Interim Chief Executive Officer, Marelli Holdings
Search every verified Frederick Henderson interview, podcast appearance, and on-the-record quote — each transcript cross-checked by AI and human review to confirm speaker identity. In a June 2009 interview with GM-Volt.com, Frederick Henderson, then CEO of General Motors, discussed the factors that led to the company's financial difficulties. He attributed the situation to a combination of a weak balance sheet, business fragilities, and a global market decline through 2008. Henderson stated that the company had made mistakes and noted that legacy costs, such as $3 billion per year in retiree expenses, were a significant factor. Henderson also outlined GM's strategy for recovery, stating that the company had developed a plan to lower its break-even point to roughly 10 million units in US industry sales. Regarding the Chevrolet Volt, he identified cost as the primary challenge for the first-generation vehicle, citing the expense of the battery and battery pack, as well as uncertainty about warranty experience. He noted that GM had teams working on second and third-generation versions in parallel to reduce costs. Henderson expressed confidence in GM's ability to produce more than the projected 10,000 units, but said demand would determine the actual volume.
“The combination of the weak balance sheet, the fragilities we had in our business, and then a market which basically plummeted in a hurry through 2008 and not just here in the US but globally basically exposed those weaknesses and brought us to where we are today.”
“We have actually developed a plan which is intended to bring our break even point down to a roughly level sales of about 10 million units in the US as an industry. So we significantly lowered the risk of the business, we've significantly lowered the break even of the business such that if the market stays extremely wea...”
Dr. Lyle Dennis, founder of GM-Volt.com, interviews Fritz Henderson CEO of General Motors in early June 2009 days after GM ...
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