As per the media reports, Tuesday, GM's board and CEO Fritz Henderson parted ways, as the board was disappointed that the automaker's turnaround wasn't moving faster.

The speculations afloat that the post of CEO will be taken over by Board Chairman Ed Whitacre Jr., the former head of AT&T Inc, while a global search is carried out.

It couldn’t be known whether Henderson or the board moved first in the surprise resignation that arrived just hours before Henderson was to be the high-profile keynote speaker at the Los Angeles Auto Show.

At a news conference held at General Motors Co.'s downtown Detroit headquarters, Whitacre thanked Henderson, 51, a lifelong GM employee, for his leadership, adding that the company is on the right path toward offering high-quality cars and trucks worldwide.

Whitacre informed, “We now need to accelerate our progress toward that goal.”

The U.S. government, which owns more than 60 percent of the Detroit automaker in exchange for offering it billions in loans, chose both the men for their jobs. However, it should be noted that while Henderson is a GM insider, Whitacre is an outsider to the whole industry.

The Board of Directors alone arrived on this decision, said an Obama administration official Tuesday, who added that the Administration was not involved in the decision.

Logan Robinson, a former Chrysler attorney and professor of corporate governance at University of Detroit Mercy said, “I don't think this has much to do with Fritz Henderson's performance, I think it's just the wrong time to be a GM lifer.”