US automaker General Motors Co. will announce Monday it is calling off its search for a CEO and naming its chairman and interim CEO Edward Whitacre Jr. as its permanent CEO, reports reaching hre said.

According to a Detroit News report,the Obama administration, which named Whitacre chairman of GM's board last summer, strongly supports the move.

The US government holds a 61 percent majority stake in GM after it swapped most of its US$50 billion in government loans.

Whitacre has named a number of other top advisers and executives in recent weeks, including new lobbyists. He also named GM board member Steve Girsky as a special adviser. He also has shaken up long-held assumptions at GM, started holding regular Monday meetings with key executives and made boosting market share and growing the business a top priority.

GM faced a number of hurdles in selecting a new CEO from the outside. One was paying enough to attract a top leader, since the company is under government pay limitations because it got a government bailout.

(Xinhua News Agency January 26, 2010)