For immediate release: Tuesday, April 15, 2014
GM CEO Mary Barra Remarks to J.D. Power/NADA Forum
NEW YORK – General Motors CEO Mary Barra spoke to the J.D. Power/NADA
Automotive Forum before the opening of press days at the New York International
Auto Show on Tuesday. Her prepared remarks are below. As always, the spoken
word takes precedence.
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Thank you, Peter [Welch], for that kind introduction.
I appreciate this opportunity more than you know. It is great to be in front of an
automotive audience… and it will be even better this evening at the Chevy press
event.
After all, I am here today… for that matter, most of us are here today… because we
love cars and have the privilege to work in the auto business.
And as events such as the New York Auto Show remind us, there is nothing else like
it.
Frankly, at GM, our passion for this business is driving us to make the best cars,
trucks, and crossovers in memory.
It also drives us to take the very best care of our customers.
And it drives us to make our company better, wherever we can.
I’m going to talk about that in a moment. But before I give you a progress report
on our recall situation… I want to provide an update.
I think it’s fair to say that much of the progress we have made in the last two
months has been overshadowed by the intensity of the recall coverage – but in fact
there has been a lot of good news to report.
In North America, this includes the critical launches of our heavy-duty pickups and
full-size SUVs. Incidentally, year-over-year sales of our full-size SUVs were up 62
percent last month, with availability of the all-new 2015 models building per plan.
Overall, our U.S. retail sales were up 7 percent in March, outpacing the industry.
Importantly, our average transaction prices set a new record of about $34,000 per
unit. That was up about $2,000 from February, and more than $3,800 from last
year. This means we are attacking the market with the kind of discipline that GM
was not previously known for.
Deliveries of the GMC Sierra and Chevrolet Silverado, the 2014 North American
Truck of the Year, were up 23 percent and 14 percent, respectively.
Meanwhile, deliveries of Chevrolet passenger cars were up 10 percent. The new
Impala was up 100 percent.
In China, we had record sales in March and the first quarter.
This is especially encouraging because we expect stronger industry sales in China
later this year when we’ll launch two all-new vehicles into the market – the
Chevrolet Trax Urban SUV and the Cadillac CTS.
There are bright spots in Europe. In Germany, we continue to see signs of a
rebound. Industry volume was up 5.8 percent in March versus a year ago and we
outperformed the market with a 10.7 percent increase.
And in Brazil, our Joinville engine plant achieved LEED certification – the only plant
in the region to capture this honor.
Back in the US, here’s a great indication of how strong our brands and dealers are
performing. Last week, J.D. Power released its 2014 U.S. Customer Service Index.
This measures customer satisfaction with dealer service.
All four of our U.S. brands – Cadillac, GMC, Buick and Chevrolet – were ranked in
the top 5.
In luxury brands, Cadillac was #1. In mass-market brands, Buick was #1, GMC
#3, and Chevrolet #5. Congratulations to our great GM dealers for this outstanding
performance!
Also last week, both the 2014 Chevy Equinox and GMC Terrain earned “Top Safety
Pick Plus” ratings from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. They were the
only two midsize SUVs to achieve the Institute’s highest safety rating. They join
the 2014 Chevy Malibu in earning this prestigious designation.
And speaking of Chevrolet… I hope you will join me, Mark Reuss, Alan Batey, and
the rest of the GM team at the Chevrolet press conference this evening.
We will unveil the first-ever supercar convertible from Chevrolet, the 2015 Corvette
Z06 Convertible… and the globally successful Chevrolet Trax Urban SUV, which we
are very excited to bring to the U.S.
This is going to keep Chevrolet on a roll!
After wrapping up last year with record global sales of nearly 5 million vehicles,
Chevy kicked off 2014 by claiming both the North American Car and Truck of the
Year with the Corvette Stingray and Silverado pickup.
Chevy has the strongest lineup in its history – from Spark to Impala… and starting
this fall, we will be offering three trucks in North America – midsize, full-size, and
heavy duty.
By the end of next year, 95 percent of Chevrolet’s U.S. portfolio will be less than
four years old.
Meanwhile, Consumer Reports named Impala and Silverado the best sedan and
truck you can buy.
And earlier this year, we announced that Chevrolet will be the first brand to offer
4G LTE on a broad line of vehicles.
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So, with that as perspective on what’s happening at GM in general… let me turn
now to the subject of our ignition switch recall.
Last week, we took several new actions related to customer safety:

We announced we will replace ignition lock cylinders in the 2.6 million
vehicles already recalled to repair ignition switches.
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We placed two engineers involved in the recall situation on paid leave as we
seek the truth about what happened.
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We announced that we are accelerating the certification of our engineers as
Design for Six Sigma black belts. To date, about 15,000 GM engineers have
been certified; we will now require all GM engineers to be certified as black
belts by the end of 2015.

We announced a “Speak Up for Safety” program to recognize employees for
ideas that make our vehicles and customers safer.

And most importantly, parts are arriving at dealers, trained technicians are
working and we are in the process of repairing cars.
These actions build on the well-documented steps we’ve taken over the last several
weeks to restore trust in GM. And of course that includes the actions of our
dealers.
I’m talking about dealers like Cargill Chevrolet in Putnam, Connecticut, which added
20 additional loaner cars to its fleet and called the owner of every single recalled
vehicle in their area – whether Cargill had sold or serviced it, whether it was new or
used. They even delivered a loaner car to one customer who lives more than 50
miles from the dealership.
Or Doan Chevrolet, near Rochester, N.Y., which has worked to ensure that every
single employee – whether they work in sales, service, or support – is fully
informed about the recalls. When a customer speaks to the dealership – in person
or on the phone – he or she is assured of accurate and up-to-date information.
These are just a few examples of the commitment our dealers are showing. So,
thanks to all the GM dealers who are living our values and putting the customer
first in everything they do.
All of us understand what is at stake here.
At GM, our first value is very clear: Customers are our Compass. But let’s face it –
it’s easy to come up with a list of values. What’s difficult is showing they are more
than words on paper.
Our actions in recent weeks show we at GM are committed to living our values. I
am committed to seeing it through.
Today, I would like to announce the creation of a new Global Product Integrity
organization within our Global Product Development function. This new
organization will build on the formula and specific actions we have taken in recent
years to lead the industry in vehicle dynamics. We will mirror this approach to
focus on safety performance. Our goal is to ensure the highest levels of execution
consistently across all our vehicles. The new organization will report directly to
Mark Reuss, who leads Global Product Development, and include Jeff Boyer’s new
safety organization.
This new way of developing vehicles will provide the highest levels of safety,
quality, and customer service… and ensure that a situation like the ignition-switch
recall doesn’t happen again.
Finally, I’d like to talk about culture.
In the last five years, we have made important and meaningful progress at GM in
changing the company’s culture.
Our focus is no longer on survival. We are more focused on quality and doing what
is right for the customer than at any time in my 33 years with the company.
A prime focus right now for me and a core group of people is on taking care of the
customers involved in the ignition switch recall and getting their cars fixed as soon
as possible.
Every interaction with our customers, whether in sales or service, is a part of
building a long-term relationship. That’s the mindset we’re using to approach this
situation – and I’m proud of the way the GM team has responded.
We know the world is watching and will judge us by our actions.
I held a town hall with employees last week, as did Mark. From that experience
and many others, I am confident that the team will learn from this recall, and that
GM will be a better company for it.
At the same time, the rest of the GM team around the world is focused on building
the great momentum that we established in recent years on the product front.
The big picture is clear – deliver great products with the highest levels of safety,
quality, and durability to all our customers around the world.
I’m proud our team is delivering on that front, and I know we will continue to do so.
That’s my pledge to our customers, dealers, suppliers and employees as we work to
make GM the best that it can be.
Thank you.
General Motors Co. (NYSE:GM, TSX: GMM) and its partners produce vehicles in 30
countries, and the company has leadership positions in the world's largest and fastestgrowing automotive markets. GM, its subsidiaries and joint venture entities sell vehicles
under the Chevrolet, Cadillac, Baojun, Buick, GMC, Holden, Jiefang, Opel, Vauxhall and
Wuling brands. More information on the company and its subsidiaries, including OnStar, a
global leader in vehicle safety, security and information services, can be found at
http://www.gm.com
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