General Motors has often been criticized for being a slow and overly bureaucratic, but GM CEO Fritz Henderson says the new General Motors will be much more nimble and quicker to make decisions. The new GM could emerge from bankruptcy by August.
Henderson says the automaker is focusing on its restructuring its business, but is also working to reorganize the company so decisions can be made faster. “As part of the General Motors moving forward, you don’t normally think of us as speedy or fast, and that’s what we should be,†Henderson told Automotive News. “But when you’re fast you do make mistakes. My view is if you’re slow, you make more mistakes. You just don’t notice it.”
To help reduce the amount of internal red tape, GM is planning to cut its global management team by about 34 percent. That move should help to get ideas to the top much quicker.
GM was most recently criticized for being slow to react when gas topped $4 a gallon last summer. Whereas fuel efficient vehicles like the Honda Civic smashed sales records, most GM dealers were saddled with fuel-thirsty SUVs and trucks and little in the way of fuel efficient vehicles.
GM is also working on several other measures to change the culture at GM, but Henderson failed to elaborate on those. “That will be a discussion with you on a different day,†he said.
If all goes according to plan, GM is hopeful it can emerge from Chapter 11 protection by early August.
