General Motors appoints Mary Barra as chairman

General Motors announced on Monday that it has appointed Mary Barra as the company's chairman, effective immediately. Barra, who has served as the CEO of General Motors since January 2014, succeeds Theodore Solso, who will continue serving as the Board’s lead independent director. Her appointment as CEO made her the first woman to head a major automaker.

 “At a time of unprecedented industry change, the Board concluded it is in the best interests of the company to combine the roles of Chair and CEO in order to drive the most efficient execution of our plan and vision for the future,” Theodore Solso said in a company statement. “With GM consistently delivering on its targets and on track to generate significant value for its shareholders, this is the right time for Mary to assume this role,” he added.

Solso indicated Barra has set a clear vision for the organisation over the past two years, formed a strong leadership team from inside and outside the company, delivered strong operating results and led the introduction of breakthrough vehicles and technologies.

Commenting on her new appointment, Barra said: “I am honored to serve as Chair of the Board of Directors. With the support of our Board, we will continue to drive shareholder value by improving our core business and leading in the transformation of personal mobility.”

On a visit to India in July last year, Barra had stressed on the need for localisation. Moreover, as a part of GM's effort to strengthen presence in the emerging market, she announced an investment of $1 billion in India, with plans to introduce 10 new models in the next five years. This investment was a part of the company's global plan to invest $5 billion to strengthen business in emerging markets through the development of an all-new vehicle family.

The investment would be made at the carmaker's Talegaon plant, near Pune. The carmaker announced plans to ramp up production to in this facility to 2,20,000 units by 2025, up from the current 1,30,000 units. The Halol plant in Gujarat, on the other hand, would be shut down before the second half of 2016.

The Trailblazer SUV was first of the new models to be launched, when it was rolled out in October at an introductory price of Rs 26.4 lakh (ex-showroom, Delhi). The Spin MPV is expected to be launched in early 2017. Plans are also underway to introduce the new Cruze, the Beat hatchback, as well as the Beat notchback.