Face value: Mr Detroit

The survival of Rick Wagoner of General Motors hangs in the balance, like that of the industry he embodies IN THE end neither Congress nor the outgoing Bush administration had the stomach to allow two of Detroit’s Big Three carmakers to collapse into bankruptcy before Christmas. But getting the $15 billion-worth of loans which will keep General Motors (GM) and Chrysler going until March—Ford is, for now, carrying on under its own steam—has been a bruising, at times humiliating, experience for the bosses of the beleaguered firms, especially Rick Wagoner, the chairman and chief executive of GM. Not even the most trenchant critic could level much of the blame for Detroit’s deep-seated ills on Chrysler’s Bob Nardelli or Ford’s Alan Mulally, who have less than four years’ experience of the car industry between them. Both were hired to bring fresh eyes and a new approach to dealing with the industry’s woes. By contrast, 55-year-old Mr Wagoner has been at GM ... (link)