Wagoner: HUMMER is the only brand for sale
General Motors CEO Rick Wagoner has confirmed that HUMMER is the only brand in the automaker's portfolio that's up for sale. Many believed that Saab's days were also numbered and the Swedish brand would be getting out from under the corporate umbrella as soon as a buyer could be found. Not so says the Ricker. Other brands thought to have been out on the lawn behind a For Sale sign included Opel-Vauxhall, GM of China and Holden. While HUMMER may be the only GM brand for sale, the automaker is certainly keen to sell other assets weighing it down. Wagoner didn't elaborate on which assets those might be, but his company's remaining 49% stock in GMAC doesn't seem to be doing it any good.
[Source: Autocar, Photo by Bill Pugliano/Getty]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
WRX09 12:10PM (11/14/2008)
How on earth does this guy keep his job? The company he runs has lost 95% of its value under his watch. He is a clown at best.
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Hanoi Jane 12:38PM (11/14/2008)
Well i know how, the same way Bush kept his. You turn around and say ohh i got my MBA from Harvard.
How big of a coincidence is that, two of Americans most dysfunctional men are heading such large enterprises. And both come out from same University.
And since they are both of similar age they probably had classes together.
Mobius_1 12:47PM (11/14/2008)
I think Harvard is ashamed to be linked with this guy.
mjk 12:53PM (11/14/2008)
actually...Rick went to Duke...hence all the "Blue Devil" silliness about the ZR1.
Hanoi Jane 1:05PM (11/14/2008)
MJK, DUKE was undergrad, Bush went to Yale.
But both got MBA's from Harvard.
Man that exam must be easy.
Autoblog, you should ask dean of Harvard business school to comment on these two.
jamie 2:55PM (11/14/2008)
Uh-oh.
Obama graduated from Harvard.
AZZO45b 4:34PM (11/14/2008)
No Jamie Bush ATTENDED Yale & I still don't believe he actually GRADUATED (despite what any diploma says)
Obama SUCCEEDED at Harvard, including leader of the Law Review... legacy dopes don't get that title!
I think its safe to say he have a truly intelligent guy as President... he has a very tough job ahead of him & will never be compared to Bush (in terms of education & brain power).
P.V. 5:41PM (11/14/2008)
This brand bloatedness isn't any new thing. GM has been acquiring brands since its inception. It has to stop, and selling HUMMER would be the first step towards a more manageable and profitable GM.
@WRX09:
I completely agree. This guy should have lost his job a LONG time ago.
stevefazek 10:17PM (11/14/2008)
Harvard should print its MBAs on enron stock for such a respected school its seems to create nothing but retards
Todd 12:12PM (11/14/2008)
To: Wagner
Keep Chevy and Cadillac and "fire sale" everything else, IMMEDIATELY, you greedy crook!
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LMBVette 1:26PM (11/14/2008)
Exactly!
Another option is Chapter 11 and then eliminating all the divisions not named Chevy and Caddy. Disband all the dealerships related to those now defunct divisions. While in bankruptcy, renegotiate all the labor and supplier contracts.
This will cost hundreds of thousands of jobs in the short-term......but in the long-term the company becomes profitable and it may be able to begin to increase it's market share.
Just think if GM spent all the money in it's marketing budget on two divisions and 20 models.....instead 7 divisions and 50 models.
noz 1:34PM (11/14/2008)
Ask Happy Penguin how people like Wagoneer keep their jobs....
Please remind us HP how you have supported GM through the years as one of many dumb consumers out there.
Hanoi Jane 12:16PM (11/14/2008)
I guess everyone know where i stand on this fool.
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Torrent 12:22PM (11/14/2008)
I hope Wagoner gets hit by a Hummer.
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happy_penguin 12:33PM (11/14/2008)
I misread that for a second... never mind what I was thinking. ;)
Mobius_1 1:08PM (11/14/2008)
How 'bout:
Run down by a Hummer on 24's, then split in half by the CF splitter of a ZR1 doing 150mph, then sees an Aztek and brain explodes in realisation of its ugliness, finally on the way to the cemetary the Escalade runs out of fuel.
Wagoner is an incompetent manager, if he was in a sport he would be unemployed long time ago.
Dave 12:47PM (11/14/2008)
Rick's comments are irrelevant. Anyone vaguely familiar with the auto industry can see what needs to happen to survive. If the not-so-big three get a bailout, Rick and the other top dogs need to disappear without golden parachutes. I'd also like to see a group set up to make sure none of these guys ever work in the U.S. auto industry. Ever.
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CarbonBlack 12:49PM (11/14/2008)
He is a Bad dude!
Look at his pic, and you can just tell he is an Asshole!
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ckm 12:53PM (11/14/2008)
Why does this person still have a job? Where is the board of directors and their responsibility to shareholders? After 8 years of running GM into the ground, he should be fired with no benefits.
Not only is GM sinking fast, but they have NO PLAN to get out of this. The Volt? Give me a break, one model does not a turn around make.
At least Ford is doing 'whatever it takes' (new CEO, mortgage everything) and has a raft of new models in the pipeline focus on what customers want. GM? Oh, wait, they just introduced not one, but two expensive, gas guzzling halo models, with another one soon to be released. Yeah, they're good, but they are not the volume models a company the size of GM needs to stick around. All the money spent on developing them would have been better used on better interiors and quality for volume cars like Cobalt and Aveo.
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Eddie Saenz 1:13PM (11/14/2008)
volume cars like cobalt and aveo,the big three were reacting to the market demands, we were buying big trucks and suvs, like there was no tomorrow, when gas hit 4.00 we stop buying them and then we blame them for not having small cars, we were not buying small cars!!the market shifted in a matter of days, to say that they alone are at fault is wrong, we put them in this predicament, we need them to succed