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'm like Sergeant Schultz, I know nothing. We are trying to share ideas around the world. We don't just come up with a great idea in Brazil and ignore it in the rest of the world.
The big and the fast beat the small and the fast. If you check out the NBA today, they're big and fast.
There was an almost an 80% decline one year from 640,000 vehicles to 200,000, and now it's grown back. Our share has grown a lot.
I'm not sure we think it's a win to talk about what you're taking out.
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.
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.
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.
This is a game that's going to play as long as you're playing it. It's never going to end. It'll go until I retire, and when the next person has the job, they'll be on it too.
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.
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.
As we sit here today, it's our best guess and well thought out analysis, ... If we've learned anything in the last five years, it's that there's no guarantees in this business or any other business.
As we look at the responsibilities we have to a broad range of constituents, as we look at what we need to do to make the business successful, as we look at our businesses around the world, we think there are significant costs to bankruptcy. We don't think it's a good option.
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.
There's been a consistency of approach and a consistency of execution. Moving to a common system and common metrics has really helped us.