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GM CEO Mary Barra Expecting Full Economic Recovery By Early 2021

General Motors CEO Mary Barra has said she expects the U.S. economy to be back at pre-pandemic levels by as soon as early next year.

Mary Barra recently sat down with The Detroit Free Press to discuss the impact COVID-19 has had on the automotive industry and how she expects the GM to fare in the coming months and years. She told the newspaper that GM believes this will be a “relatively short-lived recession,” though she acknowledged that it still has a “long way to go,” because of just how bad the economic impact was early on in the pandemic.

“The new outbreaks do pose potential setbacks, but we’re hopeful that the U.S. economy will be back to 90% of pre-pandemic levels early next year,” she added. “There’s a lot of uncertainty.”

GM is currently closely monitoring the COVID-19 situation state-by-state, with Barra saying the automaker is “watching everything very carefully.” If a state that houses a major GM plant goes back under stay-at-home orders, such as Michigan or Texas, the automaker could hit more production setbacks and risk running low on inventory. GM has implemented strict safety protocols at its various global facilities, though, and believes they will be enough to prevent an outbreak within them.

“The conversation I’ve had with many different officials is they understand with the protocols that people are safe at work,” she said. “I think we’re seeing steps being taken across many of these areas with lessons learned about maybe what worked well in reopenings and what didn’t.”

While GM is hopeful the economy will recover from the COVID-19 pandemic quickly, there’s no denying it had a heavy impact on the company early on. GM sales were down 34% year-over-year in Q2 2020 as the virus forced U.S. auto dealerships to close their doors. The automaker also began to run low on inventory of some of its more popular models, such as the Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra, as the country-wide shutdown dragged on – further hampering sales.

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Sam loves to write and has a passion for auto racing, karting and performance driving of all types.

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Comments

  1. 145k people in the US have died from COVID and no remote signs of the country being able to get a handle on it. Those deaths are the equivalent to the entire city of Savannah or Pasadena wiped out.

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  2. this reminds me of the H1NI epidemic.

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  3. I like Mary but looks like she spoke to Mary Jane if she thinks this garbage show is going to end next year….

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  4. If she thinks they are going to recover she has obviously never drove a General Motors product ..Give her a G.M. truck with a 8L90 8 speed automatic from 2015-2019 or a General Motors car with the 8L45 8 speed automatic transmission..They made their customers suffer with no help from General Motors so why shouldn’t she be made to drive one?

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  5. Hmm title says “GM CEO Mary Barra Expecting Full Economic Recovery By Early 2021” But Mary Barra actually says “The new outbreaks do pose potential setbacks, but we’re hopeful that the U.S. economy will be back to 90% of pre-pandemic levels early next year,” she added. “There’s a lot of uncertainty.”

    I would define “full” recovery as 100% not 90%. And 90% sounds a lot more plausible for early 2021.

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  6. Should the democrats win in November There won’t be any recovery for the auto industry.

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    1. Joe Biden has a plan to help the auto industry (especially USA produced EVs) and is definitely a car guy.

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  7. Another STUPID opinion from Barra. When is GM going to walk her out and hire a younger more intelligent and less expensive CEO?

    Reply
  8. As GM continues to falter under the leadership of Barra, she may need to hurry up and put a flying truck on the road.

    Reply

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