Over the last couple of days, the Corvette Nation has been rocked by the sudden firings of Corvette Team members Harlan Charles and Kirk Bennion. Both members have served their employer and their customers with distinction, and the community has been responding by sending emails to Mary Barra and Mark Reuss to let them know what these fine individuals meant to the Corvette hobby.
Now, retired Corvette Chief Engineer Tadge Juechter has commented on the firing of Harlan Charles for the first time publicly on Facebook. In the post, Tadge calls Harlan his “brother-in-arms” based on their long working history together, and offers up several examples of why Harlan is “irreplaceable”:
I had the honor of working with Harlan for 24 of my 31 years on Corvette. He deserves all the accolades coming his way. Few people can appreciate the magnitude of his tangible contributions, but I can. I retired last year and got more credit than I deserved in large part due to Harlan’s efforts. The Corvette community knows Harlan better than any other Corvette insider but what they don’t know is that Harlan took input from customers and was able to convert those into product plans that produce spectacular business results thus ensuring Corvette’s future.
From a personal standpoint, I feel like Harlan is my brother in arms, good friends who have each other’s back in a common goal of producing the best sports car in the world for our customers. I believe Harlan and I did more tandem product presentations than any pair in automotive history. Having a trusted partner going into public forums made preparation almost unnecessary. We both lived in breathe Corvette so thoroughly we could present by stream of consciousness. One of us would talk until we ran out of steam, then the other would pick up the ball. We’d go back-and-forth until somehow we covered it all. Even though you were always Corvette focused, it was easy to see that your dedication extended to Chevrolet and to GM as a whole. One example is the Corvette Centennial edition. At a time when no one at Chevy was thinking about how to mark the brand’s hundredth anniversary, you came up with a special model for just the occasion! Bottom line is that you were one and are an irreplaceable force in the Corvette community and will be missed by customers dealers and the whole Corvette team.
Well said Tadge and thanks for speaking out. As the saying goes, “No man who has friends is a failure…”
As someone who follows GM, Chevrolet, and Corvette news on a daily basis, I can tell you that what I am hearing about the hierarchy of personnel at General Motors relating to “who reports to who” and therefore, who got fired by who is a convoluted mess. When Tadge retired, GM just didn’t name Tony Roma as his replacement, they completely reorganized (once again) Corvette under the newly formed Global Corvette and Performance Cars team and also gave Tony leadership of the Luxury and Performance Car Team.
Now, you and I both know that the only performance vehicles within GM now is the Corvette and the Cadillac V-Series cars, and my guess would be that there are a lot more Cadillac people now making decisions for the Corvette based on this reorganization. Like any large organization which has subdivisions competing for dollars and the prestige for their products over others in the company, it’s my belief that some have been jealous of Corvette’s success over the years, and now it’s time for a little payback.
As Dennis Miller used to say, “That’s just my opinion, I could be wrong…”
While Mary and Mark (and probably Tony Roma) had nothing to do with this decision, perhaps a “respectful” email from the Corvette faithful will help them see the error of this decision:
[email protected]
[email protected]
Source:
MidEngineCorvetteForum.com
Related:
Kirk Bennion is the Other Corvette Team Member that was Recently Fired From GM
Harlan Charles Career with Corvette, GM Ends After 37 Years
GM Names Tony Roma to Lead Corvette and Performance Cars As Tadge Juechter Retires
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GM. Bad decisions don’t help anyone, especially you. No wonder why you had to have a Government bail out way back when.
I’m sure Barra and Reuss knew what was going to happen and were okay with it.
Looks like Roger Smith is back at GM. More worried about DEI and other BS than simply making the best cars possible. Remember when GM had 32% of the US market. They lost their focus then and I believe they are losing their focus now.
A line from Mr. Juechter’s post was telling: “At a time when no one at Chevy was thinking about how to mark the brand’s hundreth anniversary, you [Harlan Charles] came up with a special model just for the occasion.” GM’s recent executive hirings have strong tech backgrounds, but little regard for GM’s legacy, or for those employees like Mr. Charles or Mr. Bennion who created and sustained it. And it’s only that legacy of ICE vehicles shepherded by folks like Messrs. Juechter, Charles, and Bennion that’s keeping the company afloat while these new hires stumble along.
I don’t know how this all came about.
I have 3 of the C8 generation Corvettes.
They are all great cars and I don’t see any short comings from management.
Tadge and the rest of the team were very colorful and always kept me interested with up coming news. I never thought that my age I would be tracking a ZO7 Corvette.
I just hope that GM doesn’t ruin the image and hype that the Corvette carries.
I hope that Harlan goes on too bigger and better things!
Good luck!
Some years ago, I was in a specialized graduate-level program on project management, and when the subject at a particular point in the course was on corporate culture, of the books that were required reading, one was titled “On a Clear Day, You Can See General Motors”, from the memoirs of one John Z. DeLorean.
A very eye opening book about corporate culture, especially from a perspective of an engineer turned executive. Highly recommended.
Anyways, these ‘firings’ make no sense, especially given their impact and loyalty to the company.
In today’s fast-paced and dynamic work environment, there is no room for complacency or rest on laurels. The concept of job security has become a thing of the past, and companies are constantly looking for ways to streamline their operations and improve efficiency. In this context, ” Everyone is replaceable” may seem like a harsh mantra, but it contains a valuable lesson that can help individuals and organizations thrive.
PS Boycott GM And/or sell your Corvette?
Many thanks,
Ray
Is Elon Musk lurking in the back room?
We all lost a couple of dear friends here.
Their reactions to their situation is a show of pure class.
I can remember when GM had 50% of the American automotive market share.
That is back in the stone age when loyalty & respect, were a 2-way street.
All respect to Charles and Bennion, and I wish them well in their future endeavors. However, like Raylan says, everybody is replaceable. There are some touches here and there that have been looked over in the past regarding lighting that should be implemented. I drove a 2024 Buick and it had immaculate interior lighting with these really thin LED mood strips. Made the whole car. Same thing on the exterior, Chevy doesn’t put those full strips down the line.
GM probably fired them to hire DEI so they can build more electric cars…
GM can’t build a sedan to compete with anyone
GM can’t build a compact car to compete with anyone
and most importantly
GM can’t keep the ICONIC Camaro alive even though it dominates the NHRA and Nascar since it’s revival. Started 2025 out pretty dang good as well, thank you Chase Elliott..
They were onto something with the SS SEDAN
I have 6 GM cars and wife has 2 Caddy’s but they’ll be bankrupt in 5 years.
I didn’t mention no V8’s in Silverado. Death sentence coming for it…
Caddilac and Corvette will be all thats left if they dont FIRE whoever Fired Charles and Bennion
Bowtie Bosco
BTW 3 of my GM cars are Vettes… 69 4speed 350/350 side pipes, 60th Anniversary and 14 Z51 all convertibles. Thank you gentleman for your work on these awesome vehicles..
To the best of my knowledge Charles has been surprised retired (aka forced surprise retired) and not fired altogether. Nonetheless, what a great act of camaraderie and class for Tadge to pitch in even after retirement for Charles and give him yet again a fair share of accolades for what it has been achieved directly thanks to them, in the past twenty+ years. I think that just for the case for Doug Fehan, the big or small hoopla surrounding Charles departure is that it was sudden and not well communicated. That can be fixed and clarified.
On the other hand, and much bigger picture, things in legacy automotive are very tough right now and the days of rolling out virtual red carpets during de facto car wars (especially with China) are becoming by necessity yesteryear.
[email protected]
[email protected]
Now I have to wonder, “Who’s next?”
Or, “WHAT’S next?”
And, what are the boys at the plant thinking?
I am now worried about the effect this will have on Corvette Racing and the NCM.
Only time will tell what direction GM takes the Corvette brand. Look at the other premium brands. Expensive bubble top soccer mom SUVs that you see on Saturday morning at the soccer ⚽ field, or in line at school pick up.
Corvette is a ‘halo’ car not just for Chevrolet but all of GM. The product offered to the public is highly profitable to GM according to internal sources. The Corvette as a brand with its racing success in international racing venues brings name recognition to Corvette, Chevrolet and GM world wide.
There was a time when GM considered spinning Corvette off as a stand alone franchise within the GM higherarcy.
That is the total autonomy that Corvette has earned and deserves.
GM has a history of taking what works and undoing it.
Keep Corvette engineering. Styling. Production completely separate from the rest of GM or its identity will be lost forever. Loosing that autonomy now is loosing it forever!
Mary Barra
Should have fired her years ago.
Tadge Juechter The highest respect for Tadge as a person and a leader.
I been around and have seen a lot of poor leadership in the military along with in real life. People in the wrong places who tear apart people that have given their life to excellence in their service to GM and in a heart beet dishonor them with firing them for there service. That alone tells the story of GM and screwing even their own.
1. No more service manuals with a new GM vehicle disgusting
2. 2023 Tahoe worst piece of shit I ever owned. an I owned GM cars all my life.11 Corvettes, 11 Silverado’s or Sierra’s now you can’t even buy a reg cab, shot bed 4X4 with a V8 disgusting SOB’s. Tadge I believe and agree what you said. GM disgusting after we USA bailed their ass out and even screw their own people. Disgusting company.
Why is it when a corporation restructures they remove good people and install proven losers?
I mean this is par for the course if you’ve even paid attention to GM history. Forced retirement might as well be a firing, and we all know its not the first time nor the last time it will happen. But if Caddy people made a decision that Reuss didn’t know about? Somebody else needs to get the axe. Barra still needs to fire herself, thats the best thing she can do.
It is a dam shame that GM thinks it’s the smart thing to fire the folks behind the success of a truly remarkable car. I can’t help but think “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it”.
William C you said it. If they don’t get rid of DEI Mary ‘Bankrupt’ Barra GM is doomed. Latest article in Power Nation said GM CEO Mary Barra is still all in on EV despite low consumer demands. Here’s the first paragraph of the article.
The electric vehicle market has seen some bumps in the road lately, but General Motors isn’t backing down. While sales numbers aren’t skyrocketing like some predicted, GM’s leadership remains confident in their EV strategy. CEO Mary Barra recently reinforced the company’s commitment to electrification, despite industry-wide concerns about slowing consumer demand.
https://r.brmail.powernationtv.com/mk/cl/f/sh/WCPzyXJTZ7Aw4ycsasPOnjQc3KGgX3Kx/O6ZZQ7Qz-5K0
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