Here’s Dan Akerson’s Address To Stockholders Regarding The State Of General Motors
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General Motors CEO Dan Akerson opened the 2012 annual stockholders meeting in Detroit by stating that 2011 was a good year for the automaker, but it was not a great one. Akerson, who is nearing the completion of his second year as the automaker’s chief executive, reflected that him and his team have “much more work to do to make GM great again” — partly referring to increasing the automaker’s profitability.
“To be great, GM must close this [profitability] gap by steadily improving our margins and that will be the focus of my remarks today,” said Akerson. “It’s fundamental to earning a blue-chip multiple for GM stock and ensuring that the company will be successful for generations – not just a few quarters or a few years.”
Akerson then went on to explain how The General is in the early days of one of the biggest global product offensives in its history and that the effects of this offensive will be especially perceived in the U.S. market — where about 70 percent of the automaker’s nameplates will be new or refreshed over the course of 2012 and 2013. Many of these vehicles will bring GM to new segments where it has never competed before, such as the Buick Verano and Verano Turbo.
Akerson also addressed the unprofitable Opel division by saying that GM plans to invest billions in new models while sorting out overcapacity and high fixed costs in the region. Other topics of interest include the automaker’s presence in vital growth markets such as Brazil, Russia, and China, a new cost discipline throughout GM, a strong balance sheet, and a change in product development that will result in a 50 percent decrease in vehicle architectures.
Ultimately, Akerson announced that the automaker plans on spending $8 billion annually to support all of these plans and placed a special emphasis on keeping this spending stable — even during peaks and troughs experienced by the industry, and economy, at large. The strength of the firm’s balance sheet will assist it in this regard.
Feel free to scan Akerson’s entire address to shareholders below for yourself. But if anything is clear to us, it’s that The General will start kicking ass and taking names very, very soon. It just so happens that it’s in a unique state of limbo in this point in time — the calm before the storm, if you will.
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Sounds good best of luck to all
I like this plan! Let’s all hope it goes well as planned and good luck!
I want to know what he meant by the following …
” ….. As a customer, you will see the benefit in better-engineered cars and trucks, and more choice … ”
There hasn’t been anything firmly announced that would tell me we’ll see more choice in the C-class, which is the largest segment globally. The Europeans get choice but we don’t, so a remark like this from the CEO of a global company might just be to our exclusion. Is he talking about having a choice between whether to get MYLINK or not, or is it engines, transmissions, and body styles?
It’s clear that Akerson wants stability through the “peaks and troughs” of the global economy, and as a shareholder I would want that, but one of the biggest factors is the fluctuating price of fuel. If he really wants to ride through fuel price shocks then he should put more focus on making better small cars. Am I wrong but, aside from GM’s organizational inefficiencies, wasn’t a fuel price spike one of the big factors in the bankruptcy? I seem to recall a big shift to small cars, albeit temporary, but enough to tip the balance sheet into the red, when fuel went up. I didn’t follow the industry back then but it is my recollection from the news media.
Approximately 42,000 U.S. GM retirees and qualified beneficiaries will have something new to think about as GM announced its plans on June 1 to de-risk their retirement pension liability by 26 billion dollars. With the new plan having a deadline of July 20, 2012, there will be a couple of different options available for consideration. One option includes a lump-sum payment, while the other includes continued monthly pension benefits. A helpful guide has been provided at http://gm-pension-buyout.com/?page_id=38 and should be reviewed with a qualified financial planner before making a decision.