General Motors’ board fully backs CEO Fritz Henderson as the directors decide whether or not to retain Opel, Chairman Ed Whitacre told Bloomberg. “The board gets along with Fritz, he has our unanimous support,” Whitacre, 67, said in an interview yesterday. “We think he’s a good leader, we think he’s the right person for General Motors at this point in time.” GM’s board, revamped since the company exited bankruptcy with government aid last month, hasn’t set a deadline for whether Henderson and his team have been successful. GM is currently considering keeping European automaker Opel, despite German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s push for the sale of the company to Canadian auto-parts supplier, Magna International. “Fritz made a presentation as one of the options,” Whitacre said. “He also understands there is more than one way to do this. It was not seen as a failing on Fritz’s part. We didn’t turn Fritz down. It never came to a vote or a resolution to do anything.” The board is giving Henderson and his management team “a lot of leeway.” And the “pace of progress” has been good, according to Whitacre. “The board will be giving the management team time to execute,” said Dennis Virag, president of Automotive Consulting Group Inc. in Ann Arbor, Michigan. “You have to give them at least a year to 18 months.”
GM Board Fully Supports CEO Fritz Henderson
General Motor’s board has confidence in CEO Fritz Henderson and his management team.
August 28, 2009