GM Announces New North American Leadership Team

*Enhanced focus on customer and dealer support

*GM North America business unit strengthened

*Separate organizations created for sales and marketing

DETROIT – General Motors today announced a restructured North American organization with a number of key leadership changes.

Mark Reuss

Intense Focus on the Customer

GM North America is focused on strengthening consideration for the company’s brands and products, shifting from a combined sales and marketing organization to one that enables the company to engage experts in each respective role. With a flatter structure, accountability is elevated to the highest level.

“It’s become extremely clear to me since taking this role that there is a better way to structure this organization,” said Mark Reuss, GM North America president. “The premise of the structure is simple -- a clearer marketing focus to sell more vehicles, and freeing our sales and service experts to focus on customers and dealers.

“In order to be successful in North America, we need the right mix of product, people and structure,” Reuss continued, “We’ve worked with a small group of executives to align this model and appoint the best candidates for each job.”

All appointments are effective immediately.

Susan Docherty

Marketing Organization

As the single point for marketing, Susan Docherty is appointed vice president, U.S. marketing, reporting to Reuss.

Click Icon Below For GM NA Org. Chart

Lutz Isn’t Leaving

But he’s not going to just be GM’s mascot, vice chairman says.


Reports of Bob Lutz’s demise have been greatly exaggerated.  Just ask the septuagenarian General Motors vice chairman.
It’s been a chaotic month at GM, with a CEO fired, a new Buick boss quitting after just eight days, and enough other personnel changes to require a scorecard to keep up.  When Vice Chairman Bob Lutz was stripped of his duties as marketing czar, two weeks ago, many observers were ready to bet that the former Marine pilot would be the next out the dooR. They would have bet wrong, said Lutz, who turned out for a Wednesday night preview of new Chevrolet products.  “I’m happy as a clam,” the 77-year-old Swiss-born Lutz proclaimed while leaning against the next-generation Chevy Malibu.

“If left to me, as long as I have the energy, as long as I have my health, as long as I have my drive and ability to contribute,” he asserted, “I’ll stay.  If not, I’ll retire.”  Of course, Lutz quickly added, “I serve at the will of the Board,” and, in particular, the will of GM’s determined new Chairman and Acting CEO Ed Whitacre, Jr.

Whitacre seems determined to reshape GM, even if it means completely changing the corporate management team.  In fact, Lutz noted, he’s just about “the last man standing.” In the eight years since he joined the automaker, he noted, only two of the top 50 executives at the company remain – himself and Tom Stephens, who earlier this year took over Lutz’s formal role as GM’s product development boss.
If he’s no longer product czar and no longer overseeing marketing, what exactly is Lutz doing?  “I’m doing everything Ed Whitacre isn’t,” he explained, serving as a sort of “coordination person.”  Whitacre, GM insiders reveal, isn’t the traditional top-down manager.  While he sets tough performance standards, he prefers to empower his management team and then set them off to deliver results.  In many ways, Lutz is
the man in-between.

“Ed Whitacre and the Board expect me to make sure that the philosophy of building the world’s best cars is not diluted,” said Lutz.
Another duty, suggested Mark Reuss, GM’s new president of North American operations, is serving as the company’s repository of institutional knowledge.  In a career that has spanned nearly half a century, Lutz has worked for some of the giants of the industry, including not only General Motors, but BMW, Ford and, during its better days, Chrysler.
“I talk with him for two hours every week about everything,” said Reuss.  “I’m lucky to have that kind of knowledge coming to me.”
One reason why Lutz seems ready and willing to stay is that he and Whitacre appear to have a similar approach to management.  The GM chairman, Lutz explains, “is a very intuitive manager, and so am I.  Give us two sheets of paper and a few numbers or you’re wasting our time.”

Whether Lutz will continue to find his new role rewarding enough remains to be seen.  He’s not the type to be comfortable showing up when the media wants a good quote, then settling back to watch others run things.  “I have never been a very good mascot,” Lutz said with a grin and a soft chuckle as a horde of reporters descended upon him to ask about his new role.

VIA: 

Mark, Susan...What Do You Say About Ed Whitacre?

Top GM Executives Share Their Opinions Of New/Interim CEO (And Chairman) Ed Whitacre

Dec. 14, 2009

A recent conference call with Mark Reuss (newly-appointed president of GM North America) and Susan Docherty (vice president of Sales, Service and Marketing) provided some more information about chairman and CEO Ed Whitacre – particularly his management style, personality, and goals for the company. Whitacre, who retired as chairman and chief executive officer of AT&T in 2007, was appointed chairman of the “new GM” on June 9 (2009). On December 1st, after the sudden resignation of Fritz Henderson, Whitacre also added CEO to his title. Since not much information was provided about Henderson’s departure, it has been speculated that Whitacre and Henderson bumped heads on many issues and that Fritz was ultimately shown the door. As such, many wondered whether Whitacre was going on a plain-old power grab – hoarding as much power to himself as possible. Reuss’ and Docherty’s comments during the conference call have revealed that the “power grab” rumor couldn’t be further from the truth.

Both executives spoke highly of Whitacre and said that he is very goal-oriented, genuine, and has high expectations for everyone at GM. Instead of a summary, here is the transcribed text from Mark and Susan:

Mark:

What I don’t want on my comments is to look like just because I just got promoted, that I’m in love with the new CEO…. this guy is one of the most honest, genuine people that I’ve met. And forget about whether it’s in the auto industry or anything else he is a terrific person and so that’s really important to me… and the integrity and the honesty and the straightforwardness is something that I personally value a lot… and I’ll leave it at that.

Susan:

… over the last 60 days in my role as VP of sales, I’ve had a chance to interact with him while he was the chairman of the board of directors… he’s obviously now added CEO to his title… my observations would be that he digs very deep into the organization and wants to unleash talent within the organization which I think is positive… I think that even though he does not consider himself an auto expert he asks great questions and from a personal standpoint I would say that he’s pretty clear that he expects people to perform… he wants positive business results and if he sees something that’s off track he’s gonna hold me in particular and I’m sure all executives accountable.. I happen to have a product right now that has a pretty ___-day supply and there isn’t a time that he doesn’t ask me about what it is that myself and the team are doing to go and resolve it and to be quite frank with you – I like being accountable for that… he’s not telling me how to solve the problem but he’s pretty clear with me that he expects me to solve it… and as a leader, there isn’t anything more that I could ask from him than to support me in that effort but I certainly know where I stand in terms of where his expectations are of me.

When asked whether they had any idea about Whitacre’s plan to remain as CEO and Chairman (emphasis on the CEO part), both Reuss and Docherty replied that they didn’t know.

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Dearly hope they ALL will succeed.../MT

Do Not Leave That Lid Open!

Since the lid was once left open:

Foster>LaNeve>Henderson>Dewar>Richards>NEXT?

Buick GMC general manager quits after nine days...Everyone at GM Has Been Fired (Well Almost)

Ed's Sheep!

Even the 'ink' of my below posting has'nt dried up yet and here goes another one..!

Ed Whitacre, pretty please... Spend an extra 4 hours on top of your 4 and finish this off!

Buick GMC general manager quits after nine days

Robert Snell / The Detroit News

Detroit -- General Motors Co. today confirmed Buick GMC General Manager Michael Richards has quit after nine days on the job. "We wish him the best," said Susan Docherty, GM's vice president of sales, service and marketing, who did not name a replacement.

The confirmation comes less than 24 hours after the surprise retirement of Chevrolet Vice President Brent Dewar, who had been appointed to lead the automaker's largest and most important brand five months ago.

Richards, who departed "to pursue other career opportunities," was most recently vice president of marketing and sales for the global automotive business at Trilogy, based in Austin, Texas. 

Richards, 52, replaced Docherty, who was appointed GM vice president in charge of U.S. sales in October.

Breaking: Everyone at GM Has Been Fired (Well Almost) 

By Daniel Pund | December 10, 2009

Apparently, one Mr. Ed Whitacre makes no idle threats. When he mentioned in a web chat Tuesday that current GM execs have "not long" to prove themselves (with a creepily cheerful emoticon), we didn't now he meant 24-to-48-hours not-long.

Yesterday, GM announced that Chevrolet General Manager Brent Dewar would be retiring April 1, 2010 to "pursue personal interests..." and so forth and so on. He is to be replaced by James Campbell, another current GM staffer.

Now the company is confirming that Michael Richards (pictured above) will be leaving his post as Buick/GMC General Manager to "...pursue other interests..." and so forth and so on. In what must be one of the shortest tenures since we discovered that our job at Taco Bell would entail cleaning the bathrooms, Richards lasted only eight days. The good news there is that Richards probably didn't have time to arrange his favorite Dilbert cartoons and bobble-head collection in his new (old) office. No permanent replacement has been announced but Brian Sweeney, the brands' current sales manager, will serve as interim leader.

The move leaves Bryan Nesbitt, of Cadillac, as the last general manager standing.

Anyway, uh, Happy Holidays.

GM Exec Shuffle

The weirdest story on the automotive web this morning is the shakeup inside General Motors. Chevrolet chief Brent Dewar, who just presented a lot of the message at the 2009 Los Angeles Auto Show, is stepping down to be replaced by James Campbell, and Buick/GMC's brand-new head is quitting after just eight days in the position. Are these aftershocks of the Henderson resignation, or is Whitacre cleaning house? Whatever the cause, there's a lot going on behind the scenes at GM these days.

Leaders of Chevy, Buick and GMC out... Shake-ups of execs keep coming at GM

BY GREG GARDNER AND BRENT SNAVELY/ FREE PRESS BUSINESS WRITERS

The shake-ups continue at General Motors Co. under the new leadership of Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Ed Whitacre.

GM has replaced the head of its critical Chevrolet brand. In addition, it has lost the newly hired head of its challenged Buick and GMC brands.

Chevrolet chief Brent Dewar, a longtime GM executive, will retire April 1, to be replaced by Jim Campbell, who joined GM in 1988 and recently served as head of GM's fleet and commercial business.

Additionally, Michael D. Richards is leaving GM after joining the automaker Dec. 1 as the head of the Buick and GMCbrands, two people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg News. No replacement has been named.

A GM spokeswoman declined to comment about the report to the Free Press late Wednesday. 

Whitacre, who assumed the chief executive role after former GM CEO Fritz Henderson resigned Dec. 1., has made it clear that he expects quick progress from all executives.

 Here is our current interpretation of Ed Whitacre, GM Chairman & CEO.../MT

 

Ed Whitacre, pretty please... Spend an extra 4 hours on top of your 4 and finish this off!

At least for a year Ed.... You've done it before in just 4 hours, a big-big change in the top management, last week. Now, keep going for another extra 4 hours on a day and finish it off please. You'll get your clear air(as you put it earlier as one of the few things u needed to get out there and chat) then too to speak to the media to answer questions with no replies!!!. 
Watch your step now, the cake is stale and you may be refreshing only the topping and too bad you are not going to be alone to eat that... Check minimum twice,  i suggest, to find out whether  its only the 'mismanagement' that is in the way of getting things done right. It may very well be even you, yourself in some cases. SO BE CAUTIOUS. And lets keep rolling for at least a year with the current team so that the ones that are being managed will have a chance to get clear air too!( This whole thing reminds of the good book I have read,  'On a Clear Day You Can See General Motors: John Z. DeLorean')

Chevrolet Gets a New Boss... Again

Brent Dewar hasn't even made it to the 6-month mark as general manager of the Chevrolet brand. Today, though, Susan Docherty, GM's vice president for sales, service and marketing, announced that Dewar will retire effective April 1, 2010.

 Brent Dewar

James Campbell , most recently GM's vice president of fleet and commercial operations, will take his place at the top of Chevrolet.

And how long will Campbell have to show tangible results in his new role. Oh, if we had to guess, we'd say "not long :-)".

 By Erin Riches | December 9, 2009

Brent looks new to me and so is the Chevy Cruze... If this guy is facing a retirement in the next 6 months then what can we say really; other than wish him "bonne voyage" to a cruise off Miami. Thank goodness Bob(Lutz) is staying on....  

I will further-comment:- my self here
The "New" GM seems to have stapled itself to the 'Change is unavoidable' cliche and looks like a bit overdoing it to me. 
Look here, they even changed the name of the change; first thing post-bankruptcy!!! FIRST they named it 

 and 'taped' it on the RennCenter-

Then the next it was(within a  couple of weeks) "ReInvention of GM"

CLICK HERE

If you've gone far enough to change even the 'change' then I am afraid, you will start reinventing the "change fatigue."

Fine, if an organization is once labeled as a "Definitely Needs To Change" one then there can be nothing that stops or slows it. 
BUT usually the 'back bone' stays there all solid and the occuring Tsunami's keep washing away off the top. The objective of the change has to find itself affecting,towards the better, within the dynamics, tools, standards and qualities that are encompassing  the day-to-day routines/ways of doing business. 
Every new leader, be it a team leader at the line, a department head or a manager simply means a "restart button pushed", a "new phase of trial and error" allowance set to be spent or at least a hand brake is being pulled. This is like regenerative braking related to electric motors. Yes, very safe but darn slow to get there! One must be assured that who ever has been appointed to lead must have gone thru the corporate strainer to be there... So why not just try a little more harder to utilise him/her effectively and keep going fast enough if not accelerate.

Change NEEDS to bring in new substance for good and immediate use other than just the person/body replacing the former...

Just leave it to cool off Ed; and let's roll on for a year at least.../MT

Open Letter To Ms. Susan Docherty, GM VP U.S. Sales & Marketing

Dear Ms. Docherty,

My intention is to remind you, your team and your corporate followers the "reality" and the "existence" of an awesome Chevrolet Concept which was proudly displayed to public at the 2003 Detroit and
2004 Los Angeles Auto Show.
 The Chevrolet SS.

  This awesome concept needs your immediate attention to be removed from its dust settled location and revisited as a possibility to become  a new product to further drive forward the currently
evidenced success of the Chevrolet brand.

This image easily allows one to guess the possibility of a 4-door version.

I sincerely suggest that such a product will be joyfully accepted by your potential customers as it may fill a (transitional) body 'design gap' between a Chevy compact sedan and the muscled Camaros and Corvettes.

GM evidently carries a full range of efficient engines to power up this beauty. And the interior, what you have for Volt and/or Cruze will do...

Even a SS hybrid would complement the model-line nicely keeping in mind the perspective
 of the sales potential of such in the state of California.

Wishing you continued success and looking forward to hear from you soon.

Regards,

 M. Melih Tuzmen(RiskyInstinct)

CLICK BELOW ICON FOR THE GM PRESS RELEASE(for the 2003 Detroit Auto Show)

CLICK BELOW ICON FOR ARTICLE PUBLISHED Oct 11, 2006

Chevrolet SS Concept @ 2003 Detroit Autoshow

Chevrolet SS Concept @ 2004 LA Autoshow

CLICK BELOW ICON FOR MORE IMAGES

    

LINK TO GOOGLE DOC

The New GM Blog

Ed Whitacre's Secret Plan To Save GM..??

"Taxpayers looking for answers may have to wait awhile."
Forbes-Editorial

New General Motors Chairman Edward E. Whitacre Jr. was quick to dismiss the automaker's former chief executive after just eight months on the job, saying GM wasn't moving fast enough. But if Whitacre, who took over as CEO while GM searches for a permanent replacement, has a better idea of how to run the company, he's not sharing it publicly.

And for American taxpayers who now own 60% of the automaker by virtue of a $50 billion federal bailout, that's reason to worry. Since forcing out Frederick "Fritz" Henderson as CEO on Dec. 2, Whitacre, the former chairman and chief executive of AT&T ( T - news - people ), has had three opportunities to publicly share his strategy for fixing GM. But instead of demonstrating the kind of public accountability he demands from others within GM, he seems to be avoiding it so far.

Whitacre called a news conference Dec. 2 to announce Henderson's departure, but he refused to take any questions. Then, on Tuesday, he backed out of a conference call with reporters, opting instead for a carefully controlled "Web chat" later the same day, during which he could choose which written questions to answer. He ignored four or five questions about his strategic priorities but did answer when asked where he was (in a conference room at GM's Detroit headquarters, he wrote. "It's kind of cold in here.")

Maybe that explains his icy responses to questions about the challenges GM still faces, five months after emerging from bankruptcy.

No, he's not satisfied with GM's 2009 performance, but he wouldn't share the company's objectives for 2010 sales and market share--"as much as we can get," he wrote.

A stock offering, he wrote, will occur "when we're ready." There are no plans for further job cuts. He does not want a chief operating officer or president to serve as his right-hand man. Negotiations to sell Saab are continuing. The company has "a real good candidate" for chief financial officer. His new management team will be "terrific." The future in Europe looks "great." GM will continue to do well in the Asian market, which is "big and growing."

What he didn't address: exactly how he intends to speed up GM's mission "to design, build and sell the world’s best vehicles” now that he's in charge, or how he'll measure the progress of his newly appointed management team. When asked how long the young cadre of executives has to show results before their jobs are in jeopardy, Whitacre wrote, "Not long. :-)"

Yes, Whitacre and his new board of directors have pushed through some major changes since GM emerged from bankruptcy on July 10. They reversed a decision to sell GM's European Opel division, citing its crucial engineering value. And after pushing out Henderson, Whitacre chose Mark Reuss, an engineer, (not a finance specialist as in the past) to be president of GM's core North American operations.

He's also urged GM to be more aggressive in its marketing efforts, which is yielding results.

But GM, which reported a net loss of $1.15 billion for the shortened third quarter (July 10-Sept. 30), still has a long way to go.

"We want to make this country proud of this company again," said Reuss, who, along with Susan Docherty, vice president of sales and marketing, filled in for Whitacre on the media conference call. "The only way I know how to stabilize this company ... is to make, sell and develop better vehicles than anybody else," Reuss said. "I've told our engineering folks, and now I'm telling everybody in North America, we need to focus on being the best. The words 'competitive' and 'good enough' are gone from our vocabulary."

If GM does that, Reuss said, its other problems "will take care of themselves."


SOURCE: 

GM's Whitacre Webchats With Media, Keeps it Lite

December 08, 2009
General Motors Co. chairman and interim CEO Ed Whitacre conducted a webchat with automotive media Tuesday and the most that can be said is he obviously takes seriously the light connotation behind the term "chat." Although fielding several questions, Whitacre industriously said almost nothing of substance.
The media left the webchat session with little more than the last time it met with Whitacre face-to-face, when he refused to answer questions following his announcement of CEO Fritz Henderson's resignation last week. The GM chairman, who also took on the role of CEO after Henderson's hastily announced resignation seemed unwilling to give specific or detailed answers during the webchat, summarily sidestepping questions about the future of vice-chairman Bob Lutz ("We look forward to learning a lot from him. You'll have to ask him when he's going to retire") and breezily non-answering many with brief and evasive replies.
When asked if GM has sales and market-share targets for the first half of 2010 and if GM is satisfied with its current share, Whitacre elaborated only with: "Yes, yes and no."
About the potential for arranging the sale of the flagging Saab Cars division by GM's self-imposed deadline of the end of December: "We're in negotiations with a couple of interested parties. We've got a deadline by the end of the month and we'll let you know how it goes."
Whitacre did say he communicates with members of the federal Task Force on Autos about once week and the task force has kept its promise to be hands-off.
He also disclosed he drives a high-performance Cadillac CTS-V and, true to his Texas heritage, owns a handful of GM pickups and SUVs.
Whitacre also said GM has no plans for further white- or blue-collar job cuts and that GM can't give specifics about how many dealers earmarked for closure may be reinstated after a rash of appeals regarding the strategy and a reexamination of GM's rationale for whether dealers' franchise agreements are renewed.
SOURCE: 

GM's Reuss and Docherty: We Will Earn, Not Buy, Our Market Share

2009-12-08

The way to success for Chevrolet, Buick, GMC and Cadillac comes down to one thing: sell, sell, sell.

“We need to sell every vehicle we can, customer by customer, dealer by dealer, here, in Canada and Mexico,” GM North America President Mark Reuss said today during a conference call with media. “We’re not setting a metric (for market share) until we do that.”

Added Susan Docherty, vice president of Sales, Service and Marketing: “The old GM tended to buy market share. We’re going to earn our market share.”

That means letting customer demand, not filling plant capacity, drive the decision of what and how much to build.

“We need to be able to flex that capacity,” Docherty said. “When something is hot, we need to be able to put our foot on the gas like we did by adding a third shift to meet demand for the Chevrolet Equinox and GMC Terrain.”

Reuss and Docherty spoke to news media for the first time since being promoted to their new positions last Friday. They responded to other questions, including:

60-Day Money Back Guarantee: Since the promotion was launched in mid-September, just 163 of more than 300,000 vehicles have been returned for a refund.

Fuel Economy vs. Content: Reuss said there is “no peanut butter answer” to the question. “Fuel prices are going to be volatile. Finding the balance between good gas mileage and functional use, such full-size pickups used for work, comes down to correctly reading what customers want.

2010 Goals: Reuss said repaying money borrowed from the U.S. and Canadian governments, making the country proud of GM though its products and reemerging as a public company are at the top of the list.

SOURCE: