GM CEO Mary Barra's two-word dress code still applies
Back when General Motors CEO Mary Barra was an HR executive at the automaker, she revised the dress code from several pages to two words: Dress appropriately.Back then there was some agreement on what that meant.Get market news worthy of your time with Axios Markets. Subscribe for free.Why it matters: Now as people slowly return to the office, there's confusion. Many grew accustomed to elastic waistbands; we haven't buttoned or zipped pants in a while. There are big questions: Are sweatpants OK
news.yahoo.comBoosted by state incentives, General Motors making $7B investment in Michigan, creating 4,000 jobs
LANSING - General Motors, building toward an all-electric future, plans to invest $7 billion and create 4,000 jobs across four manufacturing sites in Michigan. “It will create ripple effects in our community for decades and decades to come,” said Orion Township Supervisor Chris Barnett. It was created late last year after Michigan lost out on an $11.4 billion electric vehicle investment from Ford Motor Company. They join the Factory ZERO plant, formerly Detroit-Hamtramck, that opened last year as an electric vehicle facility. General Motors plans to roll out 30 electric vehicle models by 2025 and transition to solely manufacturing electric vehicles in 2035.
mlive.comGM CEO Mary Barra says company is worth more keeping EV battery unit in house
General Motors CEO Mary Barra on Wednesday once again pushed back on spinning off its emerging electric vehicle battery business. Keeping the unit within GM will create more value for the company than spinning it off, Barra said. "For an electric vehicle, it's all about the battery," she said in an interview on "Squawk on the Street." Barra touted the company's plans to sell its Ultium battery cells as well as its Hydrotech fuel cell technology to other companies. Speculation and pressure from Wall Street about a potential spinoff of GM's electric vehicle operations has been rampant for some time.
cnbc.comGM responds to allegations of racism
DETROIT – GM is responding to allegations of racism that were printed in a full-page advertisement in Sunday’s Detroit Free Press. The advertisement accuses GM CEO Mary Barra of consistently refusing to meet with several Black-owned media companies. Detroiter Byron Allen is asking GM to allocate at least 5% of its advertising budget to go toward Black-owned media companies. The ad claims less than 1% of GM’s marketing budget goes toward Black-owned media companies. GMThe automaker cited its work with HBCUs, its partnership with National Association Of Black Owned Broadcasters and AIMM.
GM expands board to 13 with Meg Whitman and NBA's Mark Tatum
General Motors expanded its board of directors to 13, appointing former Hewlett-Packard chief Whitman and NBA executive Mark Tatum effective Thursday, March 25, 2021. Seven of GMs directors are now women, including board chair and Chief Executive Officer Mary Barra, who in 2014 became the first woman to lead a major U.S. automaker. (AP Photo/Richard Drew, File)DETROIT – General Motors said Thursday that it has expanded its board to 13 members and appointed former Hewlett-Packard chief Meg Whitman and NBA executive Mark Tatum as directors. There has been an acknowledgment in the U.S. and abroad that white men are overrepresented on the boards of major corporations. Women hold 43.8% of the board seats at companies in France’s 40 biggest publicly traded companies, the U.K. panel said.
Marriott CEO Sorenson, 62, dies of pancreatic cancer
FILE - In this Dec. 19, 2012, file photo, Marriott CEO Arne Sorenson speaks during a groundbreaking ceremony for a Marriott hotel in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Sorenson was the third CEO in Marriotts 93-year history, and the first without the Marriott surname. Sorenson reduced his schedule at Marriott this month to pursue a more aggressive cancer treatment. He was first diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2019; a recent routine scan had confirmed the cancer had returned, the company said. Sorenson was the first Marriott CEO whose name was not Marriott, and only the third to lead the company in its 93-year history.
Cost of a single Bitcoin exceeds $50,000 for first time
– The seemingly unstoppable rise of Bitcoin continued Tuesday with the cost of a single unit of the digital currency rising above $50,000 for the first time. Bitcoin is rallying as more companies signal the digital currency could eventually gain widespread acceptance as a means of payment. Some businesses also accept bitcoin, but its popularity has stalled out in recent years. Overstock.com appears to accept Bitcoin for most listings on its website, including cameras, vacuums and clothes. When this bubble bursts and at what price Bitcoin settles at is anyone’s guess,” Reiners said.
GM's Chevy Bolt SUV joins parade of new US electric vehicles
The Bolt Electric Utility Vehicle will go on sale early this summer as a 2022 model. About 2.5 million electric vehicles were sold worldwide last year. Fully electric vehicles accounted for less than 2% of U.S. new vehicle sales last year, and Americans continue to spend record amounts on larger gas-powered trucks and SUVs. IHS Markit analyst Stephanie Brinley said the new SUV is another step toward wider adoption of fully electric vehicles, but it will take many more. The credit is phased out after manufacturers hit 200,000 in electric vehicle sales, and GM and Tesla have both passed that level.
Autoworkers face uncertain future in an era of electric cars
It also clouded the future for 50,000 GM workers whose skills — and jobs — could become obsolete far sooner than they knew. But President Joe Biden has made the development of a U.S. electric vehicle supply chain a key part of his ambitious plan to create 1 million more auto industry jobs with electric vehicles. The more environmentally focused plants of the future will need fewer workers, mainly because electric vehicles contain 30% to 40% fewer moving parts than petroleum-run vehicles. At the century-old transmission plant in Toledo, GM workers make sophisticated six-, eight-, nine- or 10-speed gearboxes. Eventually, those parts will be replaced by far simpler single-speed drivetrains for electric vehicles.
GM 2020 profit drops, but it makes $6.43B despite pandemic
General Motors net profit fell 4.5% in 2020, but a strong second half more than offset the effects of pandemic-related factory closures and a costly air bag recall. (AP Photo/Richard Drew, File)DETROIT – General Motors' profit fell 4.5% in 2020, but a strong second half more than offset the effects of pandemic-related factory closures and a costly air bag recall. GM predicted the shortage will cost it $1.5 billion to $2 billion in earnings before taxes this year due to lost production. Still, GM expects pretax income for the year of $10 billion to $11 billion, or $4.50 to $5.25 per share. Of that, $6 billion would go to electric vehicles and $1 billion would go to autonomous, Chief Financial Officer Paul Jacobson said.
General Motors sets goal of going largely electric by 2035
The Detroit automaker's push into electric vehicles has gone into overdrive this year. By the end of 2025, 40% of its U.S. models will be battery electric vehicles. The company plans to include crossovers, SUVs, sedans and trucks in its electric vehicle lineup. It's also working with others, including the Environmental Defense Fund, to build out the necessary infrastructure to power its electric vehicles and to promote their use. It wants to be seen as a clean vehicle company, rather than a builder of cloud-spewing gas-powered pickups and SUVs.
5 CES Trends to Watch
FILE - People look at a 145 inch Ultra Large UHD display in the LG booth at the CES tech show, on Jan. 8, 2020, in Las Vegas. CES, the annual gadget show that showcases the buzziest and brightest tech, looks different this year less Vegas glitz, more internet efficiency. Trends to watch reflect the tumultuous year that preceded it. These include COVID-related robots and gadgets, products that make it easier to work from home, more uses for 5G technology, AI infused in everything, and TVs that can bend or even become transparent. On the last day of CES, Samsung will debut its new 5G enabled iteration of its Samsung Galaxy phone — an event that isn't affiliated with CES but still likely to draw buzz.
GM charges up new unit to sell electric delivery vans, gear
This photo provided by General Motors shows EP1 electric pallet. General Motors is forming a new business unit to tap the market for delivery vehicles and equipment powered by electricity. Then GM will roll out a clean electric delivery van. Showing Wall Street’s fascination with electric vehicles, GM shares rose to their highest intraday price since the company left bankruptcy protection in 2010. GM has pledged to roll out 30 new electric vehicles globally and spend $27 billion developing them by 2025.
General Motors CEO Mary Barra calls for peace: ‘It’s imperative that we come together’
FILE - In this July 16, 2019 file photo, General Motors Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Mary Barra speaks during the opening of their contract talks with the United Auto Workers in Detroit. General Motors says it will no longer support the Trump administration in legal efforts to end California's right to set its own clean-air standards. Barra said in a letter Monday, Nov. 23, 2020 to environmental groups that GM will pull out of the lawsuit, and it urges other automakers to do so. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)(Copyright 2019 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)
GM flips to California's side in pollution fight with Trump
DETROIT – General Motors is switching sides in the legal fight against California's right to set its own clean-air standards, abandoning the Trump administration as the president's term nears its close. CEO Mary Barra said in a letter Monday to environmental groups that GM will no longer support the Trump administration in its defense against a lawsuit over its efforts against California's standards. Already at least one other large automaker, Toyota, said it may join GM in switching to California's team. About a dozen other states follow California's standards. In September of 2019, Trump announced his administration would seek to revoke California’s congressionally granted authority to set standards that are stricter than those issued by federal regulators.
'More people may die': Biden urges Trump to aid transition
“More people may die if we don’t coordinate,” Biden told reporters during a news conference Monday in Wilmington, Delaware. The Trump administration is working on its own distribution plan, while Biden’s chief of staff indicated his transition team will proceed with their own planning separately because of the obstruction. Last week, a larger group of Republicans in Congress called on the Trump administration to allow Biden to begin receiving national security briefings. Since defeating Trump, Biden has devoted most of his public remarks to encouraging Americans to wear masks and embrace social distancing measures. But on whether Biden should receive coronavirus briefings, many of Trump's allies on Capitol Hill remained dug in.
'More people may die': Biden urges Trump to aid transition
“More people may die if we don’t coordinate,” Biden told reporters during a news conference in Wilmington, Delaware. The Trump administration is working on its own distribution plan, while Biden’s chief of staff indicated his transition team will proceed with their own planning separately because of the obstruction. Last week, a larger group of Republicans in Congress called on the Trump administration to allow Biden to begin receiving national security briefings. Since defeating Trump, Biden has devoted most of his public remarks to encouraging Americans to wear masks and embrace social distancing measures. But on whether Biden should receive coronavirus briefings, many of Trump's allies on Capitol Hill remained dug in.
GM to make electric vehicle, supply batteries for Nikola
General Motors announced its second major electric vehicle partnership in less than a week on Tuesday, this time a $2 billion deal with startup Nikola. In exchange for the 10-year deal, GM will get a $2 billion worth of Nikola's newly-issued common stock that will come three increments through 2025. GM has been under pressure from Wall Street to more quickly monetize its electric vehicle technology, perhaps spinning off its EV unit as a separate company. GM has its own battery electric truck, a GMC Hummer, due to go on sale a year ahead of the Badger. GM also will get supply contracts for batteries and fuel cells and electric vehicle regulatory credits that can be used by GM to comply with fuel economy and pollution standards, or sold to other companies.
Ivanka Trump tours GMs Technical Learning University with CEO Mary Barra
Michigan is a battleground state state for the 2020 presidential election, which makes it a popular place for candidates and their representatives to visit. The presidents daughter and advisor, Ivanka Trump, toured a General Motors facility in Warren Wednesday. GM CEO Mary Barra joined Deputy Commerce Secretary Karen Dunn Kelly and Ivanka Trump at the new GM Technical Learning University, where GM employees keep their skills current. Weve invested in a training facility, Barra said. This is a nice continuation of what weve been doing in this space in the most important resource of this country, which is our people, whether they be students or workers, Trump said.
LIVE STREAM: Ivanka Trump to tour GMs Technical Learning University with Mary Barra
Ivanka Trump is scheduled to be in Michigan on Wednesday for a tour at a General Motors facility. According to the White House, Ivanka Trump will tour GMs Technical Learning University at the Global Tech Center in Warren with Marry Barra, GM chairman and CEO, on Wednesday, Sept. 2. (She will) learn more about GMs programs to improve the technical ability of their skilled trades workers and manufacturing engineers, reads a statement from the White House. Prioritizing the American worker and their family is the top priority, and Im proud to visit General Motors Technical Learning University, where workers are learning on-the-job while earning a paycheck. Detroit, GM, and the talented GM workforce are ensuring the great American comeback is underway and Im looking forward to seeing firsthand, reads a statement from Ivanka Trump.
Ivanka Trump to tour GMs Technical Learning University this week with Mary Barra
Ivanka Trump is scheduled to be in Michigan this week for a tour at a General Motors facility. According to the White House, Ivanka Trump will tour GMs Technical Learning University at the Global Tech Center in Warren with Marry Barra, GM chairman and CEO, on Wednesday, Sept. 2. The group will meet apprentices and employees on campus and interact with a number of manufacturing and educational stations at the Technical Learning University.Ivanka Trump holds an advisor role in her fathers administration. Prioritizing the American worker and their family is the top priority, and Im proud to visit General Motors Technical Learning University, where workers are learning on-the-job while earning a paycheck. Detroit, GM, and the talented GM workforce are ensuring the great American comeback is underway and Im looking forward to seeing firsthand, reads a statement from Ivanka Trump.
Rising star in Detroit departs suddenly for Silicon Valley
The chief financial officer at General Motors, Dhivya Suryadevara, is trading Detroit for Silicon Valley in a surprise departure to join Jack Dorsey's startup, Stripe. She has helped the company strengthen our balance sheet, improve our cost structure, focus on cash generation and drive the right investments for our future. Stripe is maintaining a $2 billion balance sheet, more fortress-like than besieged, as so many major companies have become during the COVID-19 crisis. Adding to Stripes client roster this year alone are the companies Caviar, Coupa, Just Eat, Mattel, NBC, and Paid. I really enjoy leading complex, large-scale businesses and I hope to use my skills to help accelerate Stripes already steep growth trajectory.General Motors named John Stapleton, GM North America chief financial officer, as acting global chief financial officer, effective Saturday.
Plug it in: Electric car charging station numbers are rising
There are now 26,000 electric vehicle charging stations open to the public in the U.S., with more than 84,000 plugs. Currently electric vehicles make up only about 1.3% of total new vehicle sales in the U.S., according to the Edmunds.com auto site. But the bulk of the nations public charging network is much slower. Electrify America now has over 450 charging stations in the U.S. with more than 2,000 fast-charging outlets, Moran said. Guidehouse analyst Sam Abuelsamid said the number of chargers is increasing rapidly and should be enough to meet demand as more electric vehicles are sold.
Q&A with General Motors CEO Mary Barra
Its gotten a whole lot more complicated since Mary Barra took over as CEO of General Motors in 2014. People understood that were working hard to keep the environment safe for them. We feel that weve got a safe environment at work. The conversation Ive had with many different officials is they understand with the protocols that people are safe at work. And so we look at all the work weve done, what we want to do now is build on that.