GMAC CEO Alvaro De Molina Steps Down

DAN STRUMPF

NEW YORK (AP) — GMAC Financial Services says Alvaro de Molina has stepped down as CEO, a surprise departure that comes as the troubled auto lender remains in negotiations with the government over its third round of taxpayer aid.

GMAC director Michael A. Carpenter will take over as CEO.

A person familiar with the situation said De Molina was asked to step down by GMAC's board of directors. The person declined to be named because the reasons behind De Molina's exit have not been made public.

Treasury Department officials stressed that they had nothing to do with Molina's departure, calling the decision "100 percent GMAC's." That's in contrast to the Obama administration's ouster earlier this year of GM CEO Rick Wagoner, who was pressured to step down as a condition for taxpayer aid.

In an interview, Carpenter affirmed that no government entity had any say in De Molina's departure.

"To the contrary, the board reached its own conclusions," Carpenter said. "As the board looked forward, it decided that it really wanted some more strategic skills. It wanted more turnaround skills, more operations skills. So that is, in short, the basis I believe for a change."