Quote Of The Day: Help Wanted Edition

Edward Niedermeyer
by Edward Niedermeyer

A person that’s a motivating, inspirational leader that’s familiar with big companies — manufacturing or industrial — would be helpful… We can’t pay people a whole lot of money here

Ed Whitacre offers up the opportunity of a lifetime [via Automotive News [sub]] : a chance to lead General Motors to victory over decades of inertia and sclerosis in a brutal market for a million bucks (if Feinberg likes you). Candidates need not have CEO experience or strong auto credentials, although Whitacre warns that the job takes him 14 hours a day, 5½ or six days a week. And when he does manage to steal away for a relaxing Sunday of rattlesnake extermination, his phone constantly rings. Plus, the RenCen is a freaking maze, y’know?

I’ve had to stop a couple of times and ask guards or people, “Where am I?”

Of course Whitacre means it literally, but the metaphor fits like a Bruno Magli. Whitacre admits to “coming up one, maybe two days a week,” back when he was just Chairman of the Board. Now that he’s living in the RenCen, there’s still a whole lot of learning going on. AN [sub] paints the picture:

“I’m not a car guy,” Whitacre said. “I think we all have to be educated on the board.”

At one point, after a reporter asked about the future of electric vehicles, Whitacre explained that he personally liked them, but he didn’t know enough to make projections. And he said he was just learning automotive terminology, such as “segment.”

But Whitacre is driving some GM vehicles and telling the company’s product development leaders some of what he thinks, he said.

Just learning the term “segment”? Are we talking before, or after Fritz left?

Two of Whitacre’s top priorities are increasing sales and market share, but he’d also like to keep incentives low. When asked about the challenge of doing both, Whitacre said: “I don’t know, but I think we’ll figure it out. We’re all working on that.”

Good thing everybody’s hurrying! ;-)

Edward Niedermeyer
Edward Niedermeyer

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  • Superbadd75 Superbadd75 on Dec 16, 2009

    I don't have CEO experience, but am willing to work for 1/4 of your offerred salary, Mr. Whitacre. I've worked far more hours for far less money, so I can take it. Just don't make me move to Detroit.

  • Jkross22 Jkross22 on Dec 16, 2009

    How 'bout plucking someone from a supplier?? You know, one of those 'business partners' that knows autos, knows where the holes are... I'm not talking from Delphi or Visteon... I'm talking from a mid tier supplier to Toyota, Honda, MB or someone else. Find the best leader with a huge ego and sign him/her up for the challenge of a lifetime.

  • CanadaCraig You can just imagine how quickly the tires are going to wear out on a 5,800 lbs AWD 2024 Dodge Charger.
  • Luke42 I tried FSD for a month in December 2022 on my Model Y and wasn’t impressed.The building-blocks were amazing but sum of the all of those amazing parts was about as useful as Honda Sensing in terms of reducing the driver’s workload.I have a list of fixes I need to see in Autopilot before I blow another $200 renting FSD. But I will try it for free for a month.I would love it if FSD v12 lived up to the hype and my mind were changed. But I have no reason to believe I might be wrong at this point, based on the reviews I’ve read so far. [shrug]. I’m sure I’ll have more to say about it once I get to test it.
  • FormerFF We bought three new and one used car last year, so we won't be visiting any showrooms this year unless a meteor hits one of them. Sorry to hear that Mini has terminated the manual transmission, a Mini could be a fun car to drive with a stick.It appears that 2025 is going to see a significant decrease in the number of models that can be had with a stick. The used car we bought is a Mk 7 GTI with a six speed manual, and my younger daughter and I are enjoying it quite a lot. We'll be hanging on to it for many years.
  • Oberkanone Where is the value here? Magna is assembling the vehicles. The IP is not novel. Just buy the IP at bankruptcy stage for next to nothing.
  • Jalop1991 what, no Turbo trim?
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