GM CEO Resigns

General Motors CEO Rick Wagoner has resigned on the eve of an expected announcement that the federal government would approve another hefty helping of aid to the once mighty automaker. The New York Times reports that his resignation was part of the deal for further funding:

Mr. Wagoner, who has served as G.M.’s top executive since 2000, agreed to step down after it was requested by the president’s auto task force.

No such deal is being required of Chrysler:

Like Chrysler, G.M. submitted a restructuring plan in February, which called for cutting 47,000 jobs worldwide and drastically shrinking the company’s models, brands and dealers.
But people close to the auto task force said some members considered the plan inadequate to transform G.M. into a profitable enterprise.

In advance of the report from Obama’s auto industry task force, I can identify one significant difference between the Chrysler and GM plans. GM is counting on the industry selling 10.5 million cars in the U.S. this year, while Chrysler says it can make it if only 9.1 million cars are sold. So far this year, the Chrysler benchmark seems more realistic.