Some hearsay I heard was he was becoming a little to vocal about GM, and recently made some public remarks that may have led to this decision…but I have no info at the moment to link in here.
:tdown: Sad to see him go. This is the guy that pushed out all of the world-class performance cars and played a big role in bringing their lineup up to date. Plus I gotta give props to a guy who likes to stuff V8’s into everything.
+1
Not a good thing for GM, even more so if the rumors that he’s being pushed out for questioning GM’s stupid decisions are true.
I hope his successor has the same power to tell the bean counters to STFU. Supposedly he was the only product guy that they ever gave that kind of clout to.
Agreed. I checked and couldn’t find anything about this rumor…
Anytime I heard this guy talk, I loved it. Dude said it how it was, and didn’t sugarcoat anything.
Not the best news but at 76 you need to hang it up eventually.
Will be interesting to see who his successor is.
Edit:
Wagoner also announced that effective April 1, 2009 the GM Board of Directors elected Thomas G. Stephens, Vice Chairman - Global Product Development, reporting to President and Chief Operating Officer Fritz Henderson. Stephens, 60, is currently Executive Vice President, Global Powertrain and Global Quality. In this new assignment, Stephens will maintain his responsibility for overseeing GM’s global quality activity.
“Tom Stephens is the perfect guy to take the reins of GM’s global product development,” Wagoner continued. "He’s had extensive experience in virtually every aspect of our global product development activities. With his 40 years at GM, Tom has an extraordinary understanding of our products and our organization, and is highly respected worldwide. I’m confident that with Tom’s passion for great products and vast knowledge of advanced propulsion, he will continue to raise the bar in executing outstanding GM cars and trucks.
Balls