I don’t know about you, but if I’d earned $14m in ONE YEAR, and I’d worked for the same company for thirty-two years, at least eight of which delivered unto me similarly (if not equally) spectacular amounts of pay and benefits, I wouldn’t really be all that worried about what happened next. OK, yes, reputation and all that. But we’re talking about Rick Wagoner, the man that’s flown the GM jumbo jet straight into the dirt without once recognizing that funny looking thing called the yoke. Any reputation that remains is purely in Rick’s head, and the heads of the sycophants who wear their “Pay No Attention To That Man Behind the Curtain” T-shirts with pride, without irony. So don’t expect me to be surprised that USA Today reports “GM, [Wagoner] says, is crouched and ready to pounce if the auto market begins to rebound. ‘We just need to get the storm over, and we’re about ready to go.'”
Does anyone other me notice the odd nuances behind Red Ink Rick’s ruminations? Don’t you try to get through a storm not “get the storm over”? And why in the world would Rick say we’re “about” ready to go? Even though GM’s nowhere near ready to go (unless we’re talking about going bankrupt), shouldn’t a man who’s about to beg for his company’s survival (thanks taxpayers), a man upon whom over a million people’s livelihoods depend, speak without candy-ass equivocation?
Stand back. I’m about to hurl.
The reason for Wagoner’s confident appearance is his unshakable belief that things will get better soon enough. And, in Wagoner’s view, GM will be ready — forged in the crucible of crisis into a tough, hard, healthy, profitable, high-tech and high-quality leader.
How will GM be ready? It’s on federal life support. Product programs litter the cutting room floor. Its branding is non-existent and getting worse. Cuts across the company have left GM’s remaining workers—both factory floor and cubicle cell—on the sharp end, dispirited, anxious and incapacitated. GM’s corporate culture remains a cesspool of toxicity.
With all this mess at his doorstep, you’d imagine that Rick Wagoner would be afraid to show his face in public. And you’d be right!
Two weeks ago, returning from the National Automobile Dealers Association meetings in New Orleans, he found himself on the front lines of consumer feedback. Flying commercial to avoid the fat-cat image of using the company plane as he has done for years, Wagoner was standing at the baggage carousel at the Detroit airport waiting for his luggage when a woman yelled his name.
“Normally, when people chase me around and say, ‘Are you Rick Wagoner?’ I say, ‘No,’ and run the other way,” Wagoner said, laughing. “But I had to stick around and get my baggage.”
He was glad he stayed put.
The woman gushed about the new GMC Acadia SUV she’d bought, trading in her Acura MDX. She’d decided to give GM a chance after hearing so much about the company in the news.
“It was terrific,” Wagoner says. “Having been through what we’ve been through in the last year, I think I’d like to be here when things get turned around.”
Hey Rick, don’t commit yourself, or count on it. You’re only bound to be disappointed. And you might want to spend a little more time looking at those brochures for Aruba estates. You couldn’t imagine a better time to buy. Obviously.
I would not recognize Mr. Wagoner if spotted in public.
Also, the article didn’t say whether he flew first class or not.
Rick has not delivered a profit from automanufacturing since 2004, not even in the go-go years of 2005 and 2006.
He may be crouched alright: He’s just taking another dump on GM suppliers, employees, dealers, and customers.
…and the United States Taxpayers.
Always look on the bright side of death
Just before you draw your terminal breath
Rick Wagoner inhabits a happy world of unicorns and rainbows.
I would not recognize Mr. Wagoner if spotted in public
Isn’t Rick like 6’6″ tall? Just like UBL, he’s hard to miss. Or not.
“GM, [Wagoner] says, is crouched and ready to pounce if the auto market begins to rebound.”
For some reason, this quote makes me picture Will Farrell dressed as Rick Wagoner draped in a GM flag crouched behind a desk, bouncing anxiously and yelling “Come on storm, get over! Get over! Damnit storm, for all that is good and holy I demand you GET OVER!”
So, basically he admits that he is so out of touch with his customers that he relies on a chance meeting at the Detroit airport (from which he didn’t slink away as is normal) to get direct feedback? And based on one positive experience he’s optimistic and thinks the company is poised for success? Tell that to the 10,000 people who are about to get the axe… most of whom probably know more about the problems of the company than he does.
One huge problem at GM is that the top leaders have always been out of touch with the front lines of the business.
Dozens of layers of middle management each filter bad news to cover their own rear ends (CYA) as it makes its way up the chain of command. By the time the bad news makes it up to Wagoners level it’s bit spit shined so much it probably looks like another $4 Billion handout.
Their company cars are washed and maintained daily and if they have a problem they are fixed in an executive garage. When was the last time an unclassified level exec at GM drove a car with more than 3k miles on the odometer?
Seriously, when is the last time that he had a direct look at a synopsis of calls to the Chevy customer support center (after it’s translated from Hindi) or actually set foot inside of a dealership without an advance-team of unclassified-level assistants clearing out the waiting room, picking up the garbage, and loading the conference room with the right brand of bottled water for him?
He should spend one day a year writing up service orders at a large suburban dealership to see the repetitive repair issues with the cars after the J.D. Power Initial Quality period has ended. And then he could experience the frustration of having repairs turned down by GM’s warranty cops even though the problems are well known. Of course, he wouldn’t actually know how to do this, but he could watch. I don’t care if he takes the corporate Gulfstream to the dealership, it would be a far better use of his time than waiting for his luggage at DTW.
Acura MDX for GMC Acadia? Warms my heart! Or not.