Barack Obama gets surprisingly tough with Detroit
Having just watched Barack Obama’s televised remarks about GM and Chrysler, the most striking thing was that, after a gentle start praising the historic strengths of the industry and its place at the heart of the US economy, he got remarkably tough.
First, the president said openly that they might have to go into Chapter 11 bankruptcy to meet a 60-day deadline for restructuring, in the case of GM, and 30-day deadline, in the case of Chrysler: Read more
Fritz Henderson’s 50-50 chance of keeping his job
The departure of Rick Wagoner as chief executive of General Motors was inevitable once Barack Obama’s auto taskforce had concluded that it did not believe the restructuring plan GM had submitted in an effort to gain billions more in government support.
The question is whether Fritz Henderson, who is a GM lifer like Mr Wagoner, has enough credibility to retain his post as Mr Wagoner’s successor for long. Read more
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John Gapper is an associate editor and the chief business commentator of the FT.
He has worked for the FT since 1987, covering labour relations, banking and the media. He is co-author, with Nicholas Denton, of 'All That Glitters', an account of the collapse of Barings in 1995.
Andrew Hill is an associate editor and the management editor of the FT. He is a former City editor, financial editor, comment and analysis editor, New York bureau chief, foreign news editor and correspondent in Brussels and Milan.
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