Ed Whitacre, Former CEO of AT&T, Named New GM Chairman

General Motors Corp. has tapped Ed. Whitacre Jr., former chairman and CEO of AT&T Inc., to become the new chairman of the U.S. automaker once it completes its bankruptcy reorganization, says interim Chairman Kent Kresa.

Kresa will continue to serve as interim chairman until Whitacre takes the helm.

GM says Whitacre and Kresa — along with president and CEO Frederick Henderson and board members Philip Laskawy, Kathryn Marinello, Erroll Davis Jr. and Neville Isdell — will serve as the nucleus of the new GM board.

Believe it or not, the newly appointed chairman of GM, Edward Whitacre, Jr., has zero experience with cars -- and he's okay with that. According to Bloomberg:

"I don't know anything about cars," Whitacre, 67, said yesterday in an interview after his appointment. "A business is a business, and I think I can learn about cars. I'm not that old, and I think the business principles are the same."

Business principles may be universal, but it must come as a shock for some to hear that a key figure in charge of building the new GM is vowing to "learn about cars." GM and Detroit have long been criticized for being out of touch with the latest in automobile design, and for failing to anticipate industry trends.