Mary Barra

Barra remakes GM product development

March 28, 2013 06:01 CET
It has been just over two years since Mary Barra became the surprise pick to steer General Motors' global vehicle development. She'll get a report card soon. Over the next 18 months, GM is embarking on one of the company's busiest-ever launch schedules.... Read More »

 

Barra remakes GM product development

12:01 am U.S. ET | March 25, 2013
It has been just over two years since Mary Barra became the surprise pick to steer General Motors' global vehicle development. She'll get a report card soon. Over the next 18 months, GM is embarking on one of the company's busiest-ever launch schedules.... Read More »

 

How will GM look under Akerson's global brand push? Brazil gives clues

12:01 am U.S. ET | Jan. 26, 2013
As GM CEO Dan Akerson works on a global corporate reorganization, the decisions he faces are playing out in one of the company's most important emerging markets: Brazil. Akerson wants more accountability and flexibility among senior management as the U.S. automaker slugs it out globally with Toyota and VV. Among the choices he faces is whether one person in a country such as Brazil will oversee all operations or whether the top executive might be the country's Chevrolet chief.... Read More »

 

Malibu refresh will address rear seating, report says

10:29 am U.S. ET | Jan. 17, 2013
General Motors, seeking to revive sales of its new Chevrolet Malibu, is working on speedy design changes to the sedan -- including the rear seating -- to make it more competitive with other midsize models, two people familiar with the effort said. Updates will make the back seat feel roomier and the front end will gain some styling cues from the new Chevrolet Impala, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the plans are private.... Read More »

 

GM defends Opel plan based on new models, steady cuts

Jan. 16, 2013 10:24 CET
General Motors will stick with an Opel recovery plan that combines ambitious model rollouts with a "series of incremental things" to cut costs over time, the automaker said. Earlier this week, GM was forced to deny reports it was preparing to offload the European unit on partner PSA.... Read More »

 

Lutz, GM end consulting pact

2:50 pm U.S. ET | Jan. 15, 2013
Bob Lutz's 15-month stint as a paid consultant for GM has come to an end, the former GM product czar said today.... Read More »

 

2012 LOS ANGELES AUTO SHOW

GM touts Spark EV as fun for urban driving -- not as regulatory check mark

12:01 am U.S. ET | Nov. 27, 2012
GM is launching an electric version of its Chevrolet Spark minicar as a green, fun-to-drive option for urban dwellers -- not to “check a regulatory box,” GM product chief Mary Barra insists.... Read More »

 

GM maps its electric strategy

12:01 am U.S. ET | Nov. 19, 2012
Mary Barra spent the past several months with her team mulling a future electrification strategy for General Motors before reaching this conclusion: GM can't chase every fuel-saving technology out there.... Read More »

 

GM will focus on plug-ins and EVs, but not hybrids

2:09 pm U.S. ET | Nov. 14, 2012
General Motors' future green-car efforts will focus on plug-in hybrids and electric vehicles, rather than conventional hybrid powertrains, product chief Mary Barra said today.... Read More »

 

GM seeks top spot in U.S. customer loyalty

3:31 pm U.S. ET | Sept. 19, 2012
GM is aiming for industry-leading customer loyalty rates that could add more than $4 billion in annual revenue, product development and quality executives for the automaker said on Wednesday. GM wants to push its customer retention rates to at least 58 percent -- the rate of industry-leader Toyota -- from about 52 percent to 53 percent, the industry average in the United States.... Read More »

 

GM seen planning global reorganization to tackle 'fiefdoms'

Aug. 17, 2012 10:34 CET
GM CEO Dan Akerson is planning a reorganization of the automaker that would move it away from long-entrenched regional authority toward a structure built on global functions, said two people familiar with the planning.... Read More »

 

GM revamps vehicle line operations to streamline product development

11:21 am U.S. ET | July 25, 2012
GM is restructuring its product-development enterprise so that a single engineer takes full responsibility for each of GM's vehicle programs, a move aimed at increasing accountability and speeding the introduction of new cars and trucks. For years, a team approach has guided GM's product development, with oversight from a vehicle line executive, vehicle line director and a vehicle chief engineer.... Read More »

 

GM directors praise CEO Akerson; say he must fix Europe unit

June 11, 2012 13:19 CET
GM directors praised Dan Akerson's performance as CEO while saying he must now fix the automaker's European operations and begin grooming a successor. Akerson's legacy -- and the board's -- will be shaped in large part by whether he's successful in turning around GM's European operations. Analysts have estimated it will cost at least $1 billion to restructure GM's German unit, Opel, and it may take years to stop the losses.... Read More »

 

GM’s U.S. customer service chief adds global quality role

2:23 pm U.S. ET | May 24, 2012
General Motors said today it expanded the duties of U.S. customer service boss Alicia Boler-Davis by putting her in charge of global quality. Boler-Davis, 43, takes over global quality duties on June 1 from Terry Woychowski, 56, who is retiring after 32 years with GM.... Read More »