Hogan out....Bernhard in?
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Hogan out....Bernhard in?
From TCC:
Businessweek.com reported Wednesday night that General Motors group vice president for advance product development Mark Hogan will soon leave the automaker to become CEO/President of auto supplier and specialty manufacturer Magna International.
Former CEO Belinda Stronach resigned Magna last January to pursue the leadership post of the Conservative Party inCanada.
Hogan was on vacation this week and couldn't be reached for comment, reported BusinessWeek. A GM spokesman had no comment on the report.
Hogan, 53, has been in the product development job since 2002. A close friend of chairman and CEO Rick Wagoner Jr., Hogan nonetheless has been overshadowed by vice chairman and product boss Bob Lutz. He has been widely viewed as one of three candidates to replace Lutz, 73, when the elder statesman of the auto industry decided to retire. But he has had few supporters inside GM for that job other than Wagoner.
The departure of Hogan may open the door a bit wider for Lutz to convince Wagoner to hire ousted Chrysler chief operating officer Wolfgang Bernhard to a post that would absorb Hogan's duties and position the German executive to succeed Lutz as product boss. Bernhard has more bona fides for the difficult task of succeeding Lutz than any of the inside candidates, including Hogan, GM performance group head Mark Reuss and engineering chief Jim Queen.
Lutz, say sources, has been trying to convince Wagoner to hire Bernhard before another automaker does. Bernhard, 43, has reportedly been courted by Volkswagen to take over management of the Volkswagen-Skoda-Bentley brand group.
Bernhard was ousted from DaimlerChrysler before he could take over the job of running the Mercedes-Benz division last May, because his confrontational style clashed with outgoing Mercedes chief Juergen Hubbert and the German works council. Bernhard, a relentless cost-cutter at Chrysler and architect of the company's now-emerging new-product scheme, felt Mercedes needed an overhaul as well. Hubbert disagreed and used his influence to oust Bernhard. Bernhard lost chairman Juergen Schrempp as a supporter when he voted against Schrempp's plan last spring to pump billions of new capital into Mitsubishi Motors.
Hogan, an affable and capable executive, has nonetheless had two thankless jobs in the past five years, working in the shadow of Lutz, and before that running GM's Internet operations. Prior to that, he was president of GM's Brazil unit. He has also been general manager for the GM North America Car Group, Small Car Operations. Hogan began his GM career in 1973 as a factory analyst with the Electro-Motive Division in Chicago. He was appointed to the GM Financial Staff in Detroit in 1977, where he served in several analytical and supervisory positions. And in 1981, Hogan was promoted to senior administrator for forward business planning at the former Fisher Body Division. He rejoined the Material, Labor and Forecast section of the Comptroller's Staff. He was later named director of the Treasurer's Office in Detroit. -Jim Burt
Businessweek.com reported Wednesday night that General Motors group vice president for advance product development Mark Hogan will soon leave the automaker to become CEO/President of auto supplier and specialty manufacturer Magna International.
Former CEO Belinda Stronach resigned Magna last January to pursue the leadership post of the Conservative Party inCanada.
Hogan was on vacation this week and couldn't be reached for comment, reported BusinessWeek. A GM spokesman had no comment on the report.
Hogan, 53, has been in the product development job since 2002. A close friend of chairman and CEO Rick Wagoner Jr., Hogan nonetheless has been overshadowed by vice chairman and product boss Bob Lutz. He has been widely viewed as one of three candidates to replace Lutz, 73, when the elder statesman of the auto industry decided to retire. But he has had few supporters inside GM for that job other than Wagoner.
The departure of Hogan may open the door a bit wider for Lutz to convince Wagoner to hire ousted Chrysler chief operating officer Wolfgang Bernhard to a post that would absorb Hogan's duties and position the German executive to succeed Lutz as product boss. Bernhard has more bona fides for the difficult task of succeeding Lutz than any of the inside candidates, including Hogan, GM performance group head Mark Reuss and engineering chief Jim Queen.
Lutz, say sources, has been trying to convince Wagoner to hire Bernhard before another automaker does. Bernhard, 43, has reportedly been courted by Volkswagen to take over management of the Volkswagen-Skoda-Bentley brand group.
Bernhard was ousted from DaimlerChrysler before he could take over the job of running the Mercedes-Benz division last May, because his confrontational style clashed with outgoing Mercedes chief Juergen Hubbert and the German works council. Bernhard, a relentless cost-cutter at Chrysler and architect of the company's now-emerging new-product scheme, felt Mercedes needed an overhaul as well. Hubbert disagreed and used his influence to oust Bernhard. Bernhard lost chairman Juergen Schrempp as a supporter when he voted against Schrempp's plan last spring to pump billions of new capital into Mitsubishi Motors.
Hogan, an affable and capable executive, has nonetheless had two thankless jobs in the past five years, working in the shadow of Lutz, and before that running GM's Internet operations. Prior to that, he was president of GM's Brazil unit. He has also been general manager for the GM North America Car Group, Small Car Operations. Hogan began his GM career in 1973 as a factory analyst with the Electro-Motive Division in Chicago. He was appointed to the GM Financial Staff in Detroit in 1977, where he served in several analytical and supervisory positions. And in 1981, Hogan was promoted to senior administrator for forward business planning at the former Fisher Body Division. He rejoined the Material, Labor and Forecast section of the Comptroller's Staff. He was later named director of the Treasurer's Office in Detroit. -Jim Burt
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Re: Hogan out....Bernhard in?
That might actually be a good idea hiring Wolfgang Bernhard to succeed Bob Lutz, despite Bernhard's somewhat questionable style of management. But I can also see problems as well.
GM really needs a product chairman that can bulldoze through GM's BS approval process that takes a vehicle that could be developed in 2 years and streaches it to 4 or more because of the multiple hoops it has to jump through compared with the rest of the industry.
On the flip side, I can see his style rubbing turf barrons at GM the wrong way, and turning against him.
Lutz is fantastic as product boss IMO partially because of his age, experience, and reputation, and partially because he's in the business because he actually lives & brethes automobiles and doesn't need the money (he was born into it & has saved up more than some small nations over his career).
Wolfgang Bernhard will most certainly be as colorful as Lutz (he endeared himself with the press by taking a group of them around the NAIAS and giving critiques on the competition's concepts). I just wonder if his style might provoke some people at GM to work against him, dooming products that he champions.
GM really needs a product chairman that can bulldoze through GM's BS approval process that takes a vehicle that could be developed in 2 years and streaches it to 4 or more because of the multiple hoops it has to jump through compared with the rest of the industry.
On the flip side, I can see his style rubbing turf barrons at GM the wrong way, and turning against him.
Lutz is fantastic as product boss IMO partially because of his age, experience, and reputation, and partially because he's in the business because he actually lives & brethes automobiles and doesn't need the money (he was born into it & has saved up more than some small nations over his career).
Wolfgang Bernhard will most certainly be as colorful as Lutz (he endeared himself with the press by taking a group of them around the NAIAS and giving critiques on the competition's concepts). I just wonder if his style might provoke some people at GM to work against him, dooming products that he champions.
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Re: Hogan out....Bernhard in?
Originally Posted by guionM
...GM really needs a product chairman that can bulldoze through GM's BS approval process that takes a vehicle that could be developed in 2 years and streaches it to 4 or more because of the multiple hoops it has to jump through compared with the rest of the industry...
I've got experience getting projects through bureaucratic management with an almost perfect success rate. 