General Motors Co. says it has launched an international search for a new president and CEO to replace Fritz Henderson, who resigned yesterday.

The company says Chairman Ed Whitacre Jr., who stepped in as interim CEO, does not want the job for the long term. He will be GM’s third CEO this year.

Whitacre, a former chairman and CEO of AT&T Inc., was appointed GM chairman by the Obama administration when the company emerged from Chapter 11 in July. He lives in San Antonio, Tex., but says he will now work at GM’s Detroit headquarters on a daily basis.

It is not clear how the U.S. Dept. of the Treasury’s limits on executive pay at bailed-out companies will affect GM’s recruiting. Henderson’s salary, which had been sliced by 27% in January, was reduced by an additional 25% in October to $950,000. Treasury Dept. special paymaster Kenneth Feinberg said last month he would be willing to ease salary caps at some companies if it would help them attract fresh talent.

Analysts say GM would like to replicate Ford Motor Co.’s success in hiring Alan Mulally, a Boeing Co. senior executive, who became CEO in 2006.

GM also is reportedly trying to recruit a new CFO to replace Ray Young after the White House’s auto task force harshly criticized the company’s financial operations and oversight.

Fritz Henderson’s abrupt departure yesterday as CEO at General Motors Co. leaves plenty of mystery and few answers.

Henderson’s resignation came three weeks after GM Chairman Ed Whitacre Jr., who will serve as interim CEO, told reporters the board was “fully behind” the CEO. GM also announced the resignation only two hours after it e-mailed an alert to news media saying it would provide a live Webcast of Henderson’s scheduled speech today at the Los Angeles auto show. His speech will be delivered by Co-Chairman Bob Lutz instead.

Whitacre’s statement announcing the resignation praised Henderson’s work in shepherding GM through its 39-day bankruptcy earlier this year. But it adds that “all involved agree that changes needed to be made.”

Bloomberg News reports that Henderson flunked the board’s 100-day assessment yesterday of his performance since GM exited bankruptcy in July. Unidentified sources tell the news service that the board decided he had not made enough progress in fixing the company’s finances and culture.

Analysts say the board also may have concluded Henderson, who spent his entire 25-year career at GM, was not the person to shake up the company’s hidebound culture. Henderson rotated through a series of jobs heading operations in Brazil, Latin America, Asia and Europe before becoming CFO in 2006 and president and chief operating officer in March 2008.

He was named CEO in March after the Obama administration ousted Rick Wagoner. The U.S. government now owns a 60.8% GM stake, but the White House says it was not involved in Henderson’s departure.

Rumors of a rift between Henderson and the board first surfaced in August when directors rejected his recommendation to sell GM’s Opel unit to Canada’s Magna International inc. and Russia’s OAO Sberbank. Directors told management to study other options. After GM called off the deal last month, speculation about discord was fueled by conflicting remarks from Henderson and Whitacre about Opel and the timing of GM’s plan to go public.

The CEO also was bedeviled by setbacks in his efforts to shed GM brands. A deal to sell Saturn to Penske Automotive Group Inc. fell through in September, and an agreement to sell Saab Automobile to Koenigsegg Group collapsed last week. The sale of its Hummer SUV brand is still pending.

Automakers sold 746,900 light vehicles in the U.S. last month, 140 units more than a year earlier.

But when adjusted for the two fewer selling days last month than in November 2008, the daily sales rate increased 9% from weak levels a year earlier when the financial crisis was deepening, according to Autodata Corp.

The Woodcliff Lake, N.J.-based firm says vehicles sold at a 10.93 million-unit annual sales rate in November compared with 10.41 million a year earlier and 10.46 million in October. November sales bolstered automakers’ assertions that demand, which never reached a 10 million-unit rate in the first half of 2009, are now gradually recovering, even though it remains far below levels earlier this decade.

The daily sales rate for domestic brands edged up 1%. Ford and General Motors posted increases of 9% and 7%, respectively, on an upswing in demand for small and midsize cars and crossover vehicles. Ford increased its retail market share for the 13th time in 14 months.

Ford and GM domestic-brand market shares were almost flat year over year at 15.8% and 20.1%, respectively. But Chrysler’s share plunged nearly three points to 8.5% as its November sales dropped 19%.

Asian automakers picked up Chrysler’s lost share to reach 46.3% as they recorded a 16% sales increase, led by Hyundai (+59%) and Nissan (+31%). Subaru, whose volume increased 35%, reported its best November sales ever. Toyota and Honda reported gains of 12% and 6%, respectively.

European carmakers increased sales by 13%, propelled by gains at Mercedes-Benz (+30%), Volkswagen (+24%) and BMW (+12%). Analysts say the greater availability of leasing deals boosted demand for luxury vehicles.

General Motors Co. says it plans to build 650,000 vehicles in North America in the first quarter of 2010, a 75% increase from the year-earlier period.

GM’s plan includes doubling passenger car production to 237,000 units. Ford Motor Co. expects to build 550,000 vehicles in the region during the first quarter, up 58% from the year-earlier period.

Domestic automakers slashed production in the first quarter of 2009 as the sudden sales slump in late 2008 left them with bloated inventories. After curbing output for much of 2009, automakers say inventories are now lean.

GM is cutting production by 24% in the current quarter to 620,000 vehicles. The company says it had 438,000 vehicles in stock on Nov. 30, half its inventory a year earlier. GM’s lower supplies also reflect the company’s efforts to wind down its Pontiac and Saturn brands.

General Motors Co.’s board has decided to evaluate potential bids for its Saab Automobile unit this month and decide by year-end whether a sale is feasible. If not, the company says it will wind down the Swedish brand.

Until talks broke down with Koenigsegg Group AB last week, GM had hoped to sell Saab by year-end. The board says it has received expressions of interest in the brand, but it won’t identify prospective bidders.

Swedish officials traveled to Detroit earlier this week to urge GM to talk with other potential buyers before deciding whether to close Saab.

Chinese automaker Beijing Automotive Industry Holding Co. and Wyoming-based investor group Merbanco Inc. have said they are considering Saab bids. BAIC was a partner in the failed Koenigsegg bid. News reports have said New York City-based private equity firm Renco Group Inc. also is interested. News reports yesterday added Dutch sports car maker Spyker Cars NV to the list of possible bidders.

Bloomberg News says GM may sell some Saab assets, including production equipment, to BAIC.

American manufacturing activity grew in November for the fourth consecutive month, although at a slower pace, according to the Tempe, Ariz.-based Institute for Supply Management.

The Institute’s index of manufacturing activity slipped to 53.6 last month from 55.7 in October (any reading above 50 indicates growth). Indicators for employment and production remain weak, but new orders increased strongly, and inventories are shrinking.

Separately, U.S. construction spending, which fell a revised 1.6% from August to September, was flat in October, the Dept. of Commerce reports. A series of revisions now show that spending hasn’t increased since April.

Automakers spent an average of $2,710 per vehicle sold in the U.S. on incentives last month, up $50 from October and $30 higher than in November 2008, according to online auto data provider Edmunds.com.

Domestic automakers spent an average of $3,710 per vehicle last month, down from $3,840 in October. Chrysler hiked incentives by $460 to $3,300, and Ford increased spending by $70 to $3,120. General Motors trimmed incentives by $130 to $4,270, but it remains the top spender among major automakers. The two brands GM is shutting down-Pontiac and Saturn-spent the most relative to vehicle prices: 19% and 17% of total sticker price, respectively.

Japanese carmakers boosted spending by an average $120 to $1,550. European companies raised incentives by $200 to $3,190, and South Korean OEMs reduced spending by $40 to $1,950.

Fiat SpA is conducting a strategic review of its money-losing Alfa Romeo brand to decide whether to freeze development of future vehicles or refresh its lineup with models based on platforms from alliance partner Chrysler Group LLC, says Automotive News Europe.

CEO Sergio Marchionne tells the online publication he is losing patience with the brand’s constant-and unsuccessful-reinvention of itself. Marchionne, who ordered the review, expects to announce Alfa Romeo’s fate by early next year, ANE says.

If future Alfa models are based on Chrysler platforms, the vehicles would be built in North America. But Bloomberg News reported last month that Fiat may abandon plans to sell as many as 70,000 Alfa cars in the U.S. by 2014.

ANE cites unidentified sources who say Alfa Romeo has been losing $300 million-$600 million annually for the last 10 years. Its annual sales have plunged by half since 2000 to 103,000 vehicles last year.

General Motors Co. has hired Michael Richards, a longtime Ford Motor Co. marketer, as general manager of its Buick and GMC brands, effective immediately.

Richards replaces Susan Docherty, who became the company’s U.S. sales chief in October.

He held a series of sales and marketing jobs at Ford from 1981 to 2008, including general marketing manager for Lincoln Mercury. Richards became a consultant to J.D. Power and Associates and later oversaw digital and Internet-based automotive sales and marketing at Austin, Tex.-based Trilogy Enterprises Inc.

The Obama administration is expected to nominate David Strickland, a senior Democratic counsel to the U.S. Senate Commerce Committee, as early as today to head the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, The Detroit News reports, citing several unidentified officials.

The newspaper says Strickland played a major role in the 2007 energy bill that raised auto fuel economy standards. He also included auto safety measures in a 2005 transportation bill.

The White House has struggled to find an NHTSA chief since its original nominee Charles Hurley, CEO of Mothers Against Drunk Driving, withdrew from consideration in May. Some environmentalists had challenged Hurley’s fitness to regulate fuel economy, citing his opposition in the early 1990s to tougher standards. Ron Medford has been serving as NHTSA’s acting deputy administrator for 10 months.

The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has proposed new regulations to require automakers to equip vehicles with safety gear to keep occupants from being ejected from a side window in a rollover.

The rules would allow automakers to decide how to meet the standard, but NHTSA says the likely solution is larger and more robust side curtain airbags. Strengthening side windows with advanced glazing also is a possibility.

NHTSA says 6,200 people died and 23,600 were injured between 1997-2005 when they were ejected from vehicle side windows. The agency estimates the new rules would save about 400 lives and prevent 300 injuries annually-mostly vehicle occupants who are not wearing seatbelts.

The agency estimates the rules would add about $50-$300 to the cost of a vehicle, depending on whether a model already has side airbags. NHTSA will solicit public comments for the next 60 days. If the rule is finalized by August 2010, it would be phased in between the 2014 and 2017 model years.