...Dan Akerson is managing director of the Carlyle Group, and was named to the new GM board of directors in July '09, when Whitacre became chairman. Akerson was CEO of Nextel from 1996 to 1999, and chairman from '96 to '01. He also was chairman and CEO of XO Communications from '99 to '03. Nextel replaced Winston cigarettes as series sponsor of NASCAR in 2004, the only car connection I've found to Akerson. Akerson is 61, just the right age to keep grooming GM North America President Mark Reuss for the job when he breaches his 50s.
Akerson takes over Whitacre's CEO title on September 1, and Whitacre will hand over his chairman's title by the end of the year. In his year-plus leading GM, Whitacre has shuffled around a lot of GM management, and fired many of the desk-jockeys. He's obviously happy about the impending IPO, and he's retiring, again, mostly on his own terms. Whitacre said last week he'd like Treasury to unload all 60.8 percent of its GM stock in the IPO. That sounds like a long shot....
There is no 'sticker shock' with the Volt and there is no reason to outsource jobs to bump up the new CEO's bonus. Every knew for a long time the Volt was running at $40,000. The Volt will pay for itself in no time to anyone that purchases one.
...Dashing hope that GM’s new electric car will jolt the American auto industry into a greener era, the new vehicle’s $41,000 price tag is a shocking disappointment. When visiting Michigan last week to tout the success of the auto industry bailout, President Obama drove the new Chevrolet Volt a few feet and proclaimed, “This car right here doesn’t need a sip of gasoline for 40 miles and then keeps on going after that.’’...
http://evworld.com/news.cfm?newsid=23796
...ANN ARBOR, MI (Michigan Radio) - The first Chevy Volt customers in southeast Michigan will get a special perk from DTE Energy.
The company will pay to install the first 25-hundred of the costly charging stations that are required to recharge the Volt's battery.
DTE will install separate meters for the stations.
The meters will allow the utility company to understand how and when people charge their electric cars.
That information will be crucial as electric companies prepare for the day - five, ten, fifteen years from now - when electric plug-in vehicles are more common....
http://www.publicbroadcasting.net/michigan/news.newsmain/article/0/0/1687142/Michigan.News/DTE.Unveils.Special.Incentives..Disincentives.For.Volt.Owners.
GM to increase Chevy Volt production by 50%
July 31, 2010
By Tiffany Hsu, Los Angeles Times
GM says it aims to increase production of the electric vehicle to 45,000 in 2012. It says the Volt will be available in seven states in December. Nissan says its electric Leaf will be available in five states, including California, in December....
http://articles.latimes.com/2010/jul/31/business/la-fi-autos-volt-20100731
...It's a quirky idea that's generating some buzz in the world of IPOs. The thinking is that since the federal government used our tax dollars to rescue GM, small investors/ taxpayers ought to benefit when the company first offers stock for sale.
Six years ago, when Google Inc. went public, we heard talk about finding a way to offer an IPO for everyone. The Google offering was designed as an auction, open to the average Joe — or Jo — and supposed to be very unlike IPOs of the past, which went to the well-connected and very rich.
The new GM IPO has even more reason to include a populist pitch. When GM was on the brink of collapse, plenty of taxpayers protested over their money going to save it....
http://www.livingstondaily.com/article/20100812/OPINION01/8120304/1014/OPINION/Susan+Tompor++GM+stock+offering+should+include+a+pitch+to+public
