Tuning Truck

Even in Turmoil, Automakers Cannot Afford to Ignore Environmental Concerns

So Rick Wagoner's gone - or will be as soon as an official announcement of his widely reported resignation as GM's chairman can be cobbled together.

Rick Wagoner is expected to resign as GM chairman at White House's behest.

He took one for the team as politicians in Washington demanded blood in return for an increased effort to save General Motors Corp. from years of missteps, and, worse, no steps at all.

Wagoner is generally considered to have been one of the best and brightest to sit at General Motors' helm in the post WW II years and however sad that may be, we don't disagree.

But he suffered from a case of the GM ego that has blinded so many of the company's top executives, and that was compounded by the fact that he was piloting a behemoth that required early and decisive action to effect a change pf course, and he was loathe to slam on the brakes and crank the wheel hard.

Wagoner - as have many in Detroit - finally recognized that change was coming, that political and social pressures were building and that the auto industry needed to begin responding to growing demand for cleaner, greener vehicles if it was to remain competitive.

But, like too many in Detroit, Wagoner's epiphany came too late and he didn't underestimated the speed at which his company was entering that 180-degree turn.

Still, he might have made it but for the economic collapse that has thrown much of American commerce into a sideways skid.

It was on Wagoner's watch, after all, that GM admitted it had made bone-headed mistakes in killing the EV1 electric car and in not moving quickly to developing hybrid gas-electric technology, thereby ceding that segment of the market (and the adherent reputation for greenness) to the Japanese for nearly a decade.

It was Wagoner's team, too, that came up the Volt, which has the potential to vault GM back into the green game as a leader - if the company can survive its other ills and emerge from the economic crunch in any sort of fighting shape.

Reams and volumes will be written in coming days and weeks about Wagoner, his faults and failings, contributions and conquests.

Our contribution is to comment that, on green issues, he had the stuff to compete and the vision to see that wholesale change was needed but was too infected by the 'GM knows best' virus to see that the change needed to be made now, not later.

Wagoner's replacement is likely to be named Monday - nature, government and corporate analysts all abhor a vacuum - and a lot of money is riding on former chief financial officer Fritz Henderson, who just recently was named president and chief operating officer in what was widely believed to have been an anointing as heir apparent.

So the chairman is (figuratively) dead, and long live the new chairman.

And may he learn from his predecessor that all the greatness that once was GM means little in today's rapidly changing and incredibly challenging world.

We're not convinced that either Congress or the White House can fix things either, and hope the auto industry "rescue" plan to be announced Monday by President Obama will leave room for ongoing participation by people who actually know something about the industry.

One thing we are sure of, however, is that the green agenda is going to continue to be pushed, and pushed hard, whoever is running the show.

Washington wants it, a growing number of people want it and Detroit - however reluctantly - has seen and understands that like it or not, fuel efficiency, reduced emissions and, finally vehicles that offer freedom from oil is now a critical ingredient in the recipe for success.