I'd say "pushed" from the tone in this Globe and Mail article
General Motors Co. chief executive officer Fritz Henderson has resigned just six months after leading the auto maker through a chapter 11 bankruptcy restructuring.
Mr. Henderson was appointed this year to replace Rick Wagoner, GM's CEO through most of the past decade, who was ousted by the U.S. government when it agreed to financially backstop a GM restructuring.
Although GM went through chapter 11 restructuring in just 40 days, the auto maker's board of directors rejected Mr. Henderson's recommendation on the sale of European auto maker Adam Opel GmbH and decided to hang on to the troubled division instead.
Mr. Henderson backed a sale of majority control in Opel to Canadian auto parts giant Magna International Inc. (MG.A-T51.401.102.19%) and Sberbank of Russia.
Board chairman Ed Whitacre will serve as interim CEO while the board searches for a replacement for Mr. Henderson, who has been a career executive at GM.
His resignation comes while the largest Detroit auto maker is still struggling to recover from the bankruptcy protection and years of market share declines that led to losses of tens of billions of dollars this decade.
The company's first financial results since the bankruptcy, issued last month, showed a loss of $1.2-billion (U.S.) in the period ended Sept. 30, but the company pledged to begin paying back part of its loans to the U.S., Canadian and Ontario governments this month.
Since the Opel reversal, Mr. Henderson and Mr. Whitacre have differed publicly on the timing of an initial public offering, which would help end government ownership of the company and fully repay the loans.
At a news conference in Detroit Tuesday afternoon, Mr. Whitacre read a brief statement thanking Mr. Henderson for his work. But he said the restructuring of GM will now be speeded up and governments repaid for the billions of dollars in loans provided to the company.
“Fritz has done a remarkable job in leading the company through an unprecedented period of challenge and change,” Mr. Whitacre said. “While momentum has been building over the past several months, all involved agree that changes needed to be made.”
Mr. Henderson, 51, sought to scale down GM after its emergence from bankruptcy to just four core brands: Chevrolet, Cadillac, Buick and GMC.
While he has largely succeeded in that goal, attempts to sell the company's other brands have hit obstacles.
The company is winding down Pontiac and was successful in winning a tentative sale of Hummer to a Chinese construction machinery maker.
However, Mr. Henderson's bid to sell Saturn to race car mogul Roger Penske fell through and the brand is now liquidating. Last week, Swedish sports car maker Koenigsegg Automotive AB dropped out of a deal to acquire Saab.
GM has cut tens of thousands of jobs and shut down plants to cope with overproduction and reduced revenues.
In Canada, the company shut down a pickup truck plant in Oshawa this year, with the loss of 2,600 jobs. It also plans to close a transmission plant in Windsor, Ont., in 2010, with another 1,400 jobs at stake.
“I want to assure all of our employees, dealers, suppliers, union partners and most of all, our customers, that GM's daily business operations will continue as normal,” Mr. Whitacre said. “I remain more convinced than ever that our company is on the right path and that we will continue to be a leader in offering the worldwide buying public the highest quality, highest value cars and trucks.
“We now need to accelerate our progress toward that goal, which will also mean a return to profitability and repaying the American and Canadian taxpayers as soon as possible.”
With files from The Associated Press
