GM CEO-designate Mary Barra starts with a truck James R. Healey, USA TODAY 10:14 p.m. EST January 12, 2014 Incoming CEO of GM, first-ever female to lead a major automaker, debuts the Canyon pickup.
GM CEO-designate gets first taste of media madhouse at intro of GMC Canyon She rolled out Canyon ahead of the Detroit auto show, gave boiler-plate replies to throngs of reporters afterwards, then left the building Canyon joins midsize Chevy Colorado in showrooms late this year; Barra takes GM's corner office Jan. 20
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DETROIT — General Motors' CEO-designate Mary Barra hosted her first giant product introduction here Sunday night, unveiling the 2015 GMC Canyon midsize pickup with a boast that it's so impressive, it'll make the minuscule small-truck market grow.
The Canyon, which goes on sale later this year with corporate companion Chevrolet Colorado, has "style, refinement and capability," she said, so will appeal to shoppers who didn't even realize they wanted such a vehicle.
GM says that, contrary to consensus, midsize-truck buyers have incomes similar to big-truck buyers, and many will prefer the smaller models because they're easier to park, use less fuel, will be priced lower and can carry close to as much as full-size models.
The midsize — formerly compact — pickup segment accounted for just 240,000 sales all of last year, about the capacity of an auto plant running two shifts. Two-thirds of those sales went to the Toyota Tacoma, so the Canyon's and Colorado's ability to expand the demand for midsize pickups is key to their success.
MORE: GMC midsize Canyon pickup debuted in Detroit
It's also the only way those two won't swipe sales from the recently redesigned, full-size GMC Sierra and Chevrolet Colorado, which are significant moneymakers for GM.
Barra, selected last month to replace CEO Dan Akerson on Jan. 20, said the Canyon and Colorado amount to the beginning of a GM "product onslaught."
She was on stage at the Russell Industrial Center here only as long as it took to make more-or-less expected comments about the new truck and hand the stage over to Mark Reuss, who replaces her as GM's global product chief.
The industrial center was designed by Albert Kahn and originally built auto bodies. It now provides studios and lofts for artists and space for special events.
MORE: Mercedes, Audi, Volvo show off new SUVs in Detroit
The real action for Barra came when she left the stage and was mobbed by reporters and camera operators in what was one of the most furious "scrums" at an auto press conference in a long time. The impromptu session was cacophonous, and she provided what seemed like scripted answers to a variety of questions and made no comments on substantive issues, such as whether GM plans to resume paying dividends to its stockholders.
Barra is in the spotlight because she's the first woman named to run a big auto company. GM's Detroit-based rivals Ford Motor and Chrysler Group have ranking female executives, but none who are a nod by the board of directors away from the corner office.
Barra joined GM as an intern in 1980 and has worked for the automaker her whole career. Akerson said when she took the global product chief's job, she stepped into a confused nightmare, and put it right better and faster than expected.
GM to pay new CEO Barra $1.6M in base salary
By JOSHUA FREED
January 17, 2014 4:02 PM
2shares
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In this Monday, Jan. 13, 2014,
file photo shows, incoming General Motors CEO Mary Barra is seen at the
awards ceremony for the North Americans Car and Truck of the Year award
at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit. General Motors
Co. says new CEO Mary Barra will get a base salary of $1.6 million per
year as she takes over the global automaker. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)
General
Motors Co. says new CEO Mary Barra will get a base salary of $1.6
million per year as she takes over the global automaker.
GM said in a filing on Friday that Barra will also be eligible for $2.8 million in short-term incentives.
Her
pay would climb further if GM shareholders approve a new long-term
incentive plan at their next annual meeting. Stock and option awards
make up the bulk of CEO pay at GM and many other publicly traded
companies.
Dan Akerson, who
retired as CEO Wednesday, had total 2012 pay of more than $11 million.
That included a base salary of $1.7 million and $9.3 million in stock
awards.
The federal government
limited executive pay at GM after the Detroit company took bailout
money in 2008 and 2009. But those restrictions are gone after the
government sold the last of its General Motors Co. stock on Dec. 9.
Barra
started as CEO on Wednesday. She has worked at GM since she was 18, and
got an engineering degree from what was then known as General Motors
Institute. Most recently she held what is widely considered to be the
most important job at GM: Senior vice president for global product
development. She has also been a plant manager, executive director of
engineering and head of human resources.
GM
said Friday that it expects Akerson will work continue to work there
for less than a year, with prorated pay. He will get up to $4.7 million
per year as a senior adviser, including a cash salary of $1.7 million.
GM
is also paying former vice chairman Stephen Girsky, who remains on the
company's board, to work as a senior adviser. He's getting a cash salary
of $600,000 and up to $750,000 in short-term incentives.
Shares of General Motors fell 46 cents to $38.54 in late afternoon trading.
Michelle Obama hosts new GM CEO Mary Barra
Nathan Bomey and Todd Spangler, Detroit Free Press
6:03 a.m. EST January 28, 2014
Barra will have a front row seat for President Obama's State of the Union address
DETROIT
-- General Motors CEO Mary Barra plans to attend tonight's State of the
Union address as a guest of first lady Michelle Obama — a month after
the company shed its government ownership and two weeks after Barra
became the first female CEO of a major automaker. Barra's
attendance marks a reversal of GM's strategy of avoiding the political
spotlight while the automaker was still fending off the derisive
"Government Motors" moniker in recent years. In summer 2012, fed
up with being used as a political football during the presidential
campaign, GM banned President Obama and Republican contender Mitt Romney
from its factories during the election season. While it's not
clear whether Obama will mention Barra or GM during the speech, the
president has consistently trumpeted the government's $49.5-billion
bailout of GM as a success. Barra — who gave Vice President Joe
Biden a tour of GM's exhibit at the Detroit auto show earlier this month
— will sit in Michelle Obama's box in the U.S. House balcony along with
Obama senior adviser Valerie Jarrett and Dr. Jill Biden, wife of the
vice president and at least 15 other invited guests. Another local
business executive, Andra Rush, founder and chair of the Rush Group,
also is attending the speech in Michelle Obama's box. Rush is owner of
Detroit Manufacturing Systems, an auto supplier that is adding hundreds
of jobs in Detroit. "The guests who have been invited to sit with
the first lady represent the stories of millions of Americans across the
country, who are working hard to better their communities, improve
their own economic outcomes and help restore opportunity for all," the
White House said in a statement. Barra also is expected to meet
with members of Congress on Wednesday for the first time since
succeeding Dan Akerson as CEO. Akerson stepped down Jan. 15 to help his
wife fight cancer, but will remain as an adviser for up to a year. She
will meet with Republicans and Democrats, including members of the
Michigan delegation. She told reporters last week that she
believes the strong majority of Americans have a positive opinion of GM
after the company reinvested $10 billion in the U.S. since 2009. But she
acknowledged that some people will never change their minds. "I
was honored to accept the first lady's invitation, and delighted to
represent the men and women of GM who are doing their best to make GM a
company that Americans can be proud of again," Barra said in a
statement. "America's resurgent auto industry is a great comeback story
and its contribution to our nation's economy should be a source of
bipartisan pride. GM is doing its part to help lead a stronger auto
industry that is creating new jobs and technologies." The trip
represents a new round of publicity for Barra, whose rise has generated
publicity outside of automotive circles. She has downplayed her status
as the first female CEO of a major automaker, telling reporters last
week that "my gender doesn't really factor into my thinking when I come
into the room." But she has emphasized science, technology,
engineering and mathematics (STEM) education as a "personal passion" —
an issue the president also has stressed. "I think we need to generate interest in the STEM fields," Barra said last week. Barra's
trip to Washington is the latest stop in her first road trip since
relinquishing her job as GM's global product chief to become CEO. She
visited GM's European headquarters on Monday to emphasize her commitment
to the company's Germany-based Opel brand, which hasn't turned a profit
since the last century. GM has reported 15 consecutive profitable
quarters, recently recaptured its investment-grade credit rating and
returned to the Standard & Poor's 500 Index. She told
reporters last week that she plans to "accelerate" GM's current path
without making significant "right turns or left turns." Her trip
gives the White House another opportunity to boast about the GM bailout.
The government lost about $10.5 billion on the bailout, but President
Obama has maintained that it helped save millions of jobs. But in a
statement about the State of the Union, GM was careful to emphasize
that the bailout drew bipartisan support, with the first dose of
emergency cash coming from President George W. Bush in late 2008. "We
will always be grateful for the action taken by two administrations,
the taxpayers' support, and the congressional members who stood with us
during the industry's recovery," Barra said.
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