GM’s new chief financial officer Chris Liddell, who joined from Microsoft, could be a candidate for permanent chief executive, chairman and acting CEO Ed Whitacre said during a media briefing at the company’s headquarters.
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Whitacre said he had yet to receive a list of potential CEO candidates, Reuters reported.
“I would say he (Liddell) certainly could be a candidate. It would be up to the board and his performance,” Whitacre said.
In the wide-ranging briefing, Whitacre also predicted GM would return to profitability this year.
He said no potential Saab bidders had come forward with the financing needed to restructure the loss-making automaker.
“I think we’ve done everything humanly possible,” Whitacre said, adding GM will start closing down Saab plants later this week.
Whitacre said separately GM plans to close a deal to sell Hummer to China’s Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery by the end of January after reaching a tentative deal in June.
Whitacre also said he expects “hundreds” of US dealers terminated as part of its bankruptcy restructuring last year to be reinstated. This came after Congress passed a bill in December that gives terminated GM and Chrysler dealers the right to negotiate with the companies to maintain their franchise agreements.
GM, which had about 6,200 US dealers before bankruptcy, is terminating franchise agreements with over 1,300 dealers by the end of October.
