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MPWMost Powerful Women

Mary Barra says VW scandal won’t happen at GM

Alan Murray
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Alan Murray
Alan Murray
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Alan Murray
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Alan Murray
Alan Murray
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October 13, 2015, 4:04 PM ET

General Motors CEO Mary Barra said Tuesday that Volkswagen’s efforts to circumvent emissions measurements couldn’t happen at her company.

“I don’t think you’ll find something similar to that emerging from GM,” she said, citing the company’s review process.

Speaking at Fortune‘s Most Powerful Women Summit in Washington, D.C. about how the company addressed its own scandal involving faulty ignition switches, Barra said: “What I’ve learned, first of all, is to live your values. It’s easy to put words on paper. What we had to do was demonstrate our values. We put the customer at the center, we were transparent. That has allowed us to emerge a much stronger company.”

Barra sidestepped a question on the possibility that Apple gets into the car business. “We do work with Apple right now,” she said. “We enable Apple car play in our vehicles. I have tremendous respect for the company.”

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