Investors set to grill GM execs

[pupp1]

Sunday, June 5, 2005

Wagoner

Investors set to grill GM execs

At annual meeting, shareholders won't be shy with proposals to save ailing automaker.

By Ed Garsten / The Detroit News

General Motors Corp.'s annual shareholder meeting Tuesday has the potential to produce one of those climatic cinematic moments where all the forces plaguing the main character converge.

Smack in the middle of its worst financial crisis in more than a decade, GM is facing a market share freefall in the United States, billions of dollars in health care and pension costs, and a move by a maverick billionaire investor to buy a major chunk of its stock.

Add the recent downgrades of GM's credit rating to "junk bond" status and a share price that's declined more than $30 since June 2004, and it's a recipe for disgruntled investors.

"GM's been grossly mismanaged for a while," said shareholder Joe Baker of Southaven, Miss.

"General Motors has done a miserable job of product support, and everyone knows it dropped $4.2 billion in the fiasco with Fiat," he said.

At Tuesday's meeting in Wilmington, Del., one shareholder plans to call for the resignation of chairman and CEO Rick Wagoner; another plans to nominate his own slate of candidates for the board of directors; and one will offer a proposal to eliminate the granting of stock options to anyone in the company.

Shareholders are anxious for Wagoner and other officials to address concerns about GM's direction after it lost $1.1 billion in the first quarter and withdrew earnings guidance for all of 2005.

With U.S. sales down 6.7 percent this year and losses mounting amid flat revenue growth and weak pricing, some analysts are calling for GM to close plants or eliminate a brand. GM is also expected to burn through $5 billion in cash this year, prompting some analysts to speculate the automaker's annual cash dividend -- $2 a share -- may be trimmed.

The company expects to spend $5.6 billion on employee and retiree health care this year and is in talks with the United Auto Workers union on possible remedies -- perhaps a reduction in benefits or increase in employee contributions.

"There is no direction," said John Lauve, a Holly resident who plans to nominate an alternate slate of candidates for the board of directors. "They don't know what to do, and they don't want to find out."

He compares GM directors to the crew of the ill-fated Titanic, which made the fatal error of hitting an iceberg at night that caused its sinking.

"They need people with clear vision," Lauve said.

Wagoner is expected to lay out his vision and the state of the company in a speech, before addressing shareholder questions and concerns. He has made few public appearances since taking over day-to-day control of GM's troubled North American operations in early April. Full Article Here

[tgagneguam]

...one shareholder plans to call for the resignation of chairman and CEO Rick Wagoner; another plans to nominate his own slate of candidates for the board of directors;...

It's precisely people like this who will sap all credibility from shareholders who make reasonable proposals and who pose thoughtful questions. It's one thing to hold the Board accountable for what appear, at least in hindsight, to be some pretty stupid (and expensive) missteps. It's quite another to announce the replacement of the Board with your own nominees, particularly if said proposer holds just a couple hundred shares of the 560 million-plus outstanding shares of GM. Unless the signature on their monthly utiltiy bills is "Kirk Kerkorian," these things won't occur. It'll simply amount to wasteful distractions during what could potentially be an informative shareholder meeting.

I hope these people are in the minority.

[Havasavana]

Originally Posted by tgagneguam

It's precisely people like this who will sap all credibility from shareholders who make reasonable proposals and who pose thoughtful questions. It's one thing to hold the Board accountable for what appear, at least in hindsight, to be some pretty stupid (and expensive) missteps. It's quite another to announce the replacement of the Board with your own nominees, particularly if said proposer holds just a couple hundred shares of the 560 million-plus outstanding shares of GM. Unless the signature on their monthly utiltiy bills is "Kirk Kerkorian," these things won't occur. It'll simply amount to wasteful distractions during what could potentially be an informative shareholder meeting.

I hope these people are in the minority.

It does have the potential to create or promote chaos, but this is the risk when management persists in ineffective policies for years, even decades. Assuming past results are indicative of future results, a reasonable assumption in my opinion, current management will continue to fail relative to competitors. So stockholders have to make choices. Continue to support the current board, or do what is necessary to achieve change. The current board has shown no clear intention to change management or even clear dissatisfaction with the Wagoner team. So, it's not unreasonable to replace the board or at least enough of it to stir the pot. What we're talking about is akin to a revolution. Most revolutions do not lead to a quick fix of complex problems, and GM needs a quick fix given their financials and the competitive environment. Wagoner and the board should do the right thing for a change and step down.

[jokuvaan]

If there comes a change, I think it's more for punishment than new idea's.

[SSrevolution]

Originally Posted by pupp1

Sunday, June 5, 2005

Wagoner

Investors set to grill GM execs

At annual meeting, shareholders won't be shy with proposals to save ailing automaker.

By Ed Garsten / The Detroit News




"GM's been grossly mismanaged for a while,"



Tuesday's meeting in Wilmington, Del., one shareholder plans to call for the resignation of chairman and CEO Rick Wagoner;


He compares GM directors to the crew of the ill-fated Titanic, which made the fatal error of hitting an iceberg at night that caused its sinking.


"They need people with clear vision," Lauve said.

I'm calling for Wagoner's head too. But it's much more than just him, its his puppets too.

[tosil]

Fire them all..... this company is an embarrassing to it's share holders and it's fans. I say fire everyone involved with the Fiat fiasco, and hire a fresh crew. GM's "turnaround" can't happen overnight, but it looks like current management are a bunch of $ zombies, the bottom line will not change GM's hope for a bright future, "MUST HAVE" cars and trucks will. It makes me sick when all my friends refuse to buy American because they think it's "CRAP". Come on, we all know our Cobalts are more German than our Civics are Japanese. And than we have the media, which GM seems to ignore. They are the voice that speaks and the general public listen, most people are not car people, so they refer to magazines, news papers and television shows. GM, listen and they will come.....

[uujjj]

Don't fire everyone. The people in charge on the operations side, the manufacturing and quality control, have been doing a fine job in both cutting costs and improving quality/reliability. They should be commended, not fired. The product development guys haven't done a great job, but given how much they've improved I can't justify firing them, either. The biggest problem is in sales and marketing, particularly with the asinine pricing scheme GM is using, but also with the brand strategy, the product naming, the marketing of specific products (e.g. "first ever G6"), and the product mix being developed (e.g. doing the SSR instead of going all out on the Colorado, lack of mainstream RWD cars).

Do cut Wagoner's ridiculous pay, though.

[espo19047]

This reminds me of sports talk radio. "fire em all"! thankfully the callers dont run the team.

[Buickman]

Wagoner isn't a bad guy, just hasn't done the job. Not everyone has to go, but there must be accountibility, and it starts at the top.

[chadbarb99]

I think Rick Wagonner needs to go, because he hasn't got a clue about what consumers want ie RWD cars!!

[dwnhllskiier815]

Okay GM had over a billion dollars in purchasing savings while the Fiat agreement was in place. Typical media to ignore that in their calculation... but it's real.

[FusionSVT]

Dont fire Laneve, hes been a savior so far in my opinion.

[tosil]

By saying "fire them all" I only mean the persons responsible for the problems within GM. You guys are right, there are people doin a fine job in GM, that is why I'm still a fan, but we have a few dad apples that need to go.....NOW

[Bandersnatch]

Yep, Lutz and the Wagoneer need to go.

We need some people with common sense running things.

Also, I'd like to thrown in a BIG "I told ya so" to the people at these forums.

[chadbarb99]

Originally Posted by Bandersnatch

Yep, Lutz and the Wagoneer need to go.

We need some people with common sense running things.

Also, I'd like to thrown in a BIG "I told ya so" to the people at these forums.

No, Lutz can stay because he's a car guy, WAGONNER needs to go cause he doesn't know ***** about what people WANT!!!! He's the one screwing up the whole company.