So I’m a day late, a dollar short…Rick Wagoner steps down from CEO spot at GM
Rick Wagoner (GM)
General Motor’s CEO, Rick Wagoner, has been asked to step down by the Automotive Task Force in Washington D.C. For the full story, and Mr. Wagoner’s press release, head on over to Autoblog.
Now that I got the official business out of the way, it’s time for one of my legendary rants. Sure someone needs to take the blame for GM’s current position. I mean, Rick Wagoner should have seen this coming. Not only is GM producing it’s highest quality line of vehicles ever, they’re also the most fuel efficient, safest and most technologically advanced. Plus, I mean, it’s totally GM’s fault that the banks collapsed, people can’t get financing to buy vehicles, gas prices hit $4+ last summer and the housing market is in shambles, so might as well blame all that on Rick Wagoner too. Hey, wait a second! Wasn’t Rick Wagoner CEO during 9/11? We might want to look into that, maybe we can blame that on him too.
Glad to see that Washington thinks that because the market sucks and people aren’t buying cars, that it’s all Rick Wagoner’s fault. If it were true that GM isn’t doing anything right, then they wouldn’t outsell Toyota and Honda and Nissan in the United States. They wouldn’t be the second largest automaker in the world. They wouldn’t sell cars like the Chevrolet Cobalt that gets better fuel economy than the Honda Civic or the Toyota Corolla. They wouldn’t propose an idea like the Chevrolet Volt, a car that is expected to average 100 mpg (energy equivalent) when it’s launched late in 2010. Sure, Mr. Wagoner could have done more. He could have cut more jobs, he could have made more production cuts. I hear and read hundreds of comments like that every day. All from people who are using what they know today to look back 3 years and cast judgement. If you were the CEO back in 2007, would you have started cutting jobs when the company was starting to show signs of improvement? Would you have cut new product plans because, 1 year down the road gas was going to skyrocket to more than double it’s price at the time? To anyone who says yes, I say, “bullshit.” There was no way anyone could have seen the market collapse coming, or the high gas prices, or the lack of credit from the banks.
Hopefully Obama doesn’t abandon the Domestic automakers to the point of bankruptcy. It sure looks as though it’s headed that way. Oh, and to anyone who still doesn’t think the auto industry affects them, check the stock market. I don’t care if you don’t own a share of Ford, GM or Chrysler stock, look at the market. Rick Wagoner steps down, analysts say GM and/or Chrylser could be headed for bankruptcy and boom, the market drops 250+ points. Weird…I didn’t think the Domestic manufacturers mattered to this country…yet their negative news spread throughout the market, causing wide spread panic and more selling. Maybe when GM and Chrysler said they support directly and indirectly over 1 million jobs, they were telling the truth! Are investors worried that their collapse would cause other businesses to fail? You’re damn right they are! Now where’s my blood pressure medication…
Tags: Automotive Task Force, Chevrolet Cobalt, Chevrolet Volt, Chrysler, Ford, General Motors, GM, President Obama, Rick Wagoner, Rick Wagoner CEO
