GM boss ousted in shock coup

GM president and chief executive Fritz Henderson has been ousted by the company’s board.#

Unconfirmed reports suggest confidence in Henderson was undermined when he was twice voted down by the board: initially as he was willing to go-ahead with the sale of Vauxhall/Opel to Magna, and then when he pushed for the immediate closure of Saab yesterday. GM has made no official comment on the matter.

GM immediately announced that Ed Whitacre, who was named GM chairman by the Obama Administration in June, is to take over as chief executive while a replacement president and chief executive is sought.

Whitacre explained GM wanted to speed up the changes the board had been pushing for since July.

“All involved agree that changes needed to be made,” he said. “We now need to accelerate our progress toward that goal, which will also mean a return to profitability and repaying the American and Canadian taxpayers as soon as possible.”

Henderson, 51, was placed in charge of GM in March after the US Government forced out his predecessor, Rick Wagoner.

He steered GM out of bankruptcy in June, but has seemingly failed to win the support of a board of directors that includes government appointees.

The Obama administration has issued a statement confirming that it had no part in his removal: "This decision was made by the board of directors alone. The Administration was not involved."

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