General Motors’ chief financial officer, Ray Young, is said to be leaving the company after an 18 month stint. Reuters said people familiar with the two-day board meeting under GM chairman Ed Whitacre said other moves included sending a negotiator on the sale of its Opel unit to Berlin and backing a new marketing campaign. It was said GM’s 13-member board will convey their decision to German officials today. John Smith, the GM executive who has headed months of negotiations with the German government and two potential bidders for GM’s Opel unit will brief the German trust supervising Opel and German government officials before news conferences scheduled for today. It was not immediately clear what action the GM board had taken on Opel after spending the past month weighing the merits of selling the European unit against the cost of keeping it. A group led by Canadian auto group Magna International has a promise for the financial backing of the German government to take control of Opel. Brussels-listed RHJ International has a rival bid that GM management has said would be easier to implement. Meanwhile, GM’s new advertising will feature Whitacre, the U.S. Treasury’s choice to lead the board, asking buyers to consider the automaker’s vehicles, Bloomberg reported. The campaign is likely to be announced today. Whitacre’s appearance will add him to the roster of senior auto-industry executives who appealed for public support in times of corporate crisis, including Bill Ford, the chairman of Ford Motor, and former Chrysler CEO Lee Iacocca.
GM: CFO to Leave, Opel Decision Due Today
It was said GM’s 13-member board will convey their decision to German officials today.
September 10, 2009