Edward E. Whitacre Jr., the newly anointed chairman of General Motors Corp., isn't exactly what you'd call a car guy.
The blunt-talking Texan spent his entire professional career in the telecommunications business, where he turned a small regional phone company into the nation's largest carrier, AT&T Inc.
But some who have worked with Whitacre say he possesses qualities that should make up for his lack of auto industry experience.
"It's a brilliant choice," said Roger C. Altman, who was a deputy Treasury secretary in the Clinton administration. "If you know Ed well, you know he's astute, exceedingly practical, very decisive and he inspires confidence."
Whitacre also was a familiar figure in the halls of Congress, where he bent the ears of lawmakers over telecom issues.
Whitacre, 67, was named Tuesday as the eventual successor to Kent Kresa, who took control of GM's board when Rick Wagoner, the former chairman and chief executive, was forced out by the Obama administration in late March. Whitacre will assume the role when GM exits Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, which the company hopes to do by early September.
"I am honored to be able to serve GM at this critical juncture and take part in its reinvention," Whitacre said in a statement.
As chairman, Whitacre won't necessarily take a hand in the automaker's day-to-day operations. That task is likely to remain with current Chief Executive Fritz Henderson, the longtime GM executive who succeeded Wagoner as chief.
If anything, Alan Mulally's performance at Ford Motor Co. since taking over as CEO in September 2006 has helped quash the idea that only experienced auto industry types should be running car companies, said Rebecca Lindland, an analyst with consulting firm IHS Global Insight. Mulally was a long-serving executive at aerospace giant Boeing Co. before moving to Ford.
"The old-school thinking is, 'Whitacre doesn't have any automotive experience,' " Lindland said. "But the new-school thinking is, 'Neither did Alan Mulally, and he's done a fantastic job at Ford.' "
Not everyone agrees with that line of thinking. For one thing, Chrysler's decision to tap former Home Depot CEO Robert Nardelli as its chief executive in August 2007 didn't keep that carmaker out of bankruptcy.
In addition, even though Whitacre comes from outside Detroit, he isn't known for emphasizing the kind of consumer-focused thinking that GM desperately needs right now, said Jeremy Anwyl, CEO of automotive website Edmunds.com.
