Author: Automotive News Feed

When former General Motors vice chairman Bob Lutz appeared on Frank Beckmann’s radio talk show on WJR-AM in Detroit last week, he praised Mary Barra, the company’s new CEO, who has been doing Lutz’s old job of head of product development.

General Manager Lisa Copeland has a knack for the unconventional. She’s created a thriving minicar franchise in Texas, a state where ‘everything’s bigger.’ She has hired people with no prior auto experience and has employed some of her customers.

General Motors, after more than three years with Dan Akerson at the helm, is in significantly better shape, though some may argue that the seeds for the improvement were sown before he arrived in Detroit.

Automotive News reporter Nick Bunkley tells the tale of Houston auto pitchman Rik Melartin, and talks about the challenges he faced while reporting.

A 2008 December calendar full of deadlines and disappointments.

It didn’t take long for the horse race whispers to start after the Sept. 1, 2010, arrival of GM CEO Dan Akerson. He was 61 and, by his own admission, was appointed as a “transition CEO.”