I almost put this in the hybrid news section, but it just didn't quite fit in my mind. Rick Wagoner's worst nightmare - Apr. 8, 2008 The part I vehemently disagree with is that there was nothing a GM exec could do in response to rising oil prices. In fact, this is a big "duh" to me. It was pretty obvious several years ago that oil prices were going to rise with global demand increasing, political and military tensions with oil producing countries and arguably with shorter supply. I think it really is GM's fault for not preparing and making more fuel efficient vehicles. Instead, they keep coming out with new variations of monster trucks, insist that hybrid technology has no place in small cars, and fight CAFE standards (that would actually help their business in the long term, if implemented). Wagoner can certainly be blamed for that strategic misstep.
Looks like all the chickens are coming home to roost. Poor Wagoner. I suspect his real problem is that GM stock has fallen so much his options are worthless. IMO the supply problems are of their own making. The lack of Saturn customers infers that the public has raised its standards higher than GM did. So GM is circling the drain because of poor forcasting, poor supplier choices, poor labor relations, and poor product. Someone's Fairy Godmother needs to make an appearance before 2010.
