Acting GM chief launches major reshuffle
Sunday, 6 December 2009
LONDON, Dec 5 (FT): General Motors has shaken up its management team just three days after Fritz Henderson was sacked as chief executive.
Ed Whitacre, GM's chairman and acting CEO, put his stamp further on the majority US government-owned carmaker by announcing a new management line-up. Nick Reilly, head of GM's international operations, was sent to Europe to finish the contentious restructuring of Opel and Vauxhall that has taken nearly a year, and 77-year-old industry legend Bob Lutz has moved into an advisory role.
"I want to give people more responsibility and authority deeper in the organisation and then hold them accountable," Mr Whitacre said.
The move capped a tumultuous week for GM that also saw it cede control of its Shanghai GM joint venture to China's SAIC Motor in a move viewed as symbolic of the global car industry's shifting centre of gravity from the US to Asia.
Ed Whitacre, GM's chairman and acting CEO, put his stamp further on the majority US government-owned carmaker by announcing a new management line-up. Nick Reilly, head of GM's international operations, was sent to Europe to finish the contentious restructuring of Opel and Vauxhall that has taken nearly a year, and 77-year-old industry legend Bob Lutz has moved into an advisory role.
"I want to give people more responsibility and authority deeper in the organisation and then hold them accountable," Mr Whitacre said.
The move capped a tumultuous week for GM that also saw it cede control of its Shanghai GM joint venture to China's SAIC Motor in a move viewed as symbolic of the global car industry's shifting centre of gravity from the US to Asia.