GM wants to be your friend, America
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General Motors really wants to get the good word out.
Just before Chairman and Chief Executive Rick Wagoner went before Congress last week pleading for a bailout, GM put normally quiet lead director George M. Fisher front and center with interviews given to Bloomberg and the New York Times. This week, it appears Fisher is on the phone to the press again. Even Vice Chairman Bob Lutz, not known for staying on message, was unmuzzled this week to talk to the media.
Meanwhile, GM offered up access to two other directors, Kathryn Marinello and Kent Kresa. We at the Los Angeles Times were handed Kresa, perhaps because the former Northrup Grumman chief executive still lives in the area. It was a rare opportunity: Before our 25-minute chat, Kresa had given just two on-the-record interviews in the last three and a half years.
Kresa, an engineer, is one of 14 GM directors. He said he had not yet read the bailout legislation unveiled by congressional Democrats on Monday, a surprising admission considering the fact that, among other things, Kresa faces a reduction of his GM compensation to $1 from $200,000 should GM get government money.
But he said GM may be seeking more government aid ...
in South America, where sales are sagging. ‘There’s potential for things that may be happening in South America,’ he said, without elaborating further.
GM has huge operations in Brazil, as well as in Argentina and other countries on the continent, and has already requested financial aid in Canada, Germany and Spain. A request from a country such as Brazil would be noteworthy because it’s a developing nation, and it’s exactly the kind of marketplace upon which GM has counted for growth.
Kresa voiced support for Wagoner and said that the board backed the company’s leader, despite some signs from Washington that a long-term bailout plan might require his ouster. But Kresa stopped short of saying that the automaker’s board was unanimous in its support. ‘I won’t discuss internal board politics,’ he said.
Saying he came on to the board eager to get GM working on advanced-technology vehicles, Kresa explained that GM is now developing what he called ‘three-mode hybrid systems’ that would be applied to smaller vehicles in coming years. As to GM quality, he said gripes about problems were remnants of the 1990s and that the company’s present-day products are as strong as any competitor’s. ‘It was true in the past. But quality has greatly improved,’ he said.
Another topic was the potential merger with Chrysler, which was discussed in the fall but ultimately shelved. Kresa said that such a deal was ‘appealing from a cost-avoidance point of view. There’s lots of things that are synergistic between the two companies, so you could hopefully produce cars for a lower overall cost.’ Although GM chose not to pursue a marriage because of its own operating issues, Kresa said the deal ‘made sense and it still makes sense’ and suggested that, should a bailout happen -- and work -- Chrysler could again be an acquisition target.
Finally, we asked Kresa what he drives. ‘A Chrysler CTS,’ he said. Oops. What he meant was that he drives a Cadillac CTS, only fitting for a GM director. But only fitting for a former Chrysler director (he served on that board until 1998), he also owns a Chrysler 300.
-- Ken Bensinger