GM's Buick-GMC Chief Said to Leave Automaker Eight Days After Being Hired

[Purveyor]

Dec. 10 (Bloomberg) -- General Motors Co.’s chief of the Buick and GMC brands left eight days after joining the biggest U.S. automaker, giving Chairman Ed Whitacre another chance to deepen his imprint on senior management.

Michael D. Richards, formerly of Ford Motor Co., was hired Dec. 1, the same day that Fritz Henderson was ousted as chief executive officer and replaced by Whitacre. GM confirmed Richards’s move today, after people familiar with the matter described his exit late yesterday.

The departure creates a surprise leadership vacancy less than a week after Whitacre shuffled the executive ranks at Detroit-based GM. Whitacre, 68, who was appointed to the board in June, chose new chiefs for GM’s North American and European operations among other positions on Dec. 4.

“Some of these changes are necessary, but I believe some of them are also confusing,” said Dennis Virag, president of Automotive Consulting Group Inc. in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Having the Buick-GMC job open up again so soon “really brings up the question of what in the world is going on,” he said today.

GM hired Richards to replace Susan Docherty, who was promoted earlier to head of sales and on Dec. 4 became vice president of vehicle sales, service and marketing. Richards worked most recently at Austin, Texas-based software maker Trilogy Inc. and wasn’t available for comment yesterday.

More...

BLOOMBERG: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601109&sid=a7RCwGRIHYjo&pos=13

[liberal N proud]

1. “really brings up the question of what in the world is going on,”

said Dennis Virag, president of Automotive Consulting Group Inc.


REALLY?

[Craftsman]

2. Rats, sinking ship, you know the rest

Glad I bought a ford.

[KansDem]

3. Did he get a "golden parachute?"

Or wasn't there enough time?

[dembotoz]

6. still prob made more than i will in a year....

[Romulox]

4. David Axelrod and Tim Geithner sure know how to run an auto company!

:eyes:

[FarCenter]

5. Richards appears to have been a Ford marketing cast off

He left Ford in 2008, worked for JD Powers as a consultant, and then wound up at Trilogy. So he would appear to be someone that Mulally "out-placed".

His Ford bio is http://media.ford.com/article_display.cfm?article_id=17598

Note also that Bob Lutz was the manager who annouced Richards hiring.

Bob Lutz appears to have done a lateral arabesque into a non-functional role: "Bob Lutz remains vice chairman and will act as advisor on design and global product development.