GM giant steered automaker through turbulent '80s

[6 Shooter]

Roger B. Smith, the risk-taking leader of General Motors Corp. through some of its darkest years in the 1980s, ushered in momentous change but was later faulted for failing to take sufficient measures to stem the giant automaker's decline.

Smith died Thursday following a brief illness. He was 82.

As GM chairman and chief executive officer from 1981-90, Smith, who spent most of his life in Metro Detroit, championed the ideas of globalization and automation that are now widely embraced by the global auto industry.

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[vett boy]

Intreasting reading. RIP

[catbert]

May he rest in peace. He did what he thought was the right thing to do at GM, but at the end of the day he was at the helm during the dreariest of GMs days. Think about the GM cars of the day, the heyday of badge engineering.