A federal appointee overseeing emergency federal aid should have a banking background and not narrow expertise in the auto or manufacturing sectors, management and industry experts said.
The so-called “car czar” should have the disposition, good judgment and negotiating skills of a banker to extract transformational cuts from automakers and enforce conditions that will ensure the companies become profitable and repay up to $15 billion in taxpayer-funded aid, experts said. The car czar also should have enough power to cut off funding if Detroit’s Big Three automakers fail to implement the changes fast enough.
The reaction came as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., gave automakers some indication Tuesday she favors a “car czar” with a banking background. She suggested Paul Volcker, a former Federal Reserve chairman and now an economic adviser to President-elect Barack Obama, would be a good choice. She also said Monday that she wouldn’t want to see former General Electric Co. Chairman Jack Welch in the job.
Other names that have surfaced in recent days include billionaire auto racing legend and Detroit-area industrialist Roger Penske, who was unavailable for comment. Another name that has been mentioned is Kenneth Feinberg, an attorney who oversaw the Sept. 11 victims’ compensation fund, but it is largely unknown how his name surfaced. U.S. Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass. has said that he thinks that the media “made that up.”
Finance is the most important skill any car czar should possess but the person also should be well-versed in product development and manufacturing—a rare combination, said George Peterson, president of industry consultant AutoPacific Inc. in Tustin, Calif. Potential candidates should also be versed in navigating Capitol Hill, he said.
“Man, I don’t know a soul who would be good at that,” he said, though he acknowledged Penske and Nissan Motor Co. CEO Carlos Ghosn would be good choices.
Detroit’s Big Three automakers have not objected to a car czar appointment. During an interview Tuesday on CBS’s “The Early Show,” GM Vice Chairman Bob Lutz said he could accept the proposal.
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