GM Profits Followed by Questions

GM announced its strongest quarter since 2004 this morning on a conference call.  It was the automaker's big moment, to affirm a comeback from bankruptcy and a loss of almost $13 billion, on year ago.  After analysts and reporters tried to pick apart those numbers, Chairman and CEO Ed Whitacre Jr. had one more big announcement: he was stepping down.  Replacing him is Dan Akerson, a G.M. board member put in by the Treasury Department, with a background in finance and telecom.

David Shepardson of the Detroit News was the first to cast doubts, perhaps only as a Motor City man can: "Why did the board choose Dan as opposed to looking outside or picking someone else with auto experience?"  The answer failed to satisfy us, and Shepardson's follow-up catches some silence on the other end of the line.  -- Collin Campbell