General Motors CEO Mary Barra in 2022 announces a $7 billion investment in electric vehicles and … [+]
The CEO of General Motors Co. Mary Barra, nearly a decade on the job, on Monday reflected on various challenges this year.
GM absorbed a $1.1 billion hit from the United Auto Workers strike. Settlement of that walkout (and a new contract with Unifor, which represents GM workers in Canada) will add about $1.5 billion to North American labor costs next year. The Detroit-based automaker also faced operational problems at its robotaxi unit and problems with the production of electric vehicle batteries.
“We faced a lot of challenges and we faced them head on,” Barra, 61, said at an Automotive Press Association event in Detroit.
Barra has been the company’s CEO since January 15, 2014. Her first year was dominated by recalls for faulty ignition switches, where the problems had been known for years but went unreported.
More recently, Barra has been tackling the transition to EVs and the development of self-driving vehicles.
Under Barra, GM set a public goal of going all-electric by 2035. Other than 2023, GM hasn’t reached full Ultium EV battery speed. The automaker also said it is slowing EV production due to slower-than-expected consumer demand.
Barra said Monday that GM’s core strategy is sound.
“We’re in the early days,” he said. “We are still in the first round. The customer is reasonable. This is really an expensive market for them… We will continue to grow. We are not giving ground.”
Much of the push for electric vehicles has come from regulators in countries around the world seeking to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Barra was asked what would happen if President Joe Biden fails to win re-election in 2024.
The GM chief said EVs can win over consumers. “We want to be customer-driven, not regulatory driven,” he said. “We can’t change every four years depending on what’s going on in (Washington) D.C. We have to be super, super focused on the customer and what the customer wants.”
Cruise subsidiary robotaxi shut down after accidents involving driverless taxis in San Francisco. California pulled Cruz’s licenses to operate in the state.
Barra did not elaborate. He said a safety review of the cruise would run through the first quarter of 2024.
With this year’s UAW strikes, GM, Ford Motor Co. and Stellantis faced more aggressive tactics than the UAW.
Under union President Shawn Fain, the UAW went on strike at some operations at all three companies. Over time, the UAW lost work in additional factories.
The three companies agreed to pay 25 percent raises to UAW-represented workers for four and a half years and restore cost-of-living adjustments.
Barra said GM can work with Fain. “We will continue to work together” with the union, he said. “At GM we will certainly make the effort.”
