I don't think that will go away. The expertise for autos is here, and hopefully it will stay here. Two new plants are being built in Lansing to replace aging facilities, and others in the state have been updated with key investments. It didn't have to be that way. The days when GM could command a large chunk of the market, simply because of who it was, are long gone.
Competition is more fierce than ever and potentially deadly.
Without adroit management, Michigan's largest corporation could have stumbled badly. Smith pulled off the feat by a combination of personality and style, says David E. Cole, director of the Environmental Research Institute of Michigan's Center for Automotive Research and a lifelong GM watcher. Rather than sitting on a high throne and trying to dictate change, he rallied a team to accomplish it. That's really been his role. But one of the great attributes of a good coach is the ability to empower people, and Jack has that ability.