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In the dozen years since Mary Barra became chief executive of General Motors, many of the U.S. auto industry\u2019s certainties about the future have evaporated.<\/p>\n
Her first job as CEO in 2014 was to remake the century-old company\u2019s corporate culture and regain customers\u2019 trust following a tragic, reputation-wrecking ignition-switch crisis. Barra has since navigated a global pandemic, tariffs and supply-chain chaos, and the rise of AI as an unstoppable and industry-shaking force. Meanwhile, China\u2019s nascence as an electric-vehicle superpower and a whiplash shift in Washington\u2019s approach to EVs have created a sobering reality for every legacy carmaker: The American electric revolution that until recently appeared imminent is proceeding far more slowly than many in Detroit and Washington expected.<\/p>\n
A few years ago, automakers were preparing for an environment in which 40% to 50% of their vehicles would need to be electric by 2030. But then the Trump administration unwound key incentives and rules that had encouraged EV adoption, and the regulatory ground shifted beneath their feet. Consumer habits also proved more stubbornly set than PowerPoint presentations had suggested.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t think it\u2019s shifted our mission,\u201d Barra told me in an interview for Fortune\u2019s Titans<\/em> podcast, surrounded by gleaming Cadillacs in a Manhattan showroom. \u201cWe still think EVs are the endgame.\u201d<\/p>\n For now, Barra is focused on maintaining a broad portfolio of vehicles: GM has more than a dozen EVs in its lineup, but also plenty of highly profitable internal-combustion vehicles. After all, the $185 billion company built its reputation on American pickups and SUVs.<\/p>\n Barra sees the company\u2019s EV approach as less a retreat than a reframe: She\u2019s leaning into GM\u2019s longtime mantra of maximizing customers\u2019 choices. \u201cWherever the customer is,\u201d she told me, \u201cwe have a vehicle.\u201d<\/p>\n And she\u2019s building in a management doctrine of rapid response to the prevailing winds, in Washington and beyond. \u201cThe minute we start to sense something might change, what are these no-risk decisions or these no-regret decisions we can make?\u201d she said. \u201cAgility is a superpower now.\u201d<\/p>\n Investors have largely applauded Barra\u2019s embrace of the transition\u2019s messy middle: The stock is trading near its all-time high and is up nearly 6% year to date.<\/p>\n If the ups and downs of the EV transition have taught Detroit anything, it is that a seemingly inevitable outcome can hit roadblocks. It\u2019s a lesson worth remembering when it comes to autonomous driving. Barra, once bullish in forecasting that self-driving cars would arrive quickly, is more measured now. \u201cI\u2019m done making predictions,\u201d she told me.<\/p>\n Still, she is making one meaningful commitment: In 2028, GM expects to offer eyes-off-the-road highway driving on the Cadillac Escalade IQ. It will build on Super Cruise, GM\u2019s hands-free advanced driver-assistance system, which already lets drivers take their hands off the wheel and feet off the pedals on compatible roads.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat we plan to do in 2028 is you\u2019ll be able to not have to keep your eyes on the road,\u201d Barra said. \u201cAnd that will be the start of then getting to full autonomy.\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s an appealing premise. But Barra knows that the idea will make some consumers uneasy\u2014and GM, more than most companies, knows exactly what happens when customers don\u2019t feel safe. \u201cSafety will be the overriding priority as we roll out this technology,\u201d Barra said.<\/p>\n During the ignition-switch crisis that engulfed GM shortly before Barra became its first female CEO, she found a company mired in what she called at the time a \u201cdeeply troubling\u201d culture of bureaucratic inaction\u2014one that had allowed a deadly tech problem to continue for months. It later emerged that the faulty switch had caused at least 124 deaths and 274 injuries. The company ultimately recalled millions of vehicles and paid billions in penalties and settlements.<\/p>\n Barra learned lasting management lessons from the disaster: Solve problems immediately; build mechanisms for employees to surface concerns; and repeat the message until it becomes embedded in the culture. \u201cI don\u2019t want to set it aside and explain it away,\u201d Barra told Fortune<\/em>\u2019s Geoff Colvin nine months into her tenure, \u201cbecause I think it uncovered some things in the company that it\u2019s critical we challenge ourselves to change and to fix.\u201d That\u2019s still her approach. \u201cProblems don\u2019t get smaller,\u201d Barra told me. \u201cRarely do problems get smaller.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhen\u2019s the best time to solve a problem? \u2026 The minute you know you have one. Because problems don\u2019t get smaller. Rarely do problems get smaller\u201d<\/p>\n General MOtors CEO Mary BArra<\/cite><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/figure>\n There were also lessons learned from the collapse of Cruise, GM\u2019s costly bet on robotaxis. (GM\u2019s 2016 acquisition of Cruise was valued at roughly $1 billion, including cash, stock, and employee-retention and performance incentives, and GM then invested billions more.) The decision to wind down Cruise and refocus on personal autonomy sharpened the company\u2019s priorities, Barra said. She would still have bought Cruise based on what GM knew at the time, she explained, in part because it brought on board valuable capabilities and talent. But ultimately, it wasn\u2019t the right path. \u201cWe don\u2019t run a bus fleet,\u201d she said. \u201cWe don\u2019t run a taxi fleet.\u201d<\/p>\n Personal autonomous vehicles, by contrast, are a natural extension of the company\u2019s 118 years of expertise in building vehicles for individual customers. \u201cThat\u2019s where we\u2019re focused because I think that\u2019s where our strength is,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n For 39 years Barra\u2019s father was a diemaker at GM\u2014building the industrial tooling to turn raw metal into auto parts. She started at the automaker as an 18-year-old co-op student and rose through engineering, manufacturing, human resources, and product development to the CEO job. That experience informs one of the issues she is now pressing most urgently: rebuilding training programs and interest in skilled trades.<\/p>\n Over the past five years, GM has invested more than $250 million in skilled-trades training. The underlying labor-market case is straightforward: Manufacturers, utilities, construction firms, and data center operators all need people who can build, repair, and operate complex physical systems. Dealer technicians, she notes, can earn salaries in the $80,000 to $90,000 range, or higher.<\/p>\n Barra has a provocative suggestion for high school students intent upon a four-year college degree as the only route to a good life: Consider a skilled trade, which may turn out to be a safer bet these days than many white-collar roles. \u201cWe really make sure high school students understand this is a great career and frankly maybe a little more AI-proof than some others,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Barra\u2019s argument is also cultural. \u201cI frankly think this is an area where Europe has much more respect for the trades and the importance of people who do very technical things,\u201d she noted.<\/p>\n GM is testing how AI can assist, rather than replace, that workforce. She has seen designers use AI-enabled tools to explore aerodynamics digitally\u2014testing how tiny design changes affect airflow before putting the prototype into a physical wind tunnel for testing. \u201cBut who knows?\u201d she added. \u201cMaybe at some point the technology will be so accurate we won\u2019t even do that.\u201d<\/p>\n Barra has had plenty of opportunities to learn leadership the hard way. But one of her clearest lessons came over lunch with Warren Buffett. Berkshire Hathaway held a major GM stake when Barra became CEO, and Buffett delivered a crucial vote of confidence in her leadership amid the 2014 recall crisis.<\/p>\n The question Buffett asked the CEO was deceptively simple: Would GM operate differently if it were private and did not have to report earnings every quarter? Barra\u2019s answer was no.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd he\u2019s like, \u2018Great,\u2019\u201d she recalled. \u201cBecause he said, \u2018I don\u2019t want you running the company for the quarter. I want you running it for the long term. That\u2019s how you\u2019re really going to create value.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n The moment GM finds itself in today certainly requires some long-game thinking. The company is trying to protect its traditional business while investing through uncertainty\u2014in EVs, autonomy, software, AI, manufacturing, and defense. It is trying to manage policy shifts without allowing Washington to derail its mission. And it is doing so as China races ahead in batteries, robotics, energy technologies, and electric-vehicle scale.<\/p>\n Barra is not naive about the threat. But she remains confident in American workers\u2019 capacity to respond.<\/p>\n \u201cI think we\u2019re making strides,\u201d she said. \u201cI believe in American ingenuity and innovation, and I think we can compete.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n #GMs #Mary #Barra #transition #destinationeven #road #longer<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" In the dozen years since Mary … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5845,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[1332,6773,8940,2472,6763,8651,1416,6772,6767,7002,6600],"class_list":["post-5844","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-finance-news","tag-autonomous","tag-barra","tag-destinationeven","tag-electric-vehicles","tag-general-motors","tag-gms","tag-longer","tag-mary","tag-mary-barra","tag-road","tag-transition"],"yoast_head":"\nAutonomy takes a longer road<\/h2>\n
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Rebuilding skilled trades<\/h2>\n
Warren Buffett\u2019s advice<\/h2>\n