Earlier this week GM announced that former chairman and CEO of AT&T Edward E. Whitacre, Jr., will become the new chairman of the “˜New GM” when the company is launched later this summer.
In an interview with Bloomberg, Whitacre said: “I don”t know anything about cars. A business is a business, and I think I can learn about cars. I”m not that old, and I think the business principles are the same.”
According to Jim Hall, principal of 2953 Analytics auto-consulting firm in Birmingham, Michigan and former GM engineer, Whitacre is a “good choice” for GM.
“He was one of the guys who helped create a new AT&T that wasn”t so dependent on land-line phone service,” said Hall. “There”s a parallel with General Motors. GM is not now about just making cars. It”s about re-creating itself as a 21st-century car company. They have to have somebody at the top that understands they have to make a new GM.”
- By: Omar Rana
Source: Bloomberg
