Turning To A Turnaround Pro

DETROIT — If General Motors were to design a president and chief operating officer from scratch, the new model would probably look a lot like Frederick A. Henderson.

Workers on an assembly line for General Motors in Shandong Province, China. G.M. is trying to gain ground in growing markets like China, South America and Russia.

Born in Detroit and the son of a sales manager in G.M.’s Buick division, Mr. Henderson rose through the automaker’s finance ranks and parts division to head its operations in Latin America, then Asia and Europe.

When G.M. appeared headed for bankruptcy in early 2006, he was tapped as chief financial officer, and played a major role in shaping G.M.’s North American turnaround plan and negotiating a contract with the United Automobile Workers.

Now Mr. Henderson, who is known as Fritz, is charged with accelerating G.M.’s growth around the world while steering its comeback effort at home.

The company faces substantial roadblocks to restoring profits. Chief among them is an American market with sales that analysts predict will sink to the low end of the 15-million-vehicle range this year — the worst in more than a decade.

“We’re basically operating the business at break-even, but that’s not the objective,” he said. “That’s just not good enough.”

Specifically, he said that G.M. has “another $4 billion to $5 billion of opportunity” to cut costs in North America, on top of $9 billion in costs it has shed over the last three years.

Mr. Henderson is also supervising G.M.’s vehicle introductions and tightening the expenses and schedules in its supply chain and manufacturing plants. The automaker has made progress in passenger cars with the new Chevrolet Malibu and Cadillac CTS, but Mr. Henderson is far from satisfied.

“We have to win each time we launch a product,” he said. “We don’t have the luxury of saying, well, I’m going to launch five, and if three do great, I’ll be happy.”

It is a typically straightforward approach from the former University of Michigan baseball player who said his favorite pitch was “throwing strikes.”

“Fritz has always struck me as analytical, realistic and in a hurry,” said John Casesa, managing partner of the Casesa Shapiro Group consulting firm. “Those are good traits for a C.O.O.”

Outside the United States, Mr. Henderson is focused on knitting together G.M.’s network of international units and building up operations in fast-growing markets.

“Our strategy has been that in markets where we are already large — like Brazil — to just grow,” he said. “In other markets like Russia, it’s a question of how do we expand our footprint.”

In recent days, Mr. Henderson huddled in Detroit with the top managers of G.M.’s European, Asian and Latin American operations.

He has held similar one-on-one meetings with the leaders of G.M.’s global functions, like Gary Cowger in manufacturing and Bo Andersson, head of worldwide purchasing.

Next month, Mr. Henderson will begin a methodical around-the-world assessment of G.M., starting with visits to Canada and Mexico, followed by trips to Asia, South America and Europe.

“These are highly capable people in the field,” Mr. Henderson said. “I just want to support them and get to the right decisions and get there faster.”

The automaker has not had a traditional chief operating officer since 2000, when Rick Wagoner, G.M.’s current chairman and chief executive, held the job.

Industry analysts said Mr. Henderson’s bulldog approach would complement Mr. Wagoner’s more strategic bent.

“Fritz has been in the middle of everything these past couple of years, and has the respect of everyone at G.M.,” said David Cole of the Center for Automotive Research in Ann Arbor, Mich. “He is in the right place at the right time.”

Promoting Mr. Henderson also takes some of the leadership burden off Mr. Wagoner, whose global strategy was challenged in 2006 by the activist investor Kirk Kerkorian.

G.M. rejected an initiative by Mr. Kerkorian to form an alliance with the foreign automakers Renault and Nissan, but has struggled since to get its own sprawling international operations working in harmony.

Mr. Henderson’s considerable experience in overseas markets is unique, even in a company of G.M.’s size. He has, by his count, spent time in at least 45 countries on assignment, often traveling alone to visit dealers, employees and business partners.

“What I like to do is just hit the road,” he said. “There’s no substitute for putting your eyeballs on the business.”

He was the general manager of a G.M. parts operation in Saginaw, Mich., in 1997 when he was transferred to Brazil — just before the auto market collapsed in much of South America.

“I can remember when the Argentine market went from 450,000 to 130,000 units just like that,” he said. “You do remember those things.”

He ran G.M.’s Latin American, African and Middle Eastern operations from 2000 to 2002, when he was promoted to oversee the Asian region.

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