General Motors Chair and CEO and MBA ’90, Mary Barra, on the Future of the Auto Sector

All right, Romaine, thank you so much. And this is a great back job for our guest here, right here on Bloomberg Business Week on radio, on TV and YouTube and Quick Take. We are welcoming the chairman and CEO of General Motors. We're talking about Mary Bar, who is a Stanford graduate school of business alum, Class of 1990. Mary, first of all, so good to have you here. We want to talk about your time here at Stanford. It's raining. I think you probably have a lot more sun when you are here, but so grateful to have you here.

好的，Romaine，非常感谢你。对我们的来宾来说，这是一项很棒的工作，我们将在Bloomberg Business Week的广播、电视、YouTube和Quick Take平台上进行。我们欢迎通用汽车公司董事长兼首席执行官。我们正在谈论玛丽·巴尔（Mary Bar），她是斯坦福大学商学院校友，毕业于1990年。玛丽，首先很高兴你来这里。我们想谈谈你在斯坦福的时间。现在下雨了，但我觉得你在这里的时候应该更多见到的是阳光，非常感谢你来这里。

We have to ask you first about the economic outlook. When you look at what's to come, do you think about recession, how does it feel to you? Well, you know, I'm not an economist, so I can't really call a recession, but I can tell you what I'm seeing in the business right now. And at General Motors, I think on the strength of our products, we're still seeing a very strong demand and pricing. It's moderated a little, but so well ahead of levels that we're pre-COVID-in-pre-the-Semiconductor shortage. So it's some people are continuing to watch on a daily basis. But for the auto industry, we're seeing a little bit from a used car pricing, but still very strong demand.

我们首先要问一下您对经济前景的看法。当您看到即将到来的情况时，您是否考虑到经济衰退的可能性，这对您的感受如何？嗯，您知道，我不是经济学家，因此我不能确切地称这是一次经济衰退，但我可以告诉您我现在在业务中所看到的情况。在通用汽车方面，我认为凭借我们的产品实力，我们仍在看到非常强劲的需求和定价。这种情况已经略有缓和，但仍然远高于疫情前和半导体短缺前的水平。因此，有些人仍在日常关注着这种情况。但对于汽车行业来说，我们看到二手车定价略微有所下降，但需求仍然非常强劲。

How does that change your outlook at all for 2023 and what you're expecting next year? Give us an idea of indicators that you're watching. Sure. Well, one of the things is we are planning for, we decided to put our plan around a more conservative market around 15 million SAR, which is the seasonal adjusted sales rate. And because we understand that we set everything up, if there's more opportunity, we'll be able to seize the opportunity. But we're taking the approach that we're going to be very mindful of costs as we go into next year. We have a strong product portfolio with new mid-sized trucks coming off of new trucks that we've just launched this year. So we're confident our product portfolio, but we're going to be conservative with costs.

这对你对2023年的展望和你对明年的期望有何影响？能告诉我们你正在关注的一些指标的想法吗？好的。其中之一是，在更为保守的市场环境下，我们计划以约1500万SAR的季节性调整销售率为基础制定计划。因为我们了解到，如果有更多机会，我们将能够抓住机会。但是我们采取的方法是，我们会在下一年中非常注意成本。我们有一个强大的产品组合，其中包括即将推出的新中型卡车和我们今年刚刚推出的新卡车。因此，我们对产品组合充满信心，但我们将在成本方面保持保守。

You know, Mary, you also, you guys just gave us an update just a short time ago. And you talked about your EV expectations. One thing we wanted to ask you, some of the things that General Motors has talked about, those EV incentives, thanks to the inflation reduction act. You know, it has said that you guys will do EVs, will reach parity with conventional cars, will help profits reach parity between EVs and conventional cars. Does that mean that General Motors thinks it will sell 1 million EVs in 2025 without those incentives? I wonder if you could give us some clarification and call around that.

你知道，玛丽，你们刚刚不久前给我们更新了一些消息。你们讨论了你们对电动车的期望。我们想问一下，通用汽车提到的那些电动汽车激励政策，是否因为通胀减少法案而实施？通用汽车曾表示，将会让电动汽车与传统汽车相比具有竞争力，并帮助利润达到电动汽车和传统汽车之间的平衡。这是否意味着通用汽车认为在2025年将会在没有这些激励的情况下销售100万辆电动汽车呢？请你给我们进一步的澄清和解答。

We know we made that statement and that set that goal for ourselves that we'll have the capacity to be able to sell a million units in North America, and frankly, in China by 2025. And we think with the strong product portfolio we're going to have at different price points, you know, from from the Cadillac lyric to the, the Hummer, the Chevy Silverado, the GMC Sierra, down to a Chevy Equinox, a Chevy Blazer, we're going to have the products across the market that are going to allow us to achieve that metric. So we think we've got the right plan. This was all in place before the incentive package came as a part of IRA, but we're, you know, we think that will help. And it's doing what it was supposed to, we think it was intended to do, was to drive EV adaption. And, you know, we've invested a lot in the United States, creating jobs, which I think is going to create a stronger economy. So I think it's going to accomplish the objectives. And if, you know, it happened to be very aligned with the plan, we were already executing. Do those incentives that will help margins? Like it's not a bad thing to have, right? Well, no, I mean, because if you think about it, you know, from an electric field perspective, the battery is the most expensive piece. And where everyone is working to improve battery technology, I think General Motors is in a leading position or among the leaders from a battery cost perspective.

我们知道我们曾经表达过目标，希望到2025年在北美和中国销售100万辆汽车。我们认为我们在不同价格点上将拥有强大的产品组合，从Cadillac Lyriq、Hummer、Chevy Silverado、GMC Sierra、Chevy Equinox、Chevy Blazer等，这些产品将覆盖整个市场，允许我们实现这一目标。我们认为我们有正确的计划，并且这一切都是在IRA优惠政策之前设定的，但我们认为这将有助于推动电动汽车普及。我们在美国投资了很多，创造了就业，我们认为这将带来更强大的经济。这些优惠政策是否有助于提高利润率呢？这不是一件坏事，对吧？我认为不是，因为从电动汽车的角度来看，电池是最昂贵的部件。每个人都在努力改进电池技术，我认为通用汽车在电池成本方面处于领先地位或列于领先企业之列。

Our plan to know how it was now producing cells. So that's a big advantage. And we have another plan coming on next year in the year after. So I think that's going to be important. But to really get all companies and consumers to move forward to EVs, I think this is very important. So yes, we think that it will be helpful and allow us to continue to invest in the United States. I do want to talk a little bit more about that battery plant in Ohio, the ulti-unbattery plant in Lourdes, town, Ohio. Next week is set to vote on whether or not to join the union. Workers there, that is. This is a big deal. It's the first battery plant to have a vote in North America.

我们的计划是了解目前如何生产电池，这是一个很大的优势。我们还有另一个计划即将在明年或后年推出，我认为这对于推动所有公司和消费者转向电动汽车非常重要。是的，我们认为这会有所帮助，并允许我们继续在美国投资。我想再谈一下俄亥俄州的电池工厂——Lourdestown的Ultium电池工厂。下周将投票是否加入工会，这是件大事。这是北美第一个电池工厂投票。

Do you think the EV business will include the union? And is it good for America to have a union in bulk in this? Well, you know, we're very supportive of the plant being unionized. You know, we have a very productive relationship with our labor partners around the globe. We work together on safety, which I think is fundamental on quality. And so, you know, obviously the employees are going to be voting, but we're very supportive.

您认为电动汽车业务是否将包括工会？在美国大规模拥有工会是好的吗？嗯，您知道，我们非常支持工厂实现工会化。我们与全球的劳工伙伴保持着非常高效的合作关系。我们一起致力于安全和质量，这是非常重要的。显然，员工将进行投票，但我们非常支持。

Mary, one thing, and it looks like maybe this issue is being dealt with. Because, you know, it's funny. We talked with John Levin, the dean of Stanford, tried to school a business about just how they get students ready. So, just so many different things that's going to potentially come at them as leaders. And I was just thinking about the real strike, like leading up to this infant interview with you. It looks like from Tech Schumer that maybe we can put this to rest. But have you guys been strategizing around that and that the impact it could have on GM? If indeed, it went down.

玛丽，有一件事，而且看起来这个问题可能正在得到解决。因为你知道，很有趣。我们和斯坦福大学院长约翰·莱文谈过，试图教给商界一些关于如何培养学生为领袖的知识。所以，可能会有很多不同的事情向他们挑战。而我正在想真正的问题，就像在和你进行这次采访前所进行的一次面试。从Tech Schumer那里看起来，或许我们可以解决这个问题。但是，你们有没有就此进行策略规划，以及它对通用汽车可能产生的影响呢？如果确实出现了这种情况。

Oh, absolutely. We've been, you know, even several weeks ago when the first deadline came up, or we're watching it very closely. We're encouraging the parties to find an agreement. If we'll have an impact, there's, you know, when you look at how parts and product are moved across the country, it will have a significant impact. But we've done the plenty that we can and we understand and also are having the right communication with the rail companies.

哦，当然。我们一直在密切关注，即使在几周前的第一个期限到来时，我们也是如此。我们正在鼓励各方找到一致意见。如果我们发挥作用，当你看到货物和产品在全国范围内如何运输时，它会产生重大影响。但我们已经尽了我们最大的努力，并且我们理解并且与铁路公司有着正确的沟通。

All right. We appreciate you weighing in on that. Hey, one thing we wanted to ask you too, man, like the news for General Motors just comes fast and furious. There was a report yesterday, a Wall Street Journal tech crunch about these ride-sharing robo taxis with no steering wheels. I don't know. What can you tell us about this? And this is coming through the GM cruise division. What can you tell us about this? Is this something that you guys are working on and really pushing ahead on?

好的，谢谢你对此的关注。嘿，我们还想问你一件事，就是关于通用汽车的新闻，似乎接连不断。昨天有一篇华尔街日报和《科技先锋报》的报道，说他们要开展一项无方向盘的骑行共享无人驾驶出租车计划。我不知道。你能告诉我们更多吗？这是从通用汽车cruise分部推出来的。你能告诉我们一些关于这项计划的情况吗？你们正在努力推进这项计划吗？

Absolutely. We'll be ready to watch the margin next year. And it is a vehicle that's purpose built for ride-share. Cruise has the technology where the only company that is operating and actually charging for ride in San Francisco. By the end of the year, we'll have vehicles operating in Phoenix as well as Austin. And so we think a lot of people think this technology is five or 10 years away. It's here now and couldn't be more proud of the cruise team. And I think when we have the origin, if people are going to see that it really takes a ride-share up a notch with the comfort, the convenience that you have with autonomous vehicle right here. So couldn't be more supportive and very excited about this technology.

没错。明年我们会准备好观察投资回报率。而这款车是专为拼车而设计的。Cruise拥有这项技术，是在旧金山唯一可以操作和收费的公司。到年底，我们将在菲尼克斯和奥斯汀同时运营这款车。因此，我们认为许多人认为这项技术还需要五到十年才能实现。但它现在已经到来了，我们非常为Cruise团队感到自豪。当我们拥有这款车后，人们将会看到它的舒适性和便利性可以将拼车提升一步，这正是自动驾驶汽车带来的好处。所以我们非常支持并对这项技术感到非常兴奋。

OK, so RoboTaxi is coming soon. Maybe we'll take a ride in the next time we're here at Stanford. Hey, Mary, you're on the board of Walt Disney. So I got to ask about the recent shakeup there. When did the discussions start to make a change and bring back Bob Eiger?

好的，RoboTaxi很快就要到来了。也许下次来斯坦福时我们会乘坐它。嘿，玛丽，你是迪士尼董事会成员。所以我必须问一下最近那里的动荡是什么时候开始讨论的，以及为什么要重新任命鲍勃·艾格尔？

Well, you know, I'm really not here to talk about Disney. And I'm not going to talk about this specific timing that's confidential from a board perspective. But what I will say is we are incredibly confident. I'm personally confident in Bob's ability to set the strategic direction where we've renewed growth just as he has done in the past. This is a period of enormous change. And Bob understands that. And he's really uniquely suited to navigate the challenge in space in Disney and the broader industry. And he'll focus and take the right steps as it relates to efficiencies and a cost effective structure. But I think the initial message that he has so important that creativity is the heart and soul of the company. So the board will work closely with him to identify and have the right succession process in this two years. But I think right now, if you look at what he accomplished in 15 years, he's the right leader, his legacy on storytelling and what he accomplished with the company is really undeniable. So I think he's the right person for the job.

嗯，你知道，我真的不在这里谈论迪士尼。而且我也不会公开谈论这个机密的董事会视角下的具体时间问题。但是我可以说，我们非常有信心。我个人很有信心，相信鲍勃在制定战略方向方面的能力，就像他过去所做的一样，推动了公司的增长。这是一个巨大变革的时期，鲍勃明白这一点，他真的非常擅长应对迪士尼和更广泛行业中的挑战。他将会着眼于提高效率和成本效益的结构，采取正确的步骤。但是我认为，他最初传递的信息非常重要，即创意是公司的灵魂。因此，董事会将与他密切合作，确保在未来两年内制定正确的继任计划。但是，从他过去15年所取得的成就来看，他是适合这个职位的合适人选，他在讲故事方面的遗产以及他为公司所取得的成就真的是不可否认的。所以我认为他是合适的人选。

Mary, we said a lot of things coming at you fast and furiously. I think about Twitter and GM and advertising. What are your expectations about Twitter going forward? Is it just kind of a wait and see approach to see whether or not you want to have advertising back on the platform? How do you feel about that?

玛丽，我们刚刚向你快速地提出了许多话题。我在思考推特、通用汽车和广告的问题。你对推特未来的预期是什么？你是采取等待观望的态度来看是否要再次在平台上投放广告吗？你对此感觉如何？

Yeah, we just want to better understand. When make sure that there's the right monitoring of content, our brands are very important. And so we are continuing to work with the Twitter team and understand where they're going. And we'll continue to monitor that.

是的，我们只是想更好地理解。确保内容监控正确，我们的品牌非常重要。因此，我们将继续与Twitter团队合作，了解他们的发展方向。我们会继续监测这一情况。

I have to say one of the things and prepping for this is you gave a speech. I think it was back in 2016 to graduate. And you talked about how when getting an MBA, everybody thought about Gordon Gecko of the Wall Street Ruby, I think it has definitely evolved when you think about all the different people get MBAs and where they go.

我得说，为此做准备的其中一件事是，你曾在2016年为毕业生发表演讲。你谈到说，当人们考虑攻读MBA时，大家都会想到《华尔街》中的Gordon Gecko，但我认为这种想法已经发展得更为多样化，我们可以看到很多不同的人攻读MBA以及他们所去的领域。

What is though the smart conversation about women specifically in senior roles? You did it. But it's interesting, even though there's parity among men and women maybe at business schools, it's not necessarily in the C suite. And I'm curious what your thoughts are. What's the smart conversation about getting more women in senior roles?

针对女性在高级职位中的聪明谈话是什么？你做到了。但有趣的是，即使在商学院中，男女之间的平等也并非在C级主管团队中实现。我很好奇你的想法是什么。关于如何让更多女性担任高级职位，有哪些聪明的谈话？

Well, I think for me personally, my time at Stanford was transformational. I always say in some cases, I didn't know what I didn't know. And I talked to you so much about business being the fact that I had an engineering degree. And that's where I'd degree at a pursuit before I went there. So I think continuing to attract women into business school is very, very important.

我认为对我个人来说，斯坦福的时光是具有转型意义的。我经常说，在某些情况下，我不知道自己不知道些什么。我曾经跟你谈过自己拥有工程学位的事情，而这也是我去斯坦福之前追求的学位。因此，我认为继续吸引女性进入商学院非常重要。

But then, like Stanford, they have specific initiatives to work to make sure women are prepared for getting to the C suite and have a network and support to do that. So I think we just got to keep working it. I think a lot of it rests on companies to have the right pipeline.

然而，和斯坦福一样，他们有特定的倡议，旨在确保女性为进入高层管理层做好准备，并拥有相应的网络和支持。所以我认为我们必须继续努力。我认为其中很大一部分责任落在公司拥有正确的渠道上。

It's not something you do at the last minute. It's what you do. The minute someone joins the company and having a strong pipeline through each of the different areas of the company. And that's what we try to do at General Motors.

这不是最后一刻才做的事情，这是您需要做的事情。当有人加入公司时，您需要在公司的各个不同领域建立强大的管道。这是我们在通用汽车公司试图做的。

But I think the learning that an MBA provides definitely allows both everyone who attends the opportunity to be prepared to succeed. Mary, 20 seconds, one trait that you got from being at Stanford that you take with you today.

但是我认为MBA课程所提供的学习绝对使每个参加者都有机会成功。玛丽，你在斯坦福的经历中学到的一个特点是什么？请在20秒内回答。

Oh my gosh, there are so many things that I learned at Stanford. But I think one of the key things is, and what is I think so special about the Stanford Graduate School of Business is their focus on leadership. Because leadership, no matter what challenge you face, engaging people, being able to set the strategic direction, it all centers on having stronger leadership. And that's a focus. And I think a big distinguisher of what the Stanford Graduate School business has had a couple.

哦我的天，我在斯坦福学到了很多东西。但我认为其中一个重点就是 斯坦福商学院对领导力的专注。因为领导力无论面对什么挑战，能够激励人们、设定战略方向，都是强大领导力的核心。而这是一个重点。我认为，斯坦福商学院在几个方面都有很大的优势。

Well, many would argue that you have done that at General Motors in terms of putting it on a sustainable path and sustainability path, if you will, in terms of the product. Mary Bar, thank you so much. We so appreciate it. The chairman and CEO of General Motors joining us on Bloomberg Business Week on radio, TV, YouTube, and CritTech.

很多人认为，你已经成功地带领通用汽车走上可持续发展的道路，特别是在产品方面。Mary Bar，非常感谢你的参与。通用汽车的主席和首席执行官在Bloomberg Business Week的广播、电视、YouTube和CritTech上与我们一起。

Mary B. Well, thank you. Stanford Class, Graduate School of Business 1990. Thank you, Mary.

玛丽·B，谢谢你。斯坦福商学院1990届研究生班。谢谢你，玛丽。 （翻译为口语化） 玛丽，谢谢你啊！很荣幸能进入1990年的斯坦福商学院研究生班。真心感谢你！