GM shareholders' meeting: progress, Proton and healthcare
Rick Wagoner had good news to report at GM's shareholder meeting, held yesterday: progress is being made, and the company is on track to shed $2.2 billion in expenses this year. He also said that GM is still in talks with Proton, but that it's "more a possibility for us than a probability." What remain as hot button topics for the year are settling negotiations with the UAW and Delphi to get Delphi out of Chapter 11, and reducing healthcare costs, which amounted to $4.8 billion last year.Shareholders' proposals, however, didn't fare so well: all ten were voted down. These included setting goals to reduce emissions and improve GM fleet fuel economy, making 75% of an executive's stock options tied to performance, and making an executive repay a bonus if earnings restatements showed they actually hadn't met the claimed benchmark.
[Source: Auto Industry News]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Big Mike Wood 6:43PM (6/06/2007)
What are these shareholders thinking? Reduce emissions? Improve GM fleet fuel economy? Making executive compensation performance based? Making an executive repay a bonus if he or she lied and cheated to get it?
These silly little peons just don't get it. These execs didn't fight their way to the top of the corporate ladder just to be told they now have to become honest and moral people. What's the point of working hard and trying to get ahead and if you can't rape and pillage the company you work for and its shareholders? Sheesh, come on people.
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epp_b 8:03PM (6/06/2007)
AgghK! If GM buys Proton, then it means they own Lotus too :(
What horrible shame that would be.
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jay tee 9:05PM (6/06/2007)
yes, what a shame... an all aluminum turbo DI 2.0 with more than 260hp/260lbsft in the back of an Exige would be just plain horrible... of course
naif 8:20PM (6/06/2007)
GM has never made a good acquisition has it? It sells things that do make money (gmac).
And thanks, Big Mike Wood.
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F451 2:15AM (6/07/2007)
GM has become a disgrace. The entire upper executive level, and the board of directors should be part of a WFR...without any [golden] parachutes.
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The Other Bob 9:10AM (6/07/2007)
I wouldn't mind to see some compensation tagged to performance of the executive, but it seems to me that often exec. respond to shareholders way too much, which doesn't allow a company to stay the course and finish a reform before they are forced to begin some other reform to make whinning shareholders happy.
Stay the course. You are the car guys and they are stock brokers. nuf said.
BTW - I own a bit of GM stock and its done pretty well for me.
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