General Motors Co Chairman and acting Chief Executive Ed Whitacre will take the CEO role on a permanent basis, CNBC reported on Monday.

The move has been seen as likely since Whitacre, 68, announced he would take over as acting CEO on December 1 when Fritz Henderson was ousted after eight months as chief executive.

Whitacre, the former chief executive at AT&T, took over as GM chairman last July as the company emerged from a government-sponsored bankruptcy.

Analysts have speculated that Chris Liddell, new GM chief financial officer, will eventually succeed Whitacre as CEO.

In December, Whitacre announced a broad shakeup of the automaker's senior leadership, tightening his hold on GM's reins.

Soon after he took over for Henderson, Whitacre said he had narrowed the list for a permanent CEO.

GM said Whitacre will host a press conference at 11:30 a.m. EST.

GM representatives were not immediately available for comment.

(Reporting by Bernie Woodall, editing by Dave Zimmerman)

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