GM's Henderson: "We Will Get the Job Done"

GM's Henderson: "We Will Get the Job Done"

By Michelle Krebs

DETROIT -- Frederick "Fritz" Henderson, the newly appointed CEO of General Motors, said in his first press conference Tuesday that the automaker understands what the U.S. government wants from GM and promises to get the job done.

"We will get the job done," Henderson told reporters emphatically with confidence and calm. "We'll do it in court or we'll do it outside of court. But we will get the job done."

New Plan: "Deeper, Harder, Faster"

Henderson's first order of business, one he insists will be the singular focus of his management team, is to develop a new viability plan after President Obama Monday called the one GM submitted on February 17 inadequate.

The administration's marching orders for GM are "very clear and unequivocal," Henderson said. "We have to go deeper, go harder and go faster. We get that. We understand exactly what that means."

He said GM has done a good job of making a "down payment" on a final viability plan but a new plan has "to go one or two steps further" and pull more things ahead of the schedule than previously announced. He called for a reinvention of the automaker.

Going deeper means more plant closings and more job losses, Henderson said. He said GM management will scrutinize the capacity utilization of all of its plants -- from assembly plants to engine and stamping facilities to parts operations. If plants aren't operating at capacity and volume expectations make that unlikely in the future, the plants will be vulnerable to closure.

Henderson didn't speculate on how many plants would close, which ones nor how many jobs would be lost, all issues he said would be discussed with the company's unions as they make such determinations.

More product cuts are likely as well as Henderson said every model "has to pay rent...every model has to be profitable." That would seem to leave many GM models vulnerable as at last fall's Congressional hearings for government loans, then CEO Rick Wagoner said half of GM's models were not profitable.

Despite some reports that GM could end up as a company with two brands in the U.S. -- Chevrolet and Cadillac -- Henderson insisted GM is still focusing on four core brands: Chevrolet, Cadillac, Buick and GMC with Pontiac being a niche brand.

GM will spin off Saab, which is in the equivalent of Chapter 11 bankruptcy restructuring in Sweden right now. Henderson said GM is close to making a decision Hummer within weeks if not days. And GM remains on track to have Saturn and its dealers explore other operating options. If they come up with no alternative, Saturn will cease to exist as a GM brand after 2011.

Vehicle lines must be profitable, Henderson said, in order to generate cash to fund future products and advanced technologies, like the Chevrolet Volt, hybrid vehicles and the next generation of biofuel and ethanol vehicles.

"There's never been a successful turnaround in the auto business on one side of the ledger or the other," he said. "You have to win customers in the marketplace with good brands and products to generate revenue."

Henderson further indicated GM would be accelerating its schedule to eliminate the number of dealers.

Michelle Krebs:  is Editor-in-Chief of AutoObserver.com. Follow @AutoObserver on Twitter.