General Motors CEO Mary Barra has been ranked fourth on Fortune’s list of the most powerful women of 2022.
This places Barra among elite company with the likes of Karen Lynch, President and CEO of CVS Health; Julie Sweet, Chair and CEO of Accenture; and Jane Fraser, CEO of Citigroup. Only 51 businesswomen were named to the list, with six making their first appearance.
With Barra in the driver’s seat, GM has gone all in on electric vehicles and autonomous technology. GM’s next-gen electric cars are starting to hit the road, starting with the GMC Hummer EV Pickup, Cadillac Lyriq, and BrightDrop Zevo 600. These will be followed by a jubilee of future EVs, such as the Chevy Silverado EV, Blazer EV, Equinox EV, as well as many others from Chevy and from Buick, GMC, and Cadillac. The effort is part of a $35 billion investment to offer 30 electric vehicles by 2025.
In 2016, GM acquired self-driving startup Cruise Automation for $1 billion, turning it into a fully-integrated division simply called Cruise. Since then, unit has been developing an electric robotaxi and associated services. Back in March, GM acquired a stake earned by SoftBank, and invested another $1.4 billion to begin testing a robot taxi service on public city streets. However, the robotaxi service has yet to launch, and has missed all publicly-announced deadlines to launch.
This isn’t Barra’s first time appearing on Fortune’s list, as she was named the most powerful woman in the world three years in a row. She was praised in 2014 for her handling of the immense ignition-switch recall, which also happened to be her first year as CEO at GM. Under Barra’s watch, GM still posted a $1.1 billion net income that year. In 2015 she was commended for much of the same, including increasing revenue, setting record profits and making substantial investments into Lyft for future ride-sharing endeavors. In 2016, Barra completed her hat trick, with a nod towards her ability to change GM’s culture and shift public perception, which was long plagued by poor management and questionable quality, both of which led to the bankruptcy 2009.
More recently, Barra was listed to the Financial Times‘ 25 Most Influential Women of 2021, where she was praised by the aforementioned Jane Frasier as “a true icon of business”, that has “led GM through tremendous challenges and change” throughout her tenure as CEO. Barra was even named one of TIME Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People for 2021, with the publication applauding the pro-EV and diversity initiatives. GM was included on TIME Magazine’s list of the 100 Most Influential Companies that year, as well.
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Comments
When you go back and read about the GM Ignition Switch fiasco which resulted in alot of people killed and injured along the way, you will begin to wonder how this person somehow managed to survive in her corporate leadership position when it becomes clear, a change at the top was in order. She saw to it that many subordinates took the blame and were fired; in this situation, the Captain was not going down with her ship.
One day that ship may not right itself!
Are you stupid? She became CEO just as the ignition switch crisis blew up.
Read the new book about her and GM “Charging Ahead”. It goes through all of that and the changes she made to ensure it doesn’t happen again. If anything, at the time it looked like she was put there just in time to take the fall for the ignition switch fiasco.
She needs to be fired for many reasons.
Taking GM full EV is another.
I will never buy another GM, I’m looking at Genius now.
Yep she so good yet people have cars ordered for a year now can’t get em because of her crappy leadership and continued out sourcing of parts! But hey!! She’s ELECTRIC🤦♂️🤦♂️👎
Rightly or wrongly, the industry went to outsourcing a long time ago. Barra was not the one who decided to spin off Delphi and increase outsourcing. Ford also has supply problems recently. They ran out of Blue Oval Ford badges! These supply shortages are a worldwide problem and are caused by Covid shutdowns. Lay off Barra.
Yup, she so good she cause covid….
Yep, I ordered my new 2SS Camaro on November 9 2022 and GM has not even started to build it yet, now it’s going to be
2023 model.
GM, please get rid of her!!!
Now about those traditionally reliable older folks that want to buy a Buick sedan, like they’ve done for a century…
That older Buick loving generation is too old to drive or dead. The “current old people” Boomer women seem to be buying Honda CR-V’s and their industry wide clones while the men drive pickups, at least in my area.
That doesn’t make sense. Older generations are revolving as everyone ages.
Well, this article is gonna tweak the peanut gallery….
You already tweaked it with your dumb comment about Covid. The virus is nothing to joke bout.
???
Oh, I get it. You didn’t understand my post. I was pointing out the absurdity of criticizing Barra for the results of a pandemic that, by definition, affected the whole world. I was by no means belittling it. Quite the opposite. I was recognizing covid’s devastating, world-wide effect. Don’t ever let anyone tell you sarcasm goes over your head!
I’ve noticed that plenty of misogynists frequent this site, and they’ll probably have to Google “misogynist” to learn what it means lol
Nah, you can criticize a woman and not be a misogynist. In fact, contrary to popular opinion these days, you can criticize anyone and not actually hate them, you just disagree with or dislike their policy/actions.
Yes, but if a person continually, habitually focuses criticism on women–like, if a person sees an article about Mary Barra and reflexively writes a negative comment–that suggests the person thinks women are inferior. Which makes that person, by definition, a misogynist.
Ha! Wonder what’s getting downvoted, me or the definition of misogyny?
Rubbish. She’s not a good leader and it has nothing to do with the gender and color categories the lefties always want to compartmentalize people into.
What’s with that?
It’s very possible to be a lousy leader without naming people’s features and attributes.
Nothing? She’s done nothing to benefit GM? Talk about rubbish….
Where do I say she’s done nothing? Geez Esky, what a strange leap…
I’m going to assume you haven’t read the book about her that just came out recently “Charging Ahead”. Until you do you have no room to talk about her ability as a leader.
Being a part of the CCP has helped GM, based on that Barra is really the No 1 woman.
Mike Towpath Traveler:
The ignition switch debacle due to overweight key rings stressing the switch was not a design factor considered by the ignition switch vendor nor the reviewing engineers at GM. The ignition switch is vendor designed and made. The part is jointly reviewed by the vendor and the GM engineering unit group for this item for performance and durability. The chief of the GM unit group and reviewing staff engineers have to sign off on this. On the surface the unit looked fine, however on the subsurface the switch was not stout enough to support extra weight from trinkets and bling attached to the key ring. I’m sure the design guide for this item did not call this out. I’m sure it now does.
Mary Barra was far removed from this incident. She did fade the heat as CEO. I watched the congressional hearing and investigation. Now most ignition systems are push button with an e key in the pocket.
Barra has done a pretty good job running an organization that lost it’s path about 40 years ago. The corporation at that time was an overweight, lethargic, political slug that was floundering to find it’s way. Great divisions started to struggle and fall. We all know the story.
We as auto fans are concerned about the industry, particularly ” all in ” GM moving into uncharted EV waters with electric supply and political issues on the horizon.
I would chalk this ignition key incident up to experience.
Good for her, I think what she’s doing to GM is a travesty.
You would say that. You have nothing good to say in any of your posts. Put on some clean undies, the fumes are getting to you.
Carl has a valid opinion and you can’t cope with it. GM is going to lose a lot of Carls. You should take him at his word and not flippantly dismiss him…as GM shouldnt.
welll.. becoming the 4/50 CEO, she is a successful women, apart all, this is a truth, my wife never reach, and me as man neither