MIT World has uploaded a one-hour video of General Motors CEO Rick Wagoner speaking about leadership in the automotive industry:

“Rick Wagoner’s outlook is optimistic, in spite of the bumpy road General Motors has traveled recently. With MIT Sloan Dean Emeritus Glen Urban, he discusses GM’s aggressive recovery plans in response to $10 billion in losses last year, and his determination to regain the public’s trust and confidence in GM cars. Wagoner sees new global competition creating both challenges and opportunities. India and China have opened up markets “that this industry hasn’t seen … since the 1930s, ‘40s and ‘50s.”

Wagoner also discusses GM’s massive “legacy” costs as well as the company’s bold new China strategy:

“After cutting thousands of jobs and negotiating with unions, GM will look “to grow in the right places.” For instance, the company has a unique partnership with a Shanghai auto corporation, and will soon be supplying 12% of China’s cars. In an aside, Wagoner mentions that the Chinese “insisted on the Buick brand” — the last emperor drove a Buick, so it’s got a “good image” over there. This is in sharp contrast to American consumers for whom the Buick name has “become polluted.”

As always, MIT World has provided extensive show notes for the video. Flip forward to the 15-minute mark, to hear Wagoner describe the competitive threat from Asia (both Japan and China), and to the 30-minute mark, to hear Wagoner analyze the upside and downside of new hybrid technologies within the automotive sector.

[image: Rick Wagoner]