General Motors Co. has found a “real good candidate” for CFO and expects to make an announcement in two or three weeks, says CEO Ed Whitacre.

His comment is GM’s first confirmation of widespread reports that it hired a headhunting firm in September to seek a replacement for CFO Ray Young.

The White House auto task force, which steered the company through bankruptcy this summer, has sharply criticized GM’s financial management. It also has urged the company’s board to recruit outside executives to help shake up GM’s stodgy and insular culture.

The U.S. Dept. of the Treasury’s special paymaster, who oversees compensation at bailed-out companies, has not yet confirmed he will waive the restrictions for a GM hire from outside. Current limits could hamper GM’s ability to recruit top talent because the CFO salary would be capped somewhere between $500,000 and $1 million.

Previous reports said Young, a career GM manager, would be reassigned to the company’s Asia operations. But it is unclear whether that plan has survived the forced departure of CEO Fritz Henderson last week. Young has been CFO since March 2008, when he succeeded Henderson. His previous posts included group vice president of finance and CFO of North American operations.

CEO Sergio Marchionne says he is willing to let Chrysler Group LLC’s U.S. market share continue to decline in the near term to improve the image of its brands and ensure long-term profitability, says Reuters.

The news service cites lawmakers who attended Marchionne’s presentation of the company’s business plan to Michigan’s Congressional delegation. The company’s U.S. market share fell nearly three points year over year to 8.5% last month.

Marchionne also told lawmakers Chrysler will keep its midsize car assembly plant in Sterling Heights, Mich., open through 2011. Chrysler insisted in October it would stick to plans to shutter the factory by the end of next year.

Marchionne says the company has yet to decide where to build future midsize cars, adding that a new “greenfield” site is one option. But he says the vehicles will be produced in the U.S. Erecting a new factory would be an expensive option for a company with excess North American capacity.

New CEO Ed Whitacre provided little detail during a 40-minute Web chat yesterday with reporters on how he plans to tune up General Motors Co.’s turnaround plan.

Since becoming chairman in July, Whitacre has played his cards close to the vest. Switching yesterday’s session from the scheduled press conference to a Web chat allowed him to filter questions and type brief replies.

Whitacre did say he isn’t seeking a president or chief operating officer to assist him. But he wouldn’t address queries about how he will accelerate GM’s turnaround or measure the progress of his new management team. He cited lack of speed and progress as reasons for abruptly taking over CEO duties from Fritz Henderson last week.

Forbes points out that Whitacre, who is demanding transparency and accountability from his GM subordinates, is himself offering little of that to American taxpayers, who own 60.1% of the company.

The magazine lists some of Whitacre’s terse responses to questions posed by reporters:

• GM’s goals for 2010 sales and market share? “As much as we can get.”
• When will GM go public? “When we’re ready.”
• GM’s future in Europe? “Great.”
• The Asia market? “Big and growing.”
• His new management team? “Terrific.”
• How long do those managers have to show results before their jobs are at risk? “Not long. :-)”

Despite conventional wisdom that globalization and new U.S. tailpipe emissions standards could wreck Detroit’s automakers, those forces could actually give the companies a new lease on life, according to CSM Worldwide Inc.

The Northville, Mich.-based auto forecasting firm told the Automotive Press Assn. in Detroit yesterday that U.S. regulations will force automakers to shrink the emissions gap between U.S. and European vehicles to 20 grams per kilometer by 2030 from 105 g/km today. That would allow domestic automakers to rely more on similar vehicles for all global markets, thus reducing costs and increasing the potential for U.S. auto exports, CSM says.

The firm predicts automakers will spend $428 billion per year worldwide by 2020 to improve sustainable mobility. CSM expects that by then 45% of vehicle nameplates worldwide will offer some form of electrification, such as hybrid, plug-in or all-electric systems.

In the U.S., the proposed penalty for failing to meet emissions rules would be $30,000 per vehicle, CSM says. Government action to stabilize gasoline prices through some form of fuel tax would allow carmakers to plan future vehicles that could turn a profit and avoid penalties by meeting regulatory standards, the firm says.

Smart USA has hired Jill Lajdziak, who is stepping down as general manager of General Motors Co.’s Saturn unit at year-end, to become its sales and marketing chief on Jan. 1.

She will succeed Russ Hill, who has left Smart. Lajdziak was losing her Saturn job because GM decided to wind down the brand after Penske Automotive Group Inc.’s plan to buy Saturn collapsed in September. The Penske company is the U.S. distributor of Daimler AG’s Smart minicars.

China’s Yubei Power Steering System Co. is negotiating to buy General Motors Co.’s global steering business, according to Automotive News.

The newspaper cites unnamed sources at Nexteer Automotive, the steering unit GM bought from former subsidiary Delphi Holding LLP in October along with four other plants. Acquiring the unit ensured GM a steady supply of parts and helped Delphi to emerge from Chapter 11. The supplier had been unable to find a buyer for the unit.

GM immediately put the steering unit up for sale. AN says Yubei executives toured Nexteer’s main Saginaw, Mich., operations in August, implying GM already knew by fall that it had a possible bidder.

Citing internal Nexteer documents, the newspaper says the company aims to hike sales by $200 million next year to $1.8 billion and reach $2.5 billion in 2013.

Saab Automobile says it is optimistic that General Motors Co. will find a buyer for the entire company, despite reports its parent is in talks about selling some Saab production equipment to Beijing Automotive Industry Holding Corp., says Reuters.

The news service also cites unidentified sources who say BAIC isn’t interested in buying Saab’s Swedish operations, which employ about 3,000 people.

Since last month when the planned sale of Saab to Koenigsegg Group collapsed, GM has been talking to BAIC, private equity firm Renco Group Inc. and Dutch sports car maker Spyker Cars NV.