the union workers are paid in other countries and if you haven't noticed the majority of auto workers worldwide are:
You guessed it, UNION. And instead of just looking at the hourly wage look at the percentage based on the average wage of other workers in foreign countries and you will soon find that the split is well, just about the same. You have to compare to THEIR wages not ours.
Japan auto workers=Union
Korean auto workers=Union
German auto workers=Union
Italian auto workers=Union
Canadian auto worker=Union
Australian auto workers=Union
Brazilain workers=Union
American auto workers = Union
UNLESS that is, you work for an import company here then, you are non union even while their workers at home and in other countries are Union. Why is that?
Yep, they figured it out all right.
And once again if your new here I'm not union, I'm self employed with 10 employees who happen to be non union, but if they unionized would I be concerned? No, because they all work 40 hours, have a health care plan, I pay time and a half for over time, have a 2 week vacation at least and I pay more than most of the businesses around that do similar work, and yes I've heard form them "you're over paying your help, it hurts us!" Yeah right, greedy aholes, and that's why you left and went to let's see North Carolina, Mexico, China nearly fogot Bangladesh, as you chase the cheapest labor market.
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Richard Warren 6:03PM (3/06/2006)
Regarding those wages and what union workers get in say Mexico:
Average wage in 2005 in Mexico. 4.56 US per day
Average union auto workers wage in 2005 in Mexico: 27.00 per day about 5 times the basic wage.
Is an American auto workers wage 5 times the average wage in the US?
That wonderful turn around guy (Goshen)from Nissan made this comment in a speech to a Mexican Group:
"You need to be more competitive in the auto assembly area, with new up and comers like China otherwise Nissan may have to rethink it's position"
Interesting the way we now have a turnaround guy telling another country to be competitive with another country who's average automobile assembly worker is at about 36 dollars per week VS about 25 dollars per week.
So here again, the automotive assembly worker is making more than the average worker by about 40%
See a trend here?
So ask yourself's, how far down are you willing to push down wages to compete here in America with other countries?
Then ask youself the BIG question how far down are YOU willing to drop your wage?
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mike 7:01PM (3/06/2006)
I say wagner can go!! Put Lutz in his place. Also that doofus Clay Ford has to go too (at Ford). Just because your name is Ford dosent mean you should run the company. Ford is in much worse shape than the general. They dont have any exciting new cars/trucks coming out.
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the chad 7:11PM (3/06/2006)
Whoa! Lets not forget GM is strung up with all these union contracts we've all been talking about. For what he has to work with I'd say Rick Wagoner is doing a decent job. Granted there may be others who could do better, but lets not schedule the lynching just yet. He's trying to turn a huge oceanliner around, not a ski-boat. If quality keeps improving and GM follows through on the promise of no more badge-engineering after the Pontiac Cobalt, err G5, I'll be pretty happy. Oh yeah, Rabid Rick, if you're listening, why not put your money where your mouth is and give us a 12/120k warranty. My 2 cents.
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Finished.Law.School 8:09PM (3/06/2006)
Wagoner should be sued by the shareholders.
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Steve 8:46PM (3/06/2006)
Don't forget, Wagoner was one of the top execs at GM long before he was CEO. He's one of the gang that helped run the place into the ground. The upper management at the company is awefully cozy with all of the entitlements and perks.
That said, I DO think it's fair to put substantial blame on the UAW. They essentially hold the company hostage... it's legal extortion. Remember the Delphi/Delco strike in 1998? It cost GM billions of dollars to try to stand up to one plant that refused to get more efficient. The union had no downside. The 99% of their other workers who got laid off from the assembly plants that had to shut down during the strike continued to get paid. I think GM management had little choice but to capitulate at every turn.
The union has helped drive the company into the position they are in. Look at Delphi... totally bankrupt and the UAW is still threatening to strike. Get a clue.
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