Akerson Hopes Next GM CEO Comes from Within

CEO Dan Akerson says he has no plans to retire soon from General Motors Co. But he would prefer the company to select his successor from the company's executive ranks because would be less disruptive.

In a speech at the Automotive News China Conference in Beijing, Akerson, 63, says he'll step down "when the board has had enough of me." But he hints that he might retire in two to five years.

Akerson told The Wall Street Journal earlier this month that Vice Chairman Steve Girsky is among the internal candidates who might replace him. The newspaper said North America chief Mark Reuss and global product boss Mary Barra also are in the running.

Akerson says GM had no succession plan when Ed Whitacre Jr. abruptly resigned in September 2010 a situation the board aims to avoid repeating.

Akerson, a GM board member, private equity manager and retired telecommunications executive, took the job and became the company's four CEO in 18 months. He also was only the second outsider CEO in decades at GM after Whitacre, a retired AT&T CEO, who took the job in July 2009.