Shades of Iacocca at GM

General Motors Chairman Ed Whitacre is stepping into the shoes of Chrysler's old boss, Lee Iacocca, and personally pitching his company's cars and trucks.

And Whitacre's adding something to his pitch--a money back guarantee. If you don't like your GM car or truck after 60 days, you can return it for your money back.

Whitacre hopes to do the same thing Iacocca did in the eighties with this first marketing push since GM emerged from bankruptcy--restore confidence in his company's badly battered brand.

“I’m happy to do it, I wanted to do it, and I think it is important to do it,” Whitacre, the former AT&T chief tapped by the government to chair GM, told the New York Times. “I am convinced that our cars are as good, if not better, than anybody else’s.”

He added that he was convinced the money back guarantee was a good idea.

“People are going to like this guarantee,” he said. “We’re putting a lot on the line here, but I think that these risks are necessary.”

While GM's chief steps into the role of Chrysler's old boss, Iacocca's former company is making moves of its own.

The Wall Street Journal reports, based on information from a Chrysler dealer, that the company is about to get back into the car leasing business. Chrysler was forced to give up that business more than a year ago, as losses mounted on the way to that company's bankruptcy.