In the dozen years since Mary Barra became chief executive of General Motors, many of the U.S. auto industry’s certainties about the future have evaporated.
Her first job as CEO in 2014 was to remake the century-old company’s corporate culture and regain customers’ trust following a tragic, reputation-wrecking ignition-switch crisis. Barra has since navigated a global pandemic, tariffs and supply-chain chaos, and the rise of AI as an unstoppable and industry-shaking force. Meanwhile, China’s nascence as an electric-vehicle superpower and a whiplash shift in Washington’s approach to EVs have created a sobering reality for every legacy carmaker: The American electric revolution that until recently appeared imminent is proceeding far more slowly than many in Detroit and Washington expected.
