We’re executing the turnaround plan at a pace that’s faster than we thought we could.
Yeah, I feel like I get good support from the board.
I haven’t asked him for his support, to be perfectly honest.
No. No one has expressed dissatisfaction with me. And if one steps back and looks at the facts, the pace of the turnaround is exceptionally fast, I think faster than anybody would have thought would be possible. I’ve come up with a plan that initially cut $5 billion in structural costs, and then $6 billion, and then $7 billion, then $8 billion and now more than $8 billion in the span of one year. I think that’s a rather remarkable accomplishment.
My thought was, “Gee, this is a very interesting idea and a very unusual way to pursue it. And certainly not in line with the way these kind of matters would normally be pursued by a company and its board.” But I said, “OK, thanks for the idea. I’ll pick up on it.”
[ Pause ] Ummm. To be perfectly honest, I don’t remember exactly what I said. But I learned long ago that one shouldn’t take things personally. You know I’m here to do a job for General Motors and our constituents and our shareholders, and my first thought is, “OK, so is this a good idea for GM?”
There’s been so much speculation on [how] somebody else could do this job better. And I remain convinced that that’s not true.
I don’t have any problems with Carlos, but I’m quite sure that I’m the right guy to run GM.
First of all, when do you put a competitor on your board? I’ve never heard of that happening.
A lot of aspects of all of this haven’t been normal. It’s not the way I would have done it.
You know, when you’re running a business with 300,000 people, it might be fun to occasionally be emotional. And I might even do that. But people are looking for someone who’s thought through what we’re going to do, has a clear direction. [Someone who is] able to deal with crises that arise, calls from directors offering unexpected things in a competent, fast and thoughtful way, but in a steady way. They don’t like to see someone hopping around left and right, going “The sky is falling.” People aren’t looking for panic. So why would I change that style? I think it’s exactly why we’ve been able to do remarkable stuff here in the span of a year. Why would anybody want to change that? That’s the craziest thing I’ve ever heard.
