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Upon the request of the government, General Motors CEO Rick Wagoner is stepping down as an added stipulation for the government aid that U.S. President Barack Obama will be shelling out. Wagoner, 56, who spent 32 years with GM working all over the world, stepped down effective immediately, the company said in a statement early Monday. He was replaced as CEO by Fritz Henderson, the company’s vice chairman and chief operating officer.

GM board member Kent Kresa, a former chairman and CEO of Northrop Grumman Corp., was named interim chairman and said new directors will make up the majority of GM’s board when a new slate is nominated for election at the company’s annual meeting in August.

The management shake-up, according to several industry analysts, shows that the administration is serious about forcing GM to change more quickly and dramatically than it did during Wagoner’s nearly nine-year tenure as CEO.

While ousting Wagoner, the Obama administration made no management changes at Chrysler LLC, which also is getting government loans. Chairman and CEO Robert Nardelli has only been in charge there since August 2007.

(Source) Press