442. Is it Too Late for General Motors to Go Electric?

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4.6 • 32K Ratings

🗓️ 3 December 2020

⏱️ 45 minutes

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Summary

G.M. produces more than 20 times as many cars as Tesla, but Tesla is worth nearly 10 times as much. Mary Barra, the C.E.O. of G.M., is trying to fix that. We speak with her about the race toward an electrified (and autonomous) future, China and Trump, and what it’s like to be the “fifth-most powerful woman in the world.”

Transcript

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0:00.0	Yes, she is the fifth most powerful woman in the world, according to Forbes.
0:08.3	Yes, she is the first big-time female CEO in an industry that's historically as male
0:14.4	as it gets.
0:16.4	But perhaps most impressive is the success she has had dragging her very tradition-bound
0:21.8	company into the modern era, despite a variety of headwinds.
0:25.9	Hello, I'm Mary Barra and I'm chairman and CEO of General Motors.
0:30.0	Mary, I understand you've set aside six hours to speak with us today.
0:33.4	Is that right?
0:34.4	Not quite six, but...
0:39.0	I just want to know what it feels like to be the CEO of a carmaker that makes $7.7 million
0:44.3	cars a year and has a market cap of $61 billion while a carmaker like Tesla, which makes
0:50.0	only 365,000 cars a year has a market cap of $473 billion.
0:57.4	Well, I think it's points to the opportunity that's in front of us.
1:01.1	And when you look at that valuation, it is saying there's growth opportunities with
1:05.1	electric vehicles.
1:06.1	So I think it, in one way, validates the strategy that we've been on and accelerated yesterday.
1:12.3	We spoke with Barra one day after she announced that GM has plans to electrify their entire
1:17.6	fleet of vehicles.
1:19.8	That change is real, Barra told investors, and we want to be part of the solution by putting
1:24.2	everyone in an electric vehicle.
1:27.1	Just so you know, in the couple weeks since we spoke with Barra, Tesla's market cap has
1:32.0	risen another $65 billion or so billion.
	...

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