Two Big Things Happen At GM – And Both Are Good Things

A Rare Success Story in the American Economy

When calmer, rational and intelligent news reporting takes over from the current slobs who write for the media they will marvel at the tremendous success the government had in its bailout and saving of the auto industry in general and GM in particular.  The government has just sold its last remaining shares of GM stock (the reputation of Mr. Obama as a closet socialist taking a big hit.  The loss on the entire deal was about $10 billion, which sounds like a lot but as a cost of saving an entire industry, just about nothing.

The company has done spectacularly well, primarily because the government let it be run without interference.

As CEO, Akerson presided over a stunning transformation. GM has gone from nearly disappearing to 15 consecutive quarters of profitability. It expects to sell more than 10 million cars this year. It offers an electric car, the Volt, with an onboard generator that cures “range anxiety.” The 2014 Impala has been picked byConsumer Reports as best car of the year. Yes, the Impala. China is now its biggest market.

And now GM has announced that a woman will be taking over as CEO of the company.

Just a day after the U.S. Treasury Department sold the last of its interest in General Motors (GM), Chief Executive Officer Dan Akerson, in a surprise to many, has announced his retirement. And the board chose Mary Barra (whom Tim Higgins profiled for Bloomberg Businessweek in June) to run the company.

So what do we know about Ms. Barra?  Well without any investigation or even knowing she existed we can say that she is highly, highly qualified for the job.  Why can we say that?  Because she is a woman, and in order for a woman to rise to the top job in GM she would have to be far more capable than any man.  That’s the only way a woman would be considered, even in this day and age.