GM CEO: "Give Us Another Chance"

(AP)  General Motors CEO Fritz Henderson says the new GM will be a leaner and quicker company that's more focused on its customers and its products, and urged consumers to not ignore the storied automaker.

Henderson said it wasn't the end of the company, but "the start of a new and better chapter," after asking Americans to "give us another chance."

Henderson spoke Monday at a news conference in New York after the fallen icon of American industry filed for bankruptcy protection. President Barack Obama says it is part of a "viable achievable plan" that will give the company "a chance to rise again."

Henderson says the new GM will be built from the strongest parts of its business, including its best brands and best products.

The company plans to focus on four core brands - Chevrolet, Buick, Cadillac and GMC - and get rid of four others - Pontiac, Saturn, Hummer and Saab.

Consumers, worried about the economy and the future of GM, shied away from the company's cars and trucks this year even after President George W. Bush promised loans and Mr. Obama followed through with billions more in assistance - plus a stiff set of new requirements GM was ordered to meet.

When GM failed to do so by a March 31 deadline, Mr. Obama forced out CEO Rick Wagoner and replaced him with Henderson.

Wagoner served at the helm since 2000 and was the face of GM when he first flew on the company jet to ask Congress for aid. After a firestorm of negative publicity, Wagoner rode in a hybrid Chevrolet Malibu from Detroit to Washington for a second set of withering questions before lawmakers.

But that amounted to only a sideshow as the automaker's financial position worsened. Its revenues plunged almost 50 percent in the quarter ended March 30 and it racked up another $6 billion in losses.

The Henderson-led GM faced a government-imposed June 1 deadline to restructure, slash costs and modify contracts with its union and dealers. But meeting most of those demands, plus a late agreement by many bondholders to swap portions of the $27 billion in debt they are owed for shares in a new GM, were not enough to prevent the court filing.

In fact, it was an all-out sprint to Monday's filing, as GM quickly sought to nail down deals with its union, bondholders and sell off brands and along with most of its Opel operations in Europe in an effort to appear in court with a near-complete plan to quickly emerge as a leaner company with a chance to become profitable.

[golfered2]

Let's talk facts!!!! Good friend of mine told me yesterday that he makes a little more than $95,000 per year plus benefits. The latest agreement they just approved a week ago calls for him to have his pay reduced by $30. per week or $1500 per year. Ever wonder why Gettlefinger (boy did he give us taxpayers the finger) never came out and talked in detail about how much the UAW gave up it's because they only gave up $30 per week or 75 cents per hour!!!!!! The government states they need 30Billion for GM to get thru bankruptcy. The 100,000 UAW members will probably get 4-5 Billion (they get 95% of pay during the 9 weeks GM is shut down). The auto task force wants 21000 to leave GM and they are offering $115,000 plus a $25000 car voucher for ever UAW worker who quits the company. The 21000 workers will get paid 3 Billion to leave GM . A good portion of the remaining 30 Billion will be paid for UAW retirees and benefits for the current workers. Remember during the shutdown no cars will be made so we taxpayers are paying 30Billion dollars for NOTHING. THIS STINKS!!!!! GM is not ever close to paying the same wages as Toyota or Honda. WE'VE BEEN LIED TO!!!!!!!

[patriot2381]

Does anyone really think GM's failed, overpaid management staff are any better than the current management of Wall Street? Of course not. Wall Street is surving on a massive cash transfusion. Wall Street is simply a legal Ponzi scheme with one last gaspe before it tips over. Remember these days, they are the good ones.

[nextgenman09]

For several years I bought GM vehicles. I made a horrendous mistake in 1972, and purchased a new GMC pickup: piece of junk from front to rear. It spent most of its life at the dealer's service bays having transmissions replaced. Along came 1981 and I bought a Honda Prelude. I have been buying Honda products ever since. Yes, there have been a few minor problems -- operative words 'few and minor.' Honda has never forgotten me as a valued customer. GM did! Mr. Henderson, give me one credible reason why I should take an enormous gamble on one of your products.
Posted by riob678 at 11:54 PM : Jun 1, 2009
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I buy Toyota for the same reason. I owned a Ford and the only thing that didn't go wrong with it was the Mazda power train. Everything else - America Made - fell apart. I won't buy Big Three Junk.

[WayAround]

"GM CEO: "Give Us Another Chance"

Fritz Henderson, you can have as many chances as you want if **YOU** are willing to make the investment (i.e. put your own skin in the game).

[riob678]

For several years I bought GM vehicles. I made a horrendous mistake in 1972, and purchased a new GMC pickup: piece of junk from front to rear. It spent most of its life at the dealer's service bays having transmissions replaced. Along came 1981 and I bought a Honda Prelude. I have been buying Honda products ever since. Yes, there have been a few minor problems -- operative words 'few and minor.' Honda has never forgotten me as a valued customer. GM did! Mr. Henderson, give me one credible reason why I should take an enormous gamble on one of your products.

[Jesus_Christ_Is_Lord]

Obama's own idea is back firing on him.

Eligibility debate explodes on White House 'dialogue' site
74% of voters demand Obama release long-form birth certificate

The entire transparency portion of the White House website on "open government dialogue" has been overrun with citizens calling on Barack Obama to release his elusive "long-form" birth certificate to establish his constitutional eligibility to serve as president.

The link to this website, which again, was Obama's idea, is here:

http://opengov.ideascale.com/akira/dtd/3764-4049

[shameonbush]

I don't think a lot of the comments are made by people who don't understand the true importance of the bail out. To keep Americans with jobs, to feed our families. GM and Chrysler are American icons. I just wish they'd make an electric car and then I'd buy one.

[veils-2009]

The first and most important cut GM needs to make is to fire Fritz Henderson. For 9 years he has stymied innovation, creativity and brought GM down in ashes. And getting rid of Saab is a HUGE mistake. The model 95-E gets 38 miles per gallon going 80 miles an hour on the highway! It gets more than 35 mpg in town traffic. Saab uses turbochargers to achieve this great performance and fuel economy, yet Henderson refused them to be installed as a regular component or common option in all GM branded vehicles.

Henderson has never had any business sense or creativity. He inability to lead has brought GM into the toilet.

[bgddy58]

I will NEVER buy another GM product again. These guys have had over 35 years of warning (since the 1st energy "crisis" in 1972) that big, bloated, gas inefficient autocrap was not the future. When Europe, Japan and later Korea started selling smaller, better built and more economical cars, these guys didn't blink. On the one or two occasions when they made less than halfheated attempts to compete with the Japanses, they gave us really bad autocrap (think the original Saturn). Then they blamed US because they couldn't sell their bad crap.

The sad part is that these guys could have gotten their act together if they wanted to. GM had great manyfacturing processes. They had better access to stell and other parts and components than foreign manufacturers. But they were saddled with greedy labor contracts (their own fault) and idiotic, short-sighted management.

Hpw many GM cards do you see on the road that have an excess of 100,000 miles on them? And of those that you do see, how many are in such a condition that you would drive it every day? But every European car I have owned has gone 150-200K miles (and I sold them still running), and every Japanese car I have owned has easily surpassed 100K. My daughter's Kia is just as well built as my 1994 Honda was, but has a 100,000 warranty! The last GM car I purchased was 12 months/12,000 miles. That's a warranty from 1969, not 2009.

So besides running a once-great corporation into the ground, what about shareholders like me? I had 8,000 shares of GM stock, and although I have been disposing of it slowly for the last 12 months (at a great loss, I might add) I still had 1,000 shares. Except for what I can write off (not much), that investment is gone. F*ckers! They should put every one of the top management from GM for the last 35 years in Guantanamo. Economic terrorism is worse than physical terrorism - the effects last longer.

[andylance1]

Wagoner was the worst CEO in recent history. The worst sales got the bigger they made the big yellow bow-ties on Chevys that disfigure both the front and the backs of Chevrolets. The speakers on low-end cars were $2 speakers and the radios junk.

For GM to succeed they need to come up with a new name or call all of their cars and trucks Cadillac. They should follow up BMW's lead and make all car names alpha-numeric and get rid of gaudy symbols of the past.