Would Ghosn be the best choice to lead GM?
Calls for the replacement of Rick Wagoner at General Motors raise an intriguing question: who would be the best choice to take the reigns of America's largest automaker if Wagoner were ousted? Some would point directly to GM COO Fritz Henderson, but we're not so sure that Washington would go along with that idea. A slightly more palatable choice may be found in Nissan/Renault head-honcho Carlos Ghosn, who has managed to right the sinking ship that was Nissan in the early 2000s after taking the helm in 1999. Seems like a logical choice, then.
CNN has a few other options to consider, including Robert Lane, chairman and of Deere & Co., John G. Rice, vice chairman of General Electric and president and CEO of GE Technology Infrastructure and Sergio Marchionne, CEO of Fiat S.p.A. We could possibly see Marchionne getting the nod, considering that he's had plenty of experience in the automotive world, but many would surely question whether GM should go the way of Chrysler and Ford by appointing non-car-guys to take the helm.
[Source: CNN]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Seminole 9:35AM (12/10/2008)
I couldn't see Mr. Bean running GM.
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Torrent 11:42AM (12/10/2008)
haha! I was gonna say the exact same thing.
JZeke 12:12PM (12/10/2008)
He's kinda Zoolanderish, in that photo it looks like hes perfecting "Blue Steel".
hashiryu 4:40PM (12/10/2008)
lol, same thing that I thought
Shawn 9:35AM (12/10/2008)
Is that Mr. Bean?
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Jj 11:14AM (12/10/2008)
I see you guys saw the new issue of Car & Driver.
Bumblebee 10:55AM (12/10/2008)
There isn't a person alive who could right the ship with all the meddling from the government and a half-assed bailout plan. It's an impossible situation.
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Avinash machado 9:38AM (12/10/2008)
Maybe they should summon the ghost of Alfred Sloan to run GM?
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dealer 7:03PM (12/10/2008)
Quite simply, the guy who rund GM Europe,
CARL-PETER FORSTER,
is who should be the CEO. Let Wagoner remain chairman. The GM Europe lineup is actually COVETED now that the former BMW executive has redesigned the lineup to
world-class standards.
His former managing partner at BMW, Wolfgang Reitzle, should take over from Lutz
as the product czar. This guy set new standards that rocketed Land Rover from
quaint British offroad brand to a world-beating luxury icon. The Range Rover is his baby,
designed while he was still at BMW, and finished when he followed the brand to Ford to run PAG. Some wonderful Volvos and Aston Martins also bear his imprint.
By applying a BMW-level mindset across all of GM, the pair would deliver the most stunning turnaround we've seen in a while.
Derek 9:42AM (12/10/2008)
Would Ghosn be the best choice? In a word - yes.
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zamafir 10:19AM (12/10/2008)
Yup, just like Mulally he has a proven immediate track record of turning companies around - and a ton of experience with the kind of cars people are clamoring for now. I'm not a big fan of the idea, mostly because I don't care for the guy, but you can't argue with his credentials.
Judy Zik 12:56PM (12/10/2008)
I'm not so sure. Nissan is in trouble. Their sales took as big a hit last month as Cerbyler. It isn't exactly smooth sailing at Renault either. They both need his attention and are not looking quite so turned around at this point. Ghosen with his ego will want to run all three companies at the same time. GM needs a full time CEO who lives and breathes GM and knows the company. Anyone else will take too long figuring out how things work at GM. When you are losing the kind of money GM is losing every day you don't have time for someone new to learn their way around the building.
Tal D 9:47AM (12/10/2008)
Don't know anything about Rice from GE but if he was associated with Jack F*&kin' Welch, I would say absolutely NAY!!
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Epyx 10:31AM (12/10/2008)
You may not like Mr. Welch, but you can not deny how good he was for GE. Maybe GM could bring the man out of retirement to fix another big US company.
From Wiki - "He shut down factories, reduced payrolls and cut lackluster old-line units. Welch's philosophy was that a company should be either #1 or #2 in a particular industry, or else leave it completely. Although he was initially treated with contempt by those under him for his policies, they eventually grew to respect him. Welch's strategy was later adopted by other CEOs across corporate America.
Each year, Welch would fire the bottom 10% of his managers. He earned a reputation for brutal candor in his meetings with executives. He would push his managers to perform, but he would reward those in the top 20% with bonuses and stock options. He also expanded the broadness of the stock options program at GE from just top executives to nearly one third of all employees. Welch is also known for destroying the nine-layer management hierarchy and bringing a sense of informality to the company.In 1980, the year before Welch became CEO, GE recorded revenues of roughly $26.8 billion. In 2000, the year before he left, the revenues increased to nearly $130 billion. When Jack Welch left GE, the company had gone from a market value of $14 billion to one of more than $410 billion at the end of 2004, making it the most valuable and largest company in the world."
That sounds just like what GM needs.
Welch? 2:34PM (12/10/2008)
"In 1980, the year before Welch became CEO, GE recorded revenues of roughly $26.8 billion."
1981= the huge Reagan recession, i.e. the absolute best time to take over the largest and most highly respected American industrial company for the purpose of good growth statistics.
"In 2000, the year before he left, the revenues increased to nearly $130 billion."
Leaving at the height of the internet bubble doesn't hurt the stats either.
"When Jack Welch left GE, the company had gone from a market value of $14 billion to one of more than $410 billion at the end of 2004, making it the most valuable and largest company in the world."
If it wasn't the largest, it was still really really big in 1980, and in 2001, GE had been transformed from an industrial and manufacturing company into what for all intents and purposes was an unregulated, unlicensed bank. Half of the profits were coming from GE Finance, where none of the management techniques of which Welch acolytes are enamored applied. If you're going to turn a relatively staid industrial company into a risky financial venture, then you'd better get an alpha.
Now that GE Finance is blowing up, what's Jack Welch's real legacy, other than a legion of Machiavellian managers just like him?
Hamud 9:48AM (12/10/2008)
The CEO of FIAT? Really?
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Rick 10:30AM (12/10/2008)
Sure, the man who brought FIAT back into profit, produced several top selling world cars, and now commands a company with a market capitalization a half dozen or so times larger than GM's.
His management style also proves it's possible to have the likes of Ferrari, Maserati, Alfa Romeo, Fiat, Lancia and other automotive divisions all under one roof and not step on each other's toes by producing clone cars, like certain company's different divisions presently do.
Mazda FTW! 9:51AM (12/10/2008)
Just keep the current management team. They are onto something good in the near future. They understand the company and they understand the challenges and they are aware of the upcoming future product. I wish the North American reaction to any problem didn't have to be so reactionary and short-term oriented. Instead, the government should work with the current management and sort out actual union and healthcare issues.
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Sea Urchin 10:33AM (12/10/2008)
Wagoner became CEO in 2000, he has shown that he knows nothing about running the company.
P.S. I don't know if you heard GM will die if Feds don't bail it out.
chris 9:55AM (12/10/2008)
I am a big fan of Carlos Ghosn.....and he is an exciting Leader...and I am familiar with Lee Iaccoca as a leader at both Ford and Chrysler
..... while his style was more abrasive and in your face...He provided a clear direction and made a difference in difficult times... I would say also
a tremendous leader. The Big name I admire most in the Automotive
culture today in the USA would have to be Roger Penske...as his overall
knowledge and people skills is the "Right Stuff".
HOWEVER: That being said...as an experienced, and passionate
Automotive Car Guy.....having spent my entire career in this great car/people industry.....Rick Waggoner is providing an Outstanding Leadership role in this Unique and Complex social, Economic-environment that I find it hard to believe anybody with a serious understanding of what is actually going on in our socio-political-economic environment would really want to change this Highly Competant Leadership Role...in the middle of a tough Game.
I mean if you already have the best Guy at Quaterback for GM...why would you want to defer to the Bumbling judgement of an incompetant
Political Sociopath like Christopher Dodd or anyone else that would actually suggest that Rick Waggoner leave his post...It's Ludicrous.
Actually I just wish the newspaper would do an investigative story on this Dodd guy just for giggles and wow would that be a story...but that would be an expose on a liberal point guy and papers don't do logical?
Thank You
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