UPDATE 3-GM CEO Henderson departs in shakeup by board
* GM Chairman Whitacre becomes interim CEO
* Henderson steps down at board's request -source
* Search begins for new CEO; outsider seen likely (Recasts first sentence, adds details of departure, commentsfrom analysts, background)
By David Bailey and Soyoung Kim
DETROIT, Dec 1 (Reuters) - General Motors Co's [GM.UL]chief executive, Fritz Henderson, abruptly resigned on Tuesday,after the company's board decided it wanted to chart a newcourse for the restructuring automaker.
Henderson was asked by the board to step down at a meetingin Detroit after being on the job for just eight months,according to a person with direct knowledge of the matter.
GM Chairman Ed Whitacre, 68, will become interim chiefexecutive as the automaker begins an immediate search for areplacement, the company said.
The announcement of Henderson's sudden departureunderscored the tough oversight being exerted by a slate of newGM directors led by Whitacre and selected by the automaker'smajority shareholder, the U.S. Treasury.
Henderson, 51, became CEO in March after his predecessor,Rick Wagoner, was forced out by the Obama administration aspart of the U.S. government-funded restructuring of GM.
"The board decided -- and Fritz agreed -- that given wherewe are, it was time to make some changes," GM spokesman ChrisPreuss said at a hastily arranged news conference.
Whitacre, a former AT&T (T.N) chief executive, becamechairman of GM in July as part of a new board vetted by theU.S. Treasury and intended to safeguard the government's $50billion investment in the automaker.
The U.S. government has a majority stake in GM, but theObama administration has repeatedly said that it is leavingoversight of the company to Whitacre and the board.
"This decision was made by the board of directors alone.The administration was not involved in the decision," a WhiteHouse spokeswoman said.
WHO'S NEXT?
Whitacre, who became the public face of GM in its first adcampaign after bankruptcy, appeared briefly before reporters atGM's headquarters in Detroit but did not take questions on whythe board had chosen to part ways with Henderson.
Whitacre said Henderson, who helped GM through its Julybankruptcy, had "done a remarkable job in leading the companythrough an unprecedented period of challenge and change."
"While momentum has been building over the past severalmonths, all involved agree that changes needed to be made,"Whitacre said.
Whitacre, a plain-spoken Texan who said he knew nothingabout the auto industry when he became GM chairman, hassurprised GM insiders by making unannounced plant visits andputting blunt questions to workers at all levels.
With his move to become GM's interim CEO, all three U.S.automakers are now headed by outsiders to Detroit.
Ford Motor Co (F.N) CEO Alan Mulally left Boeing Co (BA.N)in 2006. Chrysler is now run by Fiat SpA (FIA.MI) CEO SergioMarchionne.
Whitacre has complained that pay restrictions imposed on GMhave made it hard to hire external talent, but the board willlikely look for an outsider who can better sell the vision of arevived GM, analysts and industry executives said.
"Whitacre wants an outside CEO. He's looking for anotherAlan Mulally," said Logan Robinson, a longtime auto industryexecutive and professor at the University of Detroit MercySchool of Law.
Henderson, a career GM executive, had vowed when he becameCEO to reform the slow-moving culture that contributed to theautomaker's collapse.
But GM's faltering efforts to sell off its laggard brandsdominated Henderson's short tenure and tarnished his reputationas a dealmaker and raised questions about the company'sstrategy.
First, Detroit-based dealership group Penske AutomotiveGroup (PAG.N) pulled out of a deal that would have had itacquire GM's Saturn brand in late September.
Then last month, GM's board shifted course on a plannedsale of the company's European Opel unit, rejecting a deal thatHenderson had backed and helped broker.
In the most recent setback, Swedish luxury car builderKoenigsegg dropped a planned acquisition of GM's Saab brand.
Last month, in statements that some read as an implicitrebuke of Henderson, Whitacre seemed to question the aggressivetimetable for an initial public offering of GM stock that hadbeen outlined by Henderson.
"At the end of the day, it seems a little bit inevitable,"said David Bitterman, managing director at Huron Consulting."Obviously, Whitacre and Fritz didn't envision the new GM inthe same way."
GM's board said on Tuesday it would consider otherpotential deals to sell Saab over the next month but wind downits operations if it concluded that none could be reached. (Reporting by David Bailey, writing by Kevin Krolicki; editingby Patrick Fitzgibbons and Matthew Lewis) ((kevin.krolicki@thomsonreuters.com; + 1 313 300-7272))
Source: Reuters
