Frederick (Fritz) Henderson, president and chief executive officer of General Motors,will kick off the Los Angeles Auto Show.
Henderson was elected GM president and chief executive officer in March 2009. Prior to that, he had been GM president and chief operating officer since March 2008. He was vice chairman and chief financial officer from January 2006 to March 2008.
“Mr. Henderson is one of the most influential automotive executives in the world, at a critical time in the history of the transportation industry,” said Matt Stone, MPG keynote address committee chairman and executive editor of Motor Trend. “Expect to hear his vision of what the car business, and a reborn GM, has in store as we near 2010.”
Henderson started his career at GM as a senior analyst in 1984 and was promoted to several positions of increasing responsibility before becoming GMAC group vice president of finance in Detroit in 1992. He went on to serve as president of GM Latin America, Africa and Middle East, president of GM Asia Pacific, and chairman of GM Europe.
The 2009 Los Angeles Auto Show will be held in the winter for the fourth consecutive year. The dates are Dec. 4-13 for the public.
The Los Angeles Auto Show has been growing in stature as an international auto show since it changed its dates. This year, the Organisation Internationale des Constructeurs d’Automobiles (OICA), the world automobile trade association, has officially named the Los Angeles Auto Show as one of its sanctioned international exhibitions.