rick wagoner

This is a difficult but necessary decision, and it was made only after the greatest deliberation. A number of other U.S. companies have already taken similar action in the face of these rising costs and increasing global competition. In particular, U.S. health-care costs continue to rise at high rates. When these benefits were conceived decades ago, no one could have foreseen the explosive cost inflation that we have been experiencing in recent years. These costs are simply not sustainable.

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I want to be clear I'm not saying we expect the government to pick these expenses up. I think they've made it very clear they don't intend to do that, at least the current administration.

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This agreement is another important milestone in the turnaround of General Motors.

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Whoever is ahead in this area can get a big advantage versus the other guys. Just being big isn't enough. We really want to pick up the pace in everything we do in the company.

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As we sit here today, it's our best guess and well thought out analysis, ... If we've learned anything in the last five years, it's that there's no guarantees in this business or any other business.

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I don't think having me do both the jobs, the corporate job and the North American job, is the right long-term answer. But I think while we're in the midst of the turnaround, the value of the shortened lines of communication speaks for itself. And so we're going to stick with it for a while longer.

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All of our business units except GM North America are on or above track, and that has the extreme attention of us all. Progress is moving in the right direction ... but we still have more work to do.

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Generally, cars were not built to sit on dealer lots. It encourages the wrong kind of behavior in the whole system.

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We have decided to substantially alter the pension benefits for current U.S. salaried employees so that we can provide a competitive and fair benefit but also reduce the financial risks to GM.

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If I look at our priority list on the things we need to do to get cost-competitive, wage rates are nowhere near the top for us. We have a far greater burden in legacy costs, in flexibility of using our work force, in jobs banks than we do in wage rates.

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It was a year in which two significant fundamental weaknesses in our North American operations were fully exposed - our huge legacy cost burden and our inability to adjust structural costs in line with revenue.

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Today we are announcing a significant update on our plan to address our health-care burden, which is the cornerstone of our efforts to reduce structural costs by a 5 billion (US) run rate by the end next year.

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One of our biggest challenges is our lack of cost-competitiveness in the United States, which is due to our legacy costs, especially the ever-increasing burden of high health-care expenses, ... Addressing this challenge in a fair and equitable way requires close work with our union partners, in addition to our ongoing work with government and health-care providers. Gary is the ideal person to do this.

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Our relationship is strong, and we look forward to our continued partnership. This transaction will allow us to preserve our business relationship, while further building up GM's already significant liquidity position during this critical phase of our turnaround.

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As we look at the responsibilities we have to a broad range of constituents, as we look at what we need to do to make the business successful, as we look at our businesses around the world, we think there are significant costs to bankruptcy. We don't think it's a good option.

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To make this happen, we need to bring down costs and build the necessary infrastructure -- and the best way to do that is by business and government working together.

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We are viewing the U.S. economic and auto market environment with considerable caution, ... That, combined with our poor business results in the first three quarters this year, really highlight that we are at a critical juncture in our company's history. And so we are accelerating the pace and scope of our turnaround actions.

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We believe by being sensitive to the balancing act these women face each day, we're increasing their commitment to General Motors. It's not only the right thing to do, it's also good business for GM and helps us retain the brightest, most capable workers.

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The good news is, we know what we need to do to be successful in the business. What we need to do is get products that people are excited about and price them the right way, supported by the right kind of cost structure, and I think in that sense it's moving pretty good.

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I've given no thought to anything but turning the business around, ... I wasn't brought up to run and hide when things get tough. I'm convinced that's the way that things get righted.

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I have given no thought to anything but turning the business around, ... I wasn't brought up to run and hide when things get tough.

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Jerry brings years of business experience and knowledge of the automotive industry to the GM board. We are pleased to welcome him to our Board.

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While our 'pay-for-performance' executive compensation system is already structured to significantly reduce total compensation when our business performance and stock price are underperforming, we all agreed that this is the right step to take at this time.

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This transaction will allow us to preserve our business relationship, while further building up GM's already significant liquidity position during this critical phase of our turnaround.

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If you look from 1992 to 1997, we've really reduced the number of car models from more than 100 to about 81. Our strategy is to have the right number of products. Segment the brands better. There's a lot of work being done on the distribution side of the business. And the data's showing that our new products are doing a very decent job in the market.

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