New Sheriff in Town (GM Gets a New CEO)

General Motors wasted no time in naming a new chief executive officer (CEO) after its’ current Chief Executive Officer Dan Akerson announced his own imminent retirement. Just one day after the U.S. Treasury Department sold off the last of its stake in General Motors, Akerson’s departure was quickly followed by the news that Mary Barra will take over the vacant slot, a position that makes her the first woman CEO of a major automaker and one of the few women in the world named to head a major industrial corporation.

Akerson, who had been the CEO and chairman of the GM board since 2010, announced his early retirement after learning that his wife had been diagnosed with advanced cancer. The CEO exchange was not a total surprise for most GM insiders as Mary Barra was already the highest ranking woman executive in GM’s history and Ackerson had already named her as the favorite candidate for his job.

Considered by many as one of the most influential women in the manufacturing world, Barra takes over GM at a time when the company faces a challenging future with the goals of producing more efficient cars faster than ever before. Under Barra, GM must address the realities of the 21st century in order to reshape its future vehicle designs and better manage its huge worldwide supplier network. Barra will have to steer GM through the next revolution in personal transportation presented by self-driving cars as well as make some tough decisions concerning the uncertain fate of the Buick and GMC brands. The ongoing consolidation of GM’s existing vehicles into a fewer number of global platforms will also present the new CEO with technological challenges on the way to securing future profitability.

A 33-year veteran General Motors employee, Barra comes from a long-time GM family as the daughter of a tool and die maker. She also attended GM’s own university and eventually rose to run a GM auto factory as a full-fledged engineer. It is hoped that Barra’s strong GM credentials will give her the insight and flexibility needed to smooth out shaky relations with the United Auto Workers Union and to better work with the struggling City of Detroit as she steers one of the world’s largest companies into the future. However Barra’s tenure turns out, it will definitely be interesting to see if her leadership can restore GM’s dominance in the world’s auto markets.