GM_s Pearce pans management team

General Motors Corp. Vice Chairman Harry Pearce said the No. 1 auto maker_s management has "absolutely not delivered" on commitments to raise market share. Mr. Pearce_s blunt comments about GM_s declining market share came less than a week after the company reported flat November sales and a U.S. share of just 27.1%, the lowest level since the 1920s for a period not affected by a strike. Earlier this year, GM President G. Richard Wagoner and other senior GM North America executives told analysts the company had a "stretch goal" of boosting market share to 32% in 1999 from 29.2% in 1998. Mr. Pearce_s comments carry great weight. He is well respected by GM_s outside directors and is considered the leading candidate to succeed Chairman and Chief Executive Officer John F. Smith. A GM spokesman said the company_s top managers understand the company_s problems and are working on strategies to bring out new products that should turn sales around. Still, the comments from Mr. Pearce are likely to increase pressure on North American management. Mr. Wagoner wasn_t available for comment Wednesday, a GM spokesman said. Early last month, before November sales were released, Mr. Wagoner argued to reporters that GM_s market-share decline was partly the result of much-larger-than-expected U.S. sales.