General Motors' Rick Wagoner to Deliver Keynote Address to Open Los Angeles Auto Show Press Days

LOS ANGELES, PRNewswire/ -- One of the most commanding executives in the automotive industry, Rick Wagoner, chairman and chief executive officer for General Motors Corp., will deliver the Motor Press Guild (MPG) keynote address at the Los Angeles Auto Show on November 29, 2006. The MPG breakfast and Wagoner's address will be open to all credentialed press days attendees.

Wagoner has been a driving force behind General Motors' turnaround plan in the past year, reducing costs and rolling out new products worldwide. He is expected to address the ongoing challenges and opportunities facing GM and other automakers in the 21st Century global auto industry, particularly in terms of design, fuel economy, alternative technologies, changing consumer tastes and emerging growth markets.

"We're very excited Rick Wagoner is going to speak at the MPG breakfast," said Mitch McCullough, president of the Motor Press Guild. "These are challenging and exciting times for General Motors, so this will be a great opportunity for media attending the LA Auto Show to hear from the leader of the world's biggest car company."

Wagoner began his distinguished career with General Motors in 1977 as an analyst in the Treasurer's Office based in New York. Since that time, he has traveled the globe, heading up GM's Finance divisions in Canada, Switzerland and Brazil. From 1991 to 1992, Wagoner served as president and managing director of GM's subsidiary in Brazil. In 1992, he returned to the United States and assumed the position of executive vice president and chief financial officer for the corporation.

After a series of additional opportunities at the corporate and North American levels, Wagoner was elected president and chief operating officer of the company in 1998, and in June 2000 he added the title of chief executive officer. In May 2003, Wagoner was elected General Motors' chairman and chief executive officer.

The choice of Wagoner as the MPG keynote speaker comes at an important time for the LA Auto Show. This year's theme is "A New Beginning," a reflection of the LA Auto Show's increased national and international statures due to its earlier dates in the auto show season. The new dates have fostered a significant increase in the number of production and concept vehicle world debuts planned by the world's automakers and it resolves a 25-year-old timing conflict with the auto show in Detroit.

The dates, November 29-30, 2006 for press and December 1-10, 2006 for the public, give the show its own time period on the international auto show calendar. The LA Auto Show is also now recognized on an international basis by the Organisation Internationale des Constructeurs d'Automobiles (OICA), the Paris-based alliance of automobile industry federations.

This will be the seventh year that the MPG breakfast has opened the LA Auto Show press days. MPG is comprised of approximately 800 automotive journalists and public relations professionals nationwide, making it the largest automotive press associations in the country.