Environment Forum

GM, Chrysler cleared executive decks in 2009

When 2009 began, both General Motors and Chrysler were sliding toward bankruptcy. As the year ends, both companies have survived to fight another day.

The same can’t be said for their senior executives.

Of the top 10 executives at GM’s glass-towered Detroit headquarters in January, only one — Bob Lutz – remains.  At Chrysler, only two of the 10 highest-ranking executives are still in Auburn Hills.  

At GM, the churn took a dramatic toll at the vice president level. Of the 55 top executives, including vice presidents and divisional leaders, who were at GM at the start of the year, 26 have left the automaker.  Of the remainder, few remain in the same positions they held, according to a Reuters tally.

The sweep was made near complete on Dec. 1 when the board at General Motors Co parted company with former chief executive Fritz Henderson after he had the post for only eight months.  

Only at Ford did any of the former Big Three — now called the Detroit Three — automakers kept the slate of top executives pretty much intact.  Only two of Ford’s top 10 executives have left; both retired.

Of course, Ford did not declare bankruptcy to save itself as GM and Chrysler did this year with funding from the Obama administration. 

Is California really banning black cars?

Has it come to this in California? Is the Golden State really banning black cars from its famous freeways, as reported in various auto industry blogs – and even The Washington Post – on the grounds that they require more air conditioning to cool?

The answer, a slightly exasperated spokesman for air quality regulator the California Air Resources Board tells Reuters, is an emphatic “NO.”

CARB spokesman Stanley Young calls the story a “very unfortunate case of misinformation from the blogosphere” stemming from proposed draft regulations that have since been put on the back burner by the agency.  But even those draft regulations, he says, never contemplated a ban on black cars.

Young says the report being circulated on the Internet was released in February as the board mulled over proposals for reducing greenhouse emissions from vehicles, including one that automakers make their cars more reflective — with the goal of reducing the amount of air conditioning used by drivers and passengers and, in turn, the amount of fuel consumed and greenhouse gases produced.

He says the draft regulations would have required a more reflective glazing on car windows and paints with a higher “reflectivity.” But he adds, flatly:  “This regulation did not propose banning or restricting any colors.”

“We wanted to see if the principle of reflective paints, which are now used on homes and buildings, could be applied to cars,” Young says. “We did some extensive research and examined all the possibilities and in the end we discovered that darker colors presented a problem.  And because at this point we didn’t have a solution that was cost-effective and technologically feasible, in this round we’ve decided to focus instead on the windows. We’ll address paints down the road.”

Young says the board may bring back car paint proposals in the next few years, perhaps when technology improves.

What bailout? Automakers lay out green future at L.A. show

 The car is king in Southern California, so what better place for stressed out auto executives to blow off some steam and take a break from their considerable recent troubles?

That’s exactly what they did this week at the Los Angeles auto show, where many car manufacturers laid out plans for electric, fuel cell and diesel cars that they say are key to reviving the ailing industry.

Volkswagen’s clean diesel Jetta TDI made the biggest splash, taking home the coveted “Green Car of the Year” award. It was the first time a diesel car has taken home the industry’s top environmental prize.

“It’s no longer an option for automakers to address the efficiency and environmental impact of new models – it’s an imperative,” Ron Cogan, editor of Green Car Journal, the trade magazine that awards the “Green Car of they Year” prize, said at the show. “It’s easy and justifiable to point the finger at the auto industry, but it’s also time for us to take responsibility for the choices we make as consumers.”

Among the other clean, green cars on display at the show were BMW’s all-electric Mini E, General Motors’ plug-in Chevrolet Volt and Hyundai’s Sonata hybrid sedan.

Which one is your favorite?