Chuck
01-08-2008, 09:03 AM
Rick Wagoner's overhaul of GM is producing cooler cars and a glimmer of hope. A rare inside look (http://money.cnn.com/2008/01/07/news/companies/gm_turnaround.fortune/index.htm?cnn=yes)
http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/501/GM_Wagoner_CEO.jpgAlex Taylor III - Fortune – Jan. 8, 2008
From his office on the 29th floor of General Motors' headquarters complex, chairman and CEO Rick Wagoner has a killer view. He can see for miles, across the Detroit River to Canada and south to the Ohio coastline of Lake Erie. This time of year, the sky is gray, the river is icing up, and the plainspoken Wagoner, 54, is giving an economic forecast that's as chilly as the heartland below. He expects yet another tough year in 2008 for the beleaguered automaker. "We have some fairly severe headwinds: the weaker economy, high commodity and steel prices, and energy prices," he told Fortune in a rare interview. "Frankly, more headwinds, especially from the first two, than I would have hoped. We're going to be in soupy water for a while."
The season always seems to be winter for GM. Yet for the first time in years, signs of warming are emerging. Wagoner is feeling good about the automaker's progress, especially in the troubled heart of its business: making and selling cars in North America. GM's latest new-car launches - Buick Enclave, Cadillac CTS, Chevrolet Malibu - are getting enthusiastic reviews and generating strong sales. Peter De Lorenzo, a much-followed Detroit online columnist and frequent GM critic, writes, "We are now experiencing a GM the likes of which hasn't been seen since the company's glorious heyday from the mid-1950s to the early 1970s." In naming the new Cadillac its 2008 Car of the Year, Motor Trend gushed in ways surprising even for an enthusiast magazine, advising car buffs to "start practicing using the words 'General Motors' and 'celebrated' in the same sentence." The usually circumspect Wagoner is even willing to allow himself a rare pat on the back about GM's latest models: "Here in the U.S., the change in the perception from two or three years ago is astounding." … http://money.cnn.com/2008/01/07/news/companies/gm_turnaround.fortune/index.htm?cnn=yes
http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/501/GM_Wagoner_CEO.jpgAlex Taylor III - Fortune – Jan. 8, 2008
From his office on the 29th floor of General Motors' headquarters complex, chairman and CEO Rick Wagoner has a killer view. He can see for miles, across the Detroit River to Canada and south to the Ohio coastline of Lake Erie. This time of year, the sky is gray, the river is icing up, and the plainspoken Wagoner, 54, is giving an economic forecast that's as chilly as the heartland below. He expects yet another tough year in 2008 for the beleaguered automaker. "We have some fairly severe headwinds: the weaker economy, high commodity and steel prices, and energy prices," he told Fortune in a rare interview. "Frankly, more headwinds, especially from the first two, than I would have hoped. We're going to be in soupy water for a while."
The season always seems to be winter for GM. Yet for the first time in years, signs of warming are emerging. Wagoner is feeling good about the automaker's progress, especially in the troubled heart of its business: making and selling cars in North America. GM's latest new-car launches - Buick Enclave, Cadillac CTS, Chevrolet Malibu - are getting enthusiastic reviews and generating strong sales. Peter De Lorenzo, a much-followed Detroit online columnist and frequent GM critic, writes, "We are now experiencing a GM the likes of which hasn't been seen since the company's glorious heyday from the mid-1950s to the early 1970s." In naming the new Cadillac its 2008 Car of the Year, Motor Trend gushed in ways surprising even for an enthusiast magazine, advising car buffs to "start practicing using the words 'General Motors' and 'celebrated' in the same sentence." The usually circumspect Wagoner is even willing to allow himself a rare pat on the back about GM's latest models: "Here in the U.S., the change in the perception from two or three years ago is astounding." … http://money.cnn.com/2008/01/07/news/companies/gm_turnaround.fortune/index.htm?cnn=yes