Whitacre to Be GM CEO

Ed Whitacre Jr. will be named permanent CEO of General Motors today, a source tells the AP, after serving as interim CEO since Fritz Henderson was dumped Dec. 1. At a news conference for this morning, Whitacre is expected to say he's been offered the job, after a global search for a successor. A former CEO of AT&T, the 68-year-old Texan likes to say he knows little about cars, but he's been quick to shake up top management.

Whitacre has moved to spur the plodding culture of GM, where decision by committee, an isolated upper management and fear of risk produced mediocre cars for years. He wants to increase GM's sales and market share while shifting the company's focus to cars from trucks. And he aims to repay $8.1 billion in US and Canadian government loans by the end of June. (More Ed Whitacre Jr. stories.)