GM boss ‘defects’ to Russia
June 16, 2009 by David Twomey
Bo Andersson, who resigned as General Motors’ purchasing chief on Friday, has agreed to become chairman of Russian carmaker GAZ.
GAZ, Russia’s second-largest automaker, said shareholders would request a special meeting to add Mr Andersson’s name to list of board candidates to be elected at a June 29 annual meeting.
The move will put Mr Andersson, 53, in a position to revive GM’s Opel unit. GAZ, along with Russia’s largest lender, Sberbank, and Canadian auto-parts supplier Magna International, is in line to buy Opel as GM sheds assets in bankruptcy. GAZ is controlled by businessman Oleg Deripaska.
Russia hopes that with GAZ as industrial partner, the deal will tap Opel’s expertise to provide a chance of a technical breakthrough for its ailing car industry.
Mr Andersson is currently a consultant for the GAZ board and an adviser on car building to Deripaska.
“The ex-vice president of GM, Bo Andersson, has expressed his agreement to take the post of the chairman of the board of directors,” GAZ said in a statement.
“There were preliminary discussions with him about the possibility of his election as the head of the board of directors, and the shareholders hope that his candidature will be elected.”
After his sudden departure from GM “to pursue other career interests,” Mr Andersson was quoted by a Swedish news agency on Friday saying he had a new job as CEO at a company he did not name.
Mr Andersson had been GM’s group vice president for purchasing and supply chain since 2001. He was instrumental in cutting $2 billion annually from the automaker’s parts bill.
He spent more than two decades at GM after earlier posts at Saab. GM took its initial stake in the Swedish automaker in 1989 and is now trying to sell it. A buyer is expected to be named this week.
More recently, Mr Andersson worked with the US Treasury to help stabilize the supply base through a federal payment program that provided credit to suppliers.
Print it: 
Goodbye, Mr Andersson
He can still support his cocaine, GulfStream and handy women/boys from Russia. The Havana’s may not be as satisfying.
Poor GAZ…forests and trees.
Um, Will, what you have written here is liable at least and disgusting at best. I am totaly amazed that Caradvise let it past. What proof do you have to back your comments on Bo Anderson? Hopefully you are banned and your comments are seen for the disgusting filth that they are.
RUSSIA STRONG
IN SOVIET RUSSIA WE GIVE NO FARK FOR GENERALS MOTOR
Road Warrior – Gold!
Eh Driver – Relax!
Somewhat I just mistaken the number plate on that car picture as ‘Borat’…
I agree, Attacks on personal life of someone is not tasteful unless proven otherwise. But its just a spiteful comment thats all…
Maybe he could introduce GAZ to electric starter motors and do away with crank handles and decompression levers.
Nothing worse than discovering you left crank handle at home after driving two hours through 1m of snow to get to shop 20k’s away to buy some coal, vodka and cigarettes.
I think the rego plate on that car says “Volga”, its a river that runs through that country and a brand of car that has been around for decades over there.
I don’t know anything about the mechanics of the GAZ cars, but for opperation in extreame environments compressed air can be less likely to fail in extreame cold (-50 C) than electric starter motors, and I wouldn’t mind having the back up of a crank handle if I was living in outback Siberia.
Why would you leave the crank handle outside of the car, we used to keep the landies’ crank handle next to the drivers seat on some clips so you could replace it after use before driving off.
DGS – looks like the plate says Boata,suits it,it looks like a boat.Is it true that in Russian Boata means Toyota???
I think the plate says Vulgar.
Is banishment to Russia the West’s eqivalent of Russia sending people to Siberia?
Wonder what the Russkies will do to the Opel brand. It’s far too advanced for them.
WE are talking the second pic right???
Yes DGS,
The name plate says VOLGA, an old name plate for GAZ.
Crank Handle is a good back, when your on your own, and found out that your battery have gone flat!!
I mean, a crank handle is a better alternative to freezing to death with your thumb stuck up your @rse!!
Too bad most western 4wds don’t have the feature anymore!!
It is easy to knock Russian cars, most of them are pretty much reskined 1970’s tech. This in itself is actually one of their strengths (build and matirials quality on the other hand isn’t)
Cars like the Volga pictuerd maybe just a facelifted 30 year old model, but any backyard mechanic can tune or fix them. The rear wheel drive set up with 1960’s sedan ground clearance make this sort of car well suited to a country where the country roads are a bit rough (to put it mildly)
For the same concept to be exicuted with the Quality and a bit of tech of Opel would give Russian cars a boost of relevence in Russia and developing countries (export markets) where conditions are simular.
Love the immature and downright offensive comments on Russia here.
F*uckheads.
Yes, Russia should not have offensive comments directed at it.
How many did Stalin kill? 20 million? 30, 40 ?
They’re still at it in Chechnya.
Russia, the place to be……..
Reckless1,
Please don’t talk about things you don’t understand!!
Besides Stalin was a single man, who was not Russian, but georgian!!
Reckless1 so we should stop buying BMW’s, Mercedes, Audis and Porches because the German’s slaughtered a few million people 60 something years ago? I don’t think so. As somebody said above, its not the people, its the idiots up the top controlling the people. Germany is now a very peacfull nation largely made up of people who are total apposed to anything to do with war.
I have spent a bit of time in Russia and yes it is largely dirt poor, yes it does have a lot of problems but at least they are trying hard to recover from 80 years of communist rule.
A Russian told me a good joke a few years ago. Why do the build Lada’s with heated rear windows? So comrade has warm hands while pushing Lada. When it is minus 45 and you are in 9 foot of snow you will laugh at anything!
Haha, we would be stuck with pommie and yankee cars…can’t buy jap, korean, german, russian, ….. don’t mention the war(s) but remember the Aussie gov’t supported Pol Pot while he was harvesting people…
No, my point was merely to refute the stupid comment by Tim