Ricky speaks! General Motors chief Rick Wagoner talks turnaround on FastLane Blog
General Motors chairman and CEO Rick Wagoner chose to fill us in on GM's turnaround progress via the company's FastLane Blog, a soapbox usually reserved for one Bob Lutz.
GM's chief reiterated some of the statements he made earlier in the week to the business media, spinning away a second quarter loss of $3.2 billion by focusing on the company's success in cutting the ranks of hourly workers, promising June numbers in terms of retail sales and market share, and building up an enviable product pipeline including the nation's "most affordable hybrid SUV" in the Saturn Vue Green Line, the sold-out Pontiac Solstice and Saturn Sky, and the scene-stealing Chevrolet HHR.
While the ship might not have done a complete 180 yet, it's well on its way, Wagoner says.
[Source: GM FastLane Blog]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
MikeUF 11:05AM (7/29/2006)
And let the GM bashing begin...
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laserwizard 11:24AM (7/29/2006)
Wagoner can blow it out his arse - this Titanic hasn't even begun to turnaround. It is still sinking and no matter of kitty litter can cover the pathetic job this company has done with its new models. One look at the rushed to market GMT-900 trucks, the badge engineered Torrent and G5, and the continued sale of CSV's and you know nothing has changed at this company.
Wagoner should be taken behind a woodshed and treated to some serious timber on flesh treatment.
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Rastus 11:54AM (7/29/2006)
Ricky,
If I were to meet you in person, I think I would shake my head in disgust and spit on the ground at your feet.
We need a hero! We need a man with testosterone, a man with balls!
You wet-noodle of a leader have shown what a spinless leader you are. You cars and trucks follow the wet-noodle design and engineering philosophy (ie, slap 4 wheels on it and call it good). This inbred self-defeating GM culture of which you are at the helm is pathetic. Pathetic to watch and pathetic to support. I will NOT support a culture based upon building 3rd-rate crap, nor will I support a management team which supports retreat and capitulation.
You are weak in character, weak in deed.
You have no business running GM. Based upon your performance, perhaps you would be successful running a Kinko's outlet. I think you'd look great in a blue apron, but I fear you may hurt yourself handling paper.
Cars are obviously not in your blood stream. You are as out of place as THIS bafoon:
http://www.charmaineyoest.com/archives/Dukakis%20on%20tank.jpg
You do not strike me as a leader whatsoever. This cost-cutting you've done up until now is the work of a beaucrat.
Maybe you ought to join civil service where you can run a mean rubber stamp.
How long have you been at the helm? And what have you to show for it? This latest "crisis" has been brewing for 35 years.
Why now? Why are you in Crisis Mode...now? Why weren't you in Crisis Mode in the 80's? Where were your visionary "world class" skills then?
Your feminine demeanor at the highest-level leads me to question if you even HAVE any balls. Were you herniated playing basketball way back when? Maybe that helps one to explain the COMPLETE and TOTAL LACK of "leadership" in its truest sense.
How can you accept your pay each pay period knowing you have done NOTHING to earn it?
http://www.gmcanada.com/images/vehicles/2006/pontiac/pursuit/pont_purs_mode_main.jpg
Pathetic!
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Finished.Law.School 12:09PM (7/29/2006)
Wagoner is one of the most useless and ignorant executives in business today.
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richard elsbree 1:02PM (7/29/2006)
Has anyone else noticed that the American auto industry seems to attract the most incompetent executives? Wagoner, Ford.Nassar,Smith, etc..
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Tom Dietrich 1:09PM (7/29/2006)
I'm sure all of you guys could do much better.
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mikesright 1:18PM (7/29/2006)
Has anyone noticed how retarded the domestic-bashers have become? Wagoner has only been at the helm for 6 years, yet Rastus chastises him for not being in "crisis mode." WHEN HASN'T HE BEEN IN CRISIS MODE?!! He's turning the ship around with great product (with Bob Lutz at the helm of the reconfigured design studio) and great ($9 billion worth) cost-cutting! It also takes time to restructure the organization (4 years on average), and the stuff he did in 2002 is what is saving GM right now!
Lazerwizard accuses GM of some stop-gapping (although you can see Lexus SUV's and their former 2006 ES for worse rebadging efforts) and the GMT-900's for being "rushed." Well, I guess GM was right and you wrong, for the GMT-900's continue to pick up accolades and marketshare (as well as volume) in a depressed fullsize segment, and Torrent sales continue to go higher and higher...
And the stock price? Up nearly 100% since the low of $18.33 in January. Now that's turning around fast! I guess you guys couldn't see that if it struck you in the head...
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Rastus 1:58PM (7/29/2006)
Mikesright:
Your friend Wagoner is a career man at GM!! It doens't matter if his is the head-honcho or not. Even when he was an underling VP he had an financial and MORAL obligation to speak up and PERFORM!
The state of affairs today is a DIRECT RESULT of "Rubber Stamp" mentality...a mentality ENGRAINED in the company culture.
So of COURSE he brings to the CEO positon oa lackadasical attitude...one of "GOOD 'NUFF". I see NO evidence whatsoever of Rick being a "WORLD CLASS" leader...THROUGHOUT HIS ENTIRE CAREER AT GM!
Bean counting is just that...
One Cavalier, Two Cavaliers, Three Cavaliers...
...30,000 lost jobs here, 12 Plant Closures THERE...
...All the WHILE counting HIS MULTI-MILLION DOLLAR PAYCHECK.
I stand by what I said.
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AutoFan 2:01PM (7/29/2006)
I think I'm going to start a "GM Deathwatch Deathwatch" and keep it going until Farago folds his ridiculous column.
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Steven T. 2:27PM (7/29/2006)
The polarization in this thread is fascinating. I hold a more centrist perspective. GM's recent product introductions have generally been of a much higher caliber than Ford's (e.g., think Cadillac's offerings versus Lincoln's). The question is whether it is too little, too late.
I'd like to see GM succeed. However, the company's difficulties powerfully illustrate how hard it is to reform such a large and old corporation. In the end it could very well be that a bankruptcy might be the best thing that could happen, because it could result in the dismembering of the company into more functional parts.
For example, if GM were broken up into two auto-making companies, would that allow each to be much more nimble, efficient, and market savvy? Would that unlock the creativity of mid-level managers who right now are constrained by a huge, hidebound structure?
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Edsel 3:30PM (7/29/2006)
In the second quarter, GM looses $3.2 Billion but Exxon makes $10 Billion. Perhaps auto manufacturers should invest & develop a little more vertically? GM basically owns their parts mfg supply, why not own fuel refining too?
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Ryan 3:59PM (7/29/2006)
WHY DO YOU GUYS DEBATE GM WHEN IT IS SO OBVIOUS THE PONTIAC G5 WILL TOTALLY SAVE THE COMPANY???
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naggs 4:02PM (7/29/2006)
GM is on the right track. Their new product is lightyears ahead of the models that were replaced. The new trucks should be a huge hit. I dont think people realize how long it takes a company like GM to change, we are just now starting to see the fruits of Bob Lutz's work. They just need to figure out how to make a decent small car now.
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iQuack 4:53PM (7/29/2006)
GM will be in crisis mode until the UAW's choke-hold is released.
The union owns the company and that's the REAL problem.
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Raoul Duke 5:57PM (7/29/2006)
#15 In case you have not noticed, the UAW has made concessions. Please do not let facts get in the way of your prejudices.
http://www.thecarconnection.com/Auto_News/Auto_News/UAW_Opens_Door_for_GM_Cuts.S175.A8396.html
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gkz 6:12PM (7/29/2006)
JR / #8
When did you drop out of school? 5th grade? 6th?
You are THE WORST writer I have every seen. Your thought process is convoluted at best and your grammar and spelling suggest ramant inbreeding in your past.
First, Toyota is listed on the NYSE (if you know what that is), so its financial statements ARE publicly reported. You are ignorant to suggest that they don't make money.
Second, if you don't know anyone who drives an import, I'd propose that you leave your swamp in Mississippi and take a little drive to an area where people don't chew tobacco 24/7 and look at the cars.
Frankly, I'm shocked you had the intelligence needed to turn on your computer and type an address in the internet browser.
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gkz 6:13PM (7/29/2006)
"ever" seen... sorry
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jamie 6:13PM (7/29/2006)
Seems to me there are a few 'left behinders' on this board who failed to capitalize on GM's turnaround from $18 to $32 a share. Gee, where else can you nearly double your money in less than a year? (Las Vegas doesn't count).
I'll wave to ya guys at BurgerKing as I whip down the coast for some Chateau Lafite, prime rib and salmon again. :)
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mikesright 6:29PM (7/29/2006)
Rastus, Wagoner was VP of ACCOUNTING when he was handpicked to lead GM. I admit he's not a very good "car guy," but he hired a real one in Bob Lutz to manage that aspect of the business. If you want to blame people for bad product at GM, you need to voice that to the three people that put Wagoner in this mess.
1. Roger Smith-oversaw a pitiful product portfolio that took GM's marketshare from 45% in the 80's to 35% in the early 90's. Corner-cutting, not cost-cutting, was his legacy.
2. Jack Smith-continued to corner-cut and invested $50 billion into robotics technology (which never panned out), and spinning off EDS, Delphi, and the FIAT disaster-all caused by him. He continued to cut corners for profitablity by cutting product spending.
3. Ronald Zallarella (current CEO of Bausch and Lomb, which just had a disaster with eye fungus from poor product). Wagoner fired him because he sent products out like the prev-gen Grand Am, the old (before Lutz took off the cladding and put a new nose on it) Bonneville, and the infamous Aztek. He also managed a really f*ck'd up and redundant design process, which he fixed by firing him and redoing the structure and moving design up to the highest priority, and then placing Bob Lutz in to supervise and control it.
Quality has now advanced under Gary Cowger to a close #2 overall, placing 11 vehicles as the most reliable (tied with Toyota for # of categories they are in). Also, GM is #4 in best productivity, a few minutes off of Toyota and Honda for 2nd place, all while they have had headwinds such as closing factories, cutting shifts, and the speed on the production floor, that decrease that speed #. In other words, they've gone from 22 hours/car down to the Japanese to being able to compete with anybody.
Wagoner, to save the company, BEFORE the current crisis, raised spending heavily for product development, changed the structure of the organization to facilitate design better and cut costs, and now cut excess workers by buying them out to cut capacity and align better with what customers want by making the product they want instead of selling people on the product to keep a factory going. In roughly 6 years, he's changed GM around from an Aztek builder to producing the new Acadia, Tahoe, Aura, Corvette, and soon, Camaro, that people genuinely will pay a premium to own.
Also, Wagoner has pulled off some smart business decisions, such as buying GM Daewoo, being #1 in China, despite being one of the last to invest there, and tying together GM's international prowess in design and technology to bring the new Zeta, Epsilon II, and Delta platforms to the US to better use its design budget. Also, the collaboration between Saturn and Opel will bring new, fun-to-drive, fuel efficient, and pretty vehicles from Opel here.
As you can see, Wagoner is a better CEO than you or anybody gives him credit for. I doubt you or anyone else here could do those things under that much pressure and be as successful as he has. He had to take a redundant bunch of regional car companies and whip them into shape to become truly a world powerhouse. It's worked, and GM has continued to break production records ever since Wagoner came on. He's an inspiration, not a disgrace here. Why do you think Ghosn's interested in GM? There's a lot of value in them as a world partner!
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AnonymousInsights 6:40PM (7/29/2006)
My secretary reserves me a car each Friday. She called me and told me to pick up my weekend rental at 5pm at the local rental place. It was a red Pontiac Grand Prix. I was indifferent. I shouldn't have been. This car is fast, nimble and has beautiful candy apple red paint. Frankly, I have never owned a domestic car and have never even thot of it. But this thing is pure fun and it has a ton of gadgets that are peculiar but rather intriguing like the information screen that tells me everything about this car that I probably don't need to know like including remaining oil life, the speed sensitive feature for stereo volume and an almost an almost 'I refuse to be a vanilla ice-cream, ergonomically correct Toyoccord with its stark black interior that makes the orange gauges grab every bit of your remaining attention (since the engine and throaty V6 is wanting it all). I am strangely enjoying this 3.8 supercharged V6 that loves to go fast. Say what you want about GM (and I have said it all!!) but this Grand Prix is a shitload of fun.
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