Rick Wagoner
Rick Wagoner
George Richard "Rick" Wagoner, Jr.is an American businessman and former Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of General Motors. Wagoner resigned as Chairman and CEO at General Motors on March 29, 2009, at the request of the White House. The latter part of Wagoner's tenure as CEO of General Motors found him under heavy criticism as the market valuation of GM went down by more than 90% and the company lost more than $82 billion USD. This led to his being...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionBusinessman
Date of Birth9 February 1953
CountryUnited States of America
I've actually been saying I don't think anybody makes any money on hybrids, but that's not an accurate statement. Our bus hybrids can make money sometimes.
We are viewing the U.S. economic and auto market environment with considerable caution, ... That, combined with our poor business results in the first three quarters this year, really highlight that we are at a critical juncture in our company's history. And so we are accelerating the pace and scope of our turnaround actions.
Most of the model consolidation we've done is behind us. There will be some fine tuning.
I have given no thought to anything but turning the business around, ... I wasn't brought up to run and hide when things get tough.
To make this happen, we need to bring down costs and build the necessary infrastructure -- and the best way to do that is by business and government working together.
This transaction will allow us to preserve our business relationship, while further building up GM's already significant liquidity position during this critical phase of our turnaround.
While our 'pay-for-performance' executive compensation system is already structured to significantly reduce total compensation when our business performance and stock price are underperforming, we all agreed that this is the right step to take at this time.
We don't always agree on stuff, but when it's time to blow the whistle and start the game, we're not still debating.
We believe in fair exchange rates and Japan doesn't practice that. They have massive U.S. dollar reserves, and they use them to intervene regularly.
Ford, as I understand it, had done away with the concept of regional management, and now they've re-introduced that in Europe, so it's kind of a two-way street.
I've given no thought to anything but turning the business around, ... I wasn't brought up to run and hide when things get tough. I'm convinced that's the way that things get righted.
The big and the fast beat the small and the fast. If you check out the NBA today, they're big and fast.
This really highlights one of the weaknesses of our business model is too much reliance on those products (large SUVs and pickups) for profit and not enough profitability from those other products,
We believe by being sensitive to the balancing act these women face each day, we're increasing their commitment to General Motors. It's not only the right thing to do, it's also good business for GM and helps us retain the brightest, most capable workers.