BREAKING: Mark LaNeve leaving GM effective October 15
by Jeremy Korzeniewski on Oct 7th 2009 at 12:58PM 
Mark LaNeve, General Motors' head of U.S. sales, is reportedly set to leave the company on October 15th. LaNeve had been appointed GM North America vice president of marketing and advertising back in September of 2004 after starting his career as the brand manager for the now-defunct Pontiac Bonneville.
A quick glance at our monthly By the Numbers series of posts will show that GM's sales figures here in the States have been in a downward spiral for a good long time, so perhaps the company decided some fresh blood was needed.
At this point, GM has not yet announced a replacement for LaNeve, though Jim Bunnell, executive director of sales operations, will reportedly continue to lead the automaker's dealership consolidation plans. It's also not clear if The General will look outside its own operations or attempt to recruit from within for his replacement.
In an email sent to GM employees, company head Fritz Henderson had this to say regarding LaNeve's departure:
[Source: Automotive News - Sub. Req'd | Photo: Bill Pugliano/Getty Images]Mark has contributed significantly to GM in several key positions, including transforming the Cadillac brand and leading the vehicle sales, service and marketing organization during one of the most challenging periods in GM's history. Please join me in thanking Mark for his dedication and wishing him and his family well. A replacement for Mark will be named at a later date.
Get a WordPress.com Blog
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Venom 1:03PM (10/07/2009)
Not surprised.
He always looked like a mob boss to me. lol
He is an alright guy though.
Reply
Santosh Tiwari 1:27PM (10/07/2009)
I will miss his emails: mostly sales pitches.
He is an alright guy.
GM does not need to hire people from outside. They already have oversized management; just pick a person from the group.
Larry Burns is also retiring. I will miss him too.
Aprime 1:44PM (10/07/2009)
Are you guys serious? Change in culture is the best thing GM could ever get. Lutz was a step in that direction. The whole 'good old guys' crap ends up killing industry. When you can't even have competition on the inside imagine what it's going to end up like on the outside.
This guy never figured out how to market a car, let alone manage dealer relations. I'm glad to see him go. Anyone who isn't a fanboy will be, too.
Check Autoline After Hours last segment with him; when asked to retort to claims regarding his [lack of] competence, he'd come up with personal attacks dismissing the credibility of his opponents. These claims were not only defamatory, but they were proving their point.
Sure, he can be an alright guy as an individual (everyone has that potential, and I don't even know him personally, so why would I even bother covering that aspect), but he's a bad business man and deserved to fail much like the rest of GM. Failing allows you (and the rest of the business/people around you) to learn, welfare state intervention does not.
Tool 2:04PM (10/07/2009)
I don't know Mark LaNeve. But I think he needed to go because of the sliding market share for the past decade since he has been in power.
The good thing is that this will put leaders on notice that GM is deadly serious about producing results. Lead or you are outta here.
As Major Hochstetter said, "Heads Will Roll !!!".
DayShifter 3:11PM (10/07/2009)
"A replacement for Mark will be named at a later date...." Hummm...interesting, you would think they would have someone lined up by now if this was planned. Not sure what to think about this, hopefully it is to get some new blood.
Reply
Sea Urchin 1:05PM (10/07/2009)
I think looking outside is the best option. I say just hire Steve Jobs, he will fix GM in a hurry.
Reply
woootles 1:08PM (10/07/2009)
"I say just hire Steve Jobs, he will fix GM in a hurry."
No thanks. I don't want a new line of Corvettes or Camaros costing twice as they already do and only has one pedal.
Matt 1:21PM (10/07/2009)
Right woootles............right.
Francis 1:12PM (10/07/2009)
"yo dawg, i heard you like macs, so we put one pedal in yo car."
Reply
Theo 1:12PM (10/07/2009)
Now we need Henderson and Lutz would follow his lead.
Reply
hyundaifans.com 6:19PM (10/07/2009)
I second that. Lutz especially.
Lemon 2:04AM (10/08/2009)
Lutz leave? Really? Have you seen what he's done for GM products? The awards won by the cars he's pushed for?
Driver X 1:15PM (10/07/2009)
Whittacre needs to go too. Put Chip Foose in.
Reply
Matt 1:20PM (10/07/2009)
Fritz should join Mark as well...
Reply
don 1:25PM (10/07/2009)
That's one cancer cell gone. Though there's still plenty of it left.
Reply
UtahAlumnus 1:27PM (10/07/2009)
Heard him speak a couple of times. Seemed like a sharp guy. Looked like he was going to be one of the survivors from Old GM. Guess not.
Reply
Sea Urchin 1:29PM (10/07/2009)
George W. Bush, Rick Wagoner and Fritz, all went to the same Business School, they went to Harvard. They are all in their 50's so chances are they went there at the same time and were in the same classes together. When they copied homework, who do you think they cheated from?
Reply
joborras 1:31PM (10/07/2009)
Jeez ... those 2 look like used car salesmen from Central Casting.
Reply
contact 1:34PM (10/07/2009)
Every day it seems like there is another Blog on GM losing/firing another employee. Surely there can't be that many left to trim.
Now they just need to start making SMART hiring decisions. These "old school" people don't have the inside track on what people want to buy. They need to ALL be gone.
Reply
dukeisduke 2:00PM (10/07/2009)
I've heard LaNeve on Autoline Detroit a few times,and he always seemed pretty sharp. Even if he does looked like he just walked out of a Jimmy Cagney film.
/top o' the world, ma!
Reply