By HEATHER BAUGHMAN

baughman@crescent-news.com

General Motors" turnaround, technology and plans for tomorrow were discussed this morning during the monthly Breakfast of Champions held at Defiance College.

Ron Pniewski, GM North America vice president and global portfolio planning for General Motors Corp., was the speaker at the meeting, which is sponsored by the Defiance Area Chamber of Commerce, The Crescent-News, Defiance County Economic Development and the college.

With GM experiencing a fumbling market in 5 and 6, Pniewski said the company is back on track. In the past few years, he said, "You couldn"t look at a daily newspaper ... news magazine ... or turn on the television and not hear about the dire predictions and impending demise (of GM)."

But after lengthy restructuring efforts that span the globe, Pniewski said GM is now in the midst of "one of the greatest turnarounds in GM history."

While the business is coming back together, Pniewski admitted, "No one is claiming victory. ... We still have a lot of work to do."

In the United States, Pniewski said the competition is tough, "but GM still sells more vehicles than anyone else, by far."

Locally, Pniewski pointed out the importance of Ohio -- which has nine plants, including Defiance"s Powertrain plant -- to the company. Ohio also has 1,500 suppliers, 402 dealers, 19,000 employees and 65,000 retirees. "Clearly, we have a long and valued history in Ohio," he said.

Globally, GM"s success last year was record-breaking in many ways, including revenues totaling $2.7 billion.

In GM"s continued effort to restructure, the company reduced structural costs in North America by $6.8 billion last year ... but he emphasized that the cuts being made are not coming at the expense of the quality of the vehicles that GM manufacturers.

Part of the company"s restructuring plan included a strengthening in communication. In the past, Pniewski said the company was faltering, "wasting time, money and talent. Today, that just doesn"t cut it."

Now, GM employees worldwide are working on a 24-7 timeline. Taking the "team" approach, employees around the globe are meeting with fellow employees via teleconference to keep communications alive and well. Whether it"s 6 a.m. in Detroit and 8 p.m. in Asia, GM employees are at work and communicating.

"We are operating truly on a global scale," Pniewski said.

Another past inefficiency that GM is improving is parts sharing. "We were not running regionally ... (GM vehicles) did not have a lot of shared parts," he said. In an attempt to make vehicles easier and more cost effective to produce, Pniewski said the company is making strides to produce more vehicle parts that can be shared among several product lines, at the same time giving customers the ability to still customize and enhance their own vehicles.

The new GM 100,000-mile warranty is also an improvement of which Pniewski is proud. "We provide value to our customers," he said. And, through this warranty, he said, "We are putting our money where our mouth is."

Along with winning a record number of vehicle awards at several car shows recently, Pniewski said GM is in the process of launching more hybrids than any other company with eight vehicle lines to be on the road by the end of the year.

As a leader in the E-85 (ethanol) movement, GM currently has two million E-85 capable vehicles on the road and is expecting to add 400,000-500,000 more every year.

"We clearly believe (that ethanol) should be one of the country"s primary energy solutions," Pniewski said. "We are pushing ethanol strongly in Washington."

GM is also working on a plug-in hybrid vehicle, the Chevrolet Volt. This vehicle, which was showcased at the 6 Detroit Auto Show, would require no gasoline if it is driven no more than 40 miles a day.

With the worst behind them, Pniewski said that GM is "transforming into a company that will be around for a long, long time."