MARY BARRA NAMED GM CHAIR IN NEW FIRST FOR A WOMAN
General Motors' board
elected chief executive officer Mary Barra as chairman, signalling its approval
of the job she's done almost two years after becoming the biggest US
automaker's first female CEO.
Barra, who has spent her
entire career at the company , succeeds Tim Solso, who will remain on the board
as lead independent director, GM said in a statement on Monday .
In making Barra, 54, the
company's first female chairman, GM's board provided an endorsement of her
leadership and the automaker's direction. With profits increasing and the legal
issues from the ignition-switch recall mostly behind the Detroit-based company
, the board indicated that GM is on sound footing with her at the helm.
“It says that she has done
a good job and set the right tone for the company ,“ said Maryann Keller, an
independent auto analyst. “She takes responsibility for what happens at GM.
With past management, it was always the blame game.“
Under Barra, GM voluntarily
took responsibility for the ignitionswitch fiasco that was linked to 124 deaths
and cost the company $900 million in a settlement with the US justice
department and $600 million in payments to victims. GM set up a fund to pay
victims who could not sue because the switches were installed before the
company's 2009 bankruptcy .
Barra took over as CEO in
January 2014 and much of her first year in that job was consumed by the
ignition-switch defect. But GM has proceeded to make a number of strategic
decisions, such as pulling out of Russia and ending Chevrolet operations in
Europe. Earlier on Monday , GM said it will invest $500 million in ride-hailing
startup Lyft, gaining a major ally in a fast-growing market.
`RIGHT TIME'
“At a time of unprecedented
industry change, the board concluded it is in the best interests of the company
to combine the roles of chair and CEO in order to drive the most efficient execution
of our plan and vision for the future,“ Solso said in the statement. “With GM
consistently delivering on its targets and on track to generate significant
value for its shareholders, this is the right time for Mary to assume this
role.“
In China, GM managed to
keep profits stable even as sales in the region slumped. While the car market
weakened, the automaker dedi cated production to more-profitable sport utility
vehicles and higher-priced Buicks.
Barra has also pushed a
technology agenda. GM is racing to stay in step with Google's efforts to build
a self-driving car. This week at the CES electronics show in Las Vegas, she
will unveil the Chevrolet Bolt, a pure-electric car.
Women held the CEO post at
21 of the Standard & Poor's 500 companies as of mid-December, according to
Catalyst. About 20 companies had a female chairperson, according to data
compiled by Bloomberg. Only 11 have women in both roles. Among those are
softdrinks company PepsiCo, led by Indra Nooyi; Xerox, headed by Ursula Burns;
and defense contractor General Dynamics,whose board Barra is a member of, led
by Phebe Novakovic.
Dan Akerson, who was
Barra's predecessor as GM's CEO, also held the chairman post. The company split
the two jobs when she took over as chief executive.
Bloomberg
GM Invests $500 Million in
Lyft, Forms Partnership
Detroit: General Motors
said on Monday it is investing $500 million in ride-hailing company Lyft and
forming an unprecedented partnership that could eventually lead to ondemand,
self-driving cars. It's the largest investment yet by a traditional automaker
in a new mobility company, and is an acknowledgement by GM that the
transportation landscape is changing fast. “We see the world of mobility
changing more in the next five years than it has in the last 50,“ GM president
Dan Ammann told AP. GM made the investment as part of a $1 billion round of
fundraising by Lyft.Together, the companies plan to open a network of US hubs
where Lyft drivers can rent GM vehicles at discounted rates. That could expand
Lyft's business by giving people who don't own cars a way to drive and earn
money through Lyft. It also gives GM a leg up on competitors like Daimler and
Ford Motor, who are developing their own ride-sharing services.Longer term, GM
and Lyft will work together to develop a fleet of autonomous vehicles that city
dwellers could summon using Lyft's app. Partnering with GM could give Lyft a
boost over Uber, which is working on its own driverless cars. AP
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David Welch & Laura Colby
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Bloomberg
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ET6JAN16
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