GM, Chrysler are healthier but on different roads to reinvention
Analysts and skeptics all agree that General Motors Company and Chrysler Group LLC are both better off than they were a year ago. Nearly six months after going the through a government-backed bankruptcy, the future of both automakers is starting to look bright – however, both are currently traveling on different roads to reinvention, reports the Free Press.
While Chrysler’s CEO Sergio Marchionne may seem charismatic and focused, the Auburn Hills automaker still has a lot of work to do before it can recapture profit and market share. Sales still remain in free fall and redesigned vehicles are still months, even years away from hitting the roads.
GM’s Chairman Ed Whitacre recently jettisoned CEO Fritz Henderson and took his title on the opening day of the 2009 LA Auto Show. The move killed buzz around the launch of the 2011 Buick Regal and triggered anxiety among employees.
Nonetheless, GM’s market share is stabilizing, even as it phases out Saturn, Pontiac, Saab and Hummer. New products such as the Cadillac SRX, Chevrolet Equinox, GMC Terrain and the Buick LaCrosse have been selling well.
“I’d take GM’s situation in a heartbeat,” said IHS Global Insight analyst John Wolkonowicz. “GM has a cold. Chrysler has pneumonia. In the end, success might be a matter of which leader delivers the appropriate medicine.”
– By: Omar Rana
Source: Free Press
