General Motors

The corporations on our annual list of the world's 500 largest companies combined to generate $41.7 trillion in revenue over the past year.

Fortune Global 500

Almost $20 trillion in revenue—and a record-breaking $1.87 trillion in profits. Introducing the 2025 Fortune 500, the definitive list of the biggest companies in America.

Fortune 500

The corporations on our annual list posted aggregate revenues of $41 trillion for the second year in a row.

Industries included in the sector are autos and auto parts manufacturers.

Fortune Sector Leaders: Motor Vehicles and Parts

The Fortune 500, in its 70th year in 2024, ranks the biggest U.S. companies by revenue.

The corporations on our annual list of the world’s largest companies delivered a record $41 trillion in aggregate revenues.

G500-2023-General Motors

The auto manufacturing giant led by Mary Barra jumped 14 spots on this year’s list. 
<ul> 
 	<li>Despite ongoing supply-chain issues and rising interest rates, GM brought in $9.9 billion in profits, down less than 1% from the year prior.</li> 
 	<li>Barra has set ambitious goals for GM’s electric vehicle conversion, and the company has pledged to sell only zero-emissions vehicles by 2035. GM cut prices on its existing EV models in late 2022, and also introduced the Equinox, a $30,000 electric SUV.</li> 
 	<li>GM is aiming to cut $2 billion in costs by the end of 2024. In early 2023, it initially avoided layoffs after 5,000 salaried workers took buyouts. The company later eliminated the jobs of several hundred contract workers.</li> 
</ul>

The Fortune 500, in its 69th year in 2023, ranks the biggest U.S. companies by revenue.

F500 2023-General Motors

The auto manufacturing company led by Mary Barra jumped four spots on this year’s list. 
<ul> 
 	<li>Despite ongoing supply-chain issues and rising interest rates, GM brought in $9.9 billion in profits, down less than 1% from the year prior.</li> 
 	<li>Barra has set ambitious goals for GM’s electric vehicle conversion, and the company has pledged to sell only zero-emissions vehicles by 2035. GM cut prices on its existing EV models in late 2022, and also introduced the Equinox, a $30,000 electric SUV.</li> 
 	<li>GM is aiming to cut $2 billion in costs by the end of 2024. In early 2023, it initially avoided layoffs after 5,000 salaried workers took buyouts. The company later eliminated the jobs of several hundred contract workers.</li> 
</ul>

Just as it dominates our economy, Big Tech now dominates Fortune’s annual ranking of corporate reputation.

World's Most Admired Companies

Aggregate sales hit $37.8 trillion last year—an increase of 19%, the highest annual growth rate in the list’s history.

This year’s Fortune 500 marks the 68th running of the list.

F500 2022 General Motors

General Motors has gone further than many established auto manufacturers in the race to develop electric vehicles: GM says it will sell only zero-emissions vehicles by 2035. In January 2022 the company announced a $7 billion investment in the remodeling of several of its Michigan manufacturing facilities, with the aim of boosting EV pickup production. GM also announced that month that it would begin selling used cars on a new online platform called CarBravo.

After a year in which humanity leaned more heavily than ever on tech giants, see which companies topped Fortune's ranking of corporate reputation.

Total revenue for the world’s biggest companies fell 4.8% to $31.7 trillion this year—the first decline in half a decade.

G500-2021-049-General Motors

Last year was a watershed for the auto industry from an investment perspective, as shares in incumbent carmakers came under pressure in the face of an mass investor exodus that favored upstart electric-vehicle manufacturers, especially Tesla. In August 2020, General Motors triggered the beginning of a rally in its stock price after unveiling its first serious Tesla competitor. The Cadillac Lyriq SUV will be built off a scalable architecture dedicated to battery-powered electric vehicles, an architecture designed to reduce costs and boost range. GM’s push into BEVs gained momentum following the November election. Days after President Biden took the U.S. back into the Paris Agreement in one of his first acts in office, CEO Mary Barra said her company would move to sell electric-only models exclusively by 2035—a dramatic shift for one of the giants of the automotive fossil-fuel era. As of mid-May 2021, GM’s stock had more than doubled since the Lyriq’s debut.

This year’s Fortune 500 marks the 67th running of the list.

F500-2021-22-General Motors

For an astounding 13th straight year, Apple claims the top spot in Fortune’s annual ranking of corporate reputation, based on a survey of almost 3,800 executives, directors, and analysts.

This year's Fortune Global 500 generated $33.3 trillion in revenues and $2.1 trillion in profits.

G500-2020-040-General-Motors

A 40-day strike by General Motors workers at the company's U.S. factories left many Chevrolet and Cadillac dealers without inventory at the end of 2019. While consumers showed interest in the company’s midsize crossovers like the Chevrolet Equinox and Traverse, sales of larger SUVs such as the Cadillac Escalade and Chevrolet Suburban declined, contributing to a 16% slide in profits last year. Meanwhile customers just aren’t buying the well-reviewed Chevrolet Bolt electric vehicle.

This year's Fortune 500 marks the 66th running of the list.

F500-2020-018-General-Motors

A 40-day strike by General Motors’ workers at its U.S. factories left many Chevrolet and Cadillac dealers without inventory at the end of 2019. While consumers showed interest in the company’s midsize crossovers like the Chevrolet Equinox and Traverse, sales of larger SUVs like the Cadillac Escalade and Chevrolet Suburban declined, contributing to a 16% slide in profits last year. Of concern for the future, customers just aren’t buying the well-reviewed Chevrolet Bolt electric vehicle.

Here are the World's Most Admired Companies for 2019 as ranked in their industries. See who made the list.

This year's Fortune Global 500 generated $27.7 trillion in revenues and $1.5 trillion in profits.

This year's Fortune 500 marks the 65th running of the list.

Here are the World's Most Admired Companies for 2018 as ranked in their industries. See who made the list.

This year's Fortune 500 marks the 64th running of the list.

Here are the World's Most Admired Companies for 2017 as ranked in their industries. See who made the list.

This year's Fortune 500 marks the 63rd running of the list.

Here are the World's Most Admired Companies for 2016 as ranked in their industries. See who made the list.

This year's Fortune Global 500 generated $27.6 trillion in revenues and $1.5 trillion in profits.

This year's Fortune 500 marks the 62nd running of the list.

Business insiders have spoken: Asked which companies they most admire, more than 4,100 executives, directors, and analysts chose these top 50 All-Stars.

The world's 500 largest companies generated $31.2 trillion in revenues and $1.7 trillion in profits in 2014. Together, this year's Fortune Global 500 employ 65 million people worldwide and are represented by 36 countries.

This year's Fortune 500 marks the 61st running of the list. Wal-Mart claims the top spot again. See who made the list.

Global business is back. After limping through a worldwide financial crisis and economic slowdown, the 500 largest companies ranked by revenues shattered all sorts of performance records in 2013: They racked up combined revenues of $31.1 trillion, up 2.5% from 2012, and profits soared 27% to nearly $2 trillion. China’s 95 companies (up from 89 last year) posted $5.8 trillion in revenues. The U.S. has four fewer companies on the list than last year but remains (for now) the country leader, with 128 corporations on the list—including No. 1 Wal-Mart Stores—reporting $8.6 trillion in revenues. 

Wal-Mart stayed on top as its sales crept closer to half-a-trillion dollars. Apple moved into the top five. And UnitedHealth Group continued its steady climb. 

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General Motors, founded in 1908, was the largest automaker by revenue in the U.S. in 2024. It manufactures cars, trucks, SUVs, crossovers, and commercial vehicles for its Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, GMC, Baojun, and Wuling brands. It wholly owns the self-driving car company Cruise, which it fully acquired in February 2025, and plans to use its technology to develop GM driver assistance technology.

Q2 2025

Q1 2025

Q4 2024

General Motors (GM): Company Profile, Stock Price, News, Rankings

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Companies

General Motors | Fortune

General Motors (GM): Company Profile, Stock Price, News, Rankings | Fortune

Nelson Repenning

Don Kieffer

2 MIT professors offer a case study to consider for AI adoption: GM versus Toyota in the 1980s

/2025/09/03/case-study-mit-general-motors-toyota-1980s-artificial-intelligence-lesson/

Eva Roytburg

In China, EVs are now cheaper than gas cars. In the U.S., the Big Three still haven’t closed a premium that’s $14,000 per vehicle

/2025/08/26/china-ev-prices-cheaper-gas-us-big-three-gm-ford-stellantis/

Sasha Rogelberg

Ford’s $5 billion bet on the ‘Model T’ of EVs could cost the company ‘billions’ more if it fails, analysts warn—mounting losses from its Model E woes

/2025/08/12/ford-5-billion-ev-investment-model-e-analysts/

Christiaan Hetzner

Morgan Stanley’s blunt challenge to GM CEO Mary Barra: ‘How does GM expect to be profitable with EVs when players like Tesla apparently cannot?’

/2025/07/23/gm-q2-earnings-mary-barra-morgan-stanley-tesla/

Sheryl Estrada

General Motors CFO: Agility is a key strength as tariffs deliver $1.1 billion hit in Q2

/2025/07/23/general-motors-cfo-agility-key-tariffs-deliver-1-1-billion-hit-q2/

https://fortune.com/2025/09/03/case-study-mit-general-motors-toyota-1980s-artificial-intelligence-lesson/?itm_source=parsely-api

Natalie McCormick

Ruth Umoh

Mary Barra attributes her rise to GM's corner office to a pivotal breakthrough: 'It was not just about how hard I worked'

https://fortune.com/2024/10/07/mary-barra-general-motors-women-ceo-leadership/?itm_source=parsely-api

What is a Fortune 500 company? The story behind the list

https://fortune.com/article/what-is-fortune-500-company-list/?itm_source=parsely-api

Emma Burleigh

Sorry Gen Z, the days of job-hopping salary hikes are over: For the first time in 10 years, staying loyal pays just as well

https://fortune.com/2025/03/20/gen-z-job-hopping-salary-difference-low-loyalty-career-strategy/?itm_source=parsely-api

Matthew Heimer

Scott DeCarlo

Apple tops the 2025 World's Most Admired Companies list for the 18th year in a row

https://fortune.com/2025/01/29/apple-nvidia-tech-ai-worlds-most-admired-companies/?itm_source=parsely-api

Nicholas Gordon

GM’s 100-year-old China business can’t keep up with the EV boom there

https://fortune.com/asia/2025/01/28/gm-china-electric-vehicles-byd-buick-mary-barra/?itm_source=parsely-api

Trump team signals rollback on some tariffs to reduce pain for suffering auto industry

https://fortune.com/2025/04/29/president-donald-trump-signals-tariff-reduction-for-auto-industry/?itm_source=parsely-api

Small cars are back because that's all Americans can afford

https://fortune.com/2024/07/30/small-cars-trucks-inflation-ozempic-monster-auto/?itm_source=parsely-api

The Associated Press

General Motors, Honda, and Hyundai are accused of inappropriately selling customer data

https://fortune.com/2024/07/26/general-motors-honda-and-hyundai-are-accused-of-inappropriately-selling-customer-data/?itm_source=parsely-api

Jessica Mathews

With General Motors pulling the plug on Cruise, every American automaker except Tesla has called it quits on robotaxis

https://fortune.com/2024/12/11/general-motors-pulls-plug-cruise-tesla-robotaxi-race/?itm_source=parsely-api

Mary Barra, Chair and CEO, General Motors (appearing virtually) Interviewer: Alyson Shontell, Fortune

Most Powerful Women Summit 2024: In The Driver’s Seat-  A Decade Into The Transformation 

Conferences

Ram Krishnan, CEO of PepsiCo North America, has been with the company for over 18 years, starting his journey at the Detroit office and moving through leadership roles across Dallas, Shanghai, and New York. In a conversation with Fortune, Krishnan shares insights on leadership, career longevity, and what it takes to elevate your professional growth to the next level.

Why I Make a Pie Chart of My Waking Hours

Leadership

Ram Krishnan, CEO of PepsiCo North America, shares his path to success, leadership advice, and why CEOs need mentors.

Everyone worries about getting the next job or the next promotion. You should worry about how to do the next job before you get the job. That was the best piece of career advice I ever got when you get the next job, people don't realize the clock starts right then and there, right, you at that point, you own the past, the present and the future. This is a series where we're looking at exploring the strategies and the mindsets of elite athletes and executive professionals to try to draw parallels between them and, and see what we can learn from, from each discipline. You know, we want to drive people to excellence both on the field in the boardroom or whatever, whatever, whatever your um specialism is. You know, you've had a fantastic career uh across, um you know, General Motors and Cadillac. And I think you've done plus over 18 years with Pepsico, you've been a leader in many different divisions. Um You've traveled from Shanghai to New York now. I think you, you started in Detroit, um went to Dallas, that's to an outsider, a very successful career. Um And a very exciting career. What would you say is your proudest achievement throughout that or in life? Yeah. No, it's a great question. If I were to reflect back, you know, I have after many years of going through this career, I came up with a purpose statement, right? What, what motivates me for me. Uh What motivates me is I aspire to learn, solve complex problems, transform a business, uh inspire talent through uh authentic leadership, leave a legacy. So there are a couple of instances in my career when I checked all those boxes, but not, not every year. So I think for me, an achievement is when all of those things line up and you have an opportunity to, you know, actually leave a legacy and an impact. So I think that's, that's kind of how I would look at it. Yeah, I had a couple of moments like that, any specific ones, uh I mean, I would say, you know, the assignment in Asia Pacific when I was uh based out of Shanghai, you know, was uh was a fantastic opportunity. Uh because it, we by the time we got done as a team, it was a complex problem because the growth um had moved from a portion of China which was east and south to much more central and west. And you had to figure out how do you redo the go to market? How do you redo the manufacturing footprint? What is your ambition? Because we had to reset our ambition because initially we were like, oh, we're growing as fast as a multinational. Well, are you growing as fast as the local Chinese manufacturer? Um and then a talent uh historically, we've been very much uh expat uh managed talent for us by the time we left, it was managed by the local talent. So, and then you think about the legacy and impact, you have amazing talent who are running the portion of the business. Uh the business has accelerated uh and it's done. So, you know, after whatever, 58 years since I left, so I think that to me checks out all the boxes that I talked about. So, yeah, so we had a couple of instances of having done that. And when was the first time you actually personally considered yourself a success, whether that's uh you know, education or professional or home, whatever it is. I don't know, I, you know, I success, it's kind of an interesting word. I personally have, you know, I got a healthy amount of discontent. I don't think I um look back on past achievements and reflect on it too much. I think that for me, what motivates me is it's about the uh the kind of the next challenge, the next learning. Uh Maybe one of these days I'll uh you know, we'll call it a day and retire and reflect. But I don't know. In fact, I would say I'm still trying to get better every day. So I don't know whether I would say there's one thing I said, yeah. Do you think people should celebrate the success more? Do you think people should take? I do, I do get advice from my wife especially to say that you need to, I don't know, I personally feel if you do that. Uh I just feel your motivation changes, right? You're um I don't know whether you're hungry enough. Uh whether you think you uh achieved uh the the peak of what you're trying to do. So personally, it worries me when, when you spend too much time celebrating uh kind of your achievements or rather look forward. You know, in fact, if you think about the definition of achievement, it's always interesting definition of achievement is you've completed a task. And when you completed a task, basically, you get the freedom to kind of move on to the next step and you start the next task. That's kind of how at least I looked at it. Fair enough. Everyone's got their own decoration and their own, their own views. So, um it's interesting to hear um and when you, when you are trying to achieve your goals and reach those, those, you know, benchmarks, what, what are your key nonnegotiable behaviors that, that you adopt that you take into those tasks. You know, I think maybe a couple of things that have sowed me. Well, one being in the moment, right? Which is easy thing to be said. But done. Meaning for example, I don't multitask when I'm in a meeting, even if it's like, I just finished a whole day of meeting. I don't multitask. I'm in the moment when I'm in a conversation, I'm not thinking about the next thing I'm gonna do, I'm talking to the person listening. So I think that is probably one, the second thing is consistency, uh is the notion of, you know, it's tough, like uh as executives, you go through a bunch of meetings throughout the day. How consistent are you in all of this meeting? I'm one of those people who have trained myself that every time there's a meeting and there's a pre read, I've actually gone through it formed a hypothesis. I come in for an engaged dialogue to do that consistently. Every single meeting. I think that's important and also consistently on how you uh interact with people just to make sure because, you know, for them, that might be the only interaction they have with you for the whole year. How you're consistent. Third is authenticity, right? Like I think really being true to yourself and who you are as a leader and, and that's how you deal with people. And I think people appreciate that. Like, how are you an authentic leader? And do you have any habits or rituals or anchors? I think a lot of people refer to them all that, that, that, that keep you going and, and keep that consistency or to help you keep those nonnegotiable behaviors flowing. Yeah. No, a couple of them. And I mean, these are all things that you develop over the years. Right. I don't think I started my career with these things, but if someone could start my career 10 years, well, first is making sure you're intentional about how you use your time. I think that's probably the biggest advice I would give people when they are starting off their career. Um I for an example, uh color code, my time management, right? So I have four or five buckets about how I manage time every other month we audit and see how am I spending my time and do I need to? Of course, correct. So it's a very intentional thing because I remember reading, I think this average human lifespan is 4000 weeks. And so being, I think since then I've been super intentional about how I manage time. So I think that's one uh second is, um how are you deliberate about learning? Um It's one of those things that always falls to the wayside, right? Busy life gets to you, but very deliberate. Like I usually buy Christmas time. I plan on what is it? There are a couple of topics I'm going to learn about the next year and, and again, I would qualify that this is not surface learning because, you know, you're on a device you get used to exposed to so many different topics. So it's kind of deep learning. Like I picked these two topics and I'm doing that for a stretch of 12 weeks and that's all I'm doing. So, I think the intentional about, uh, learning, uh, third is reflection. I think one of the, at least by nature, I'm an introvert. Um, so I, uh, I write and it helps me do two things. One, when I write, I reflect two, it also makes me intentional about learning because I'm usually researching about a topic when I write. So I think that helps. Um, so I think those would be, uh, maybe the last one, is this notion of, um, after action review, which is like, hey, you did something, did it work? Not work because sometimes you go on to the next thing without being deliberate about what didn't work. I think it came from the US army and that served me well, is doing a turn of what worked, what didn't work, what are we going to do different? So, maybe those would be the ones. The time is a, is a fascinating one because, uh, when you break it down, like you said, into a lifespan, it, it starts getting a little, probably scary. Um, what can you tell us what your color codes are? Yeah. No, happy to. So I have five buckets. One is, um, you know, basically running the business which is delivering day to day results like the second is people and culture, right? How much time am I spending in that? Third is long term strategy, right? And that's kind of the business side of it. Fourth is learning, as I said, you got to be deliberate about and fifth, which is something else. It's come with age and maturity is relationship, right? Really investing, whether it's friends or family being purposeful because even if you don't prioritize that that gets away, you wake up. So, so those would be kind of the five buckets that I color code. And there's a pie chart that I look at um engineered by trade. So, and then I uh you know, I uh audit and we course correct. That's really interesting. And, and is it evens splay or do you aim for an even splay? No, because it depends on the, uh you know, kind of the uh the life stage of that particular business cycle or your personal life stage. I don't think you're gonna get the perfect 2020 20%. I think what you want to be is aware of. Oh, I didn't realize the last couple of months is how I spent my time. Do I need to course, correct. So it's more about by the end of the year, how do you hopefully get to a healthy balance versus a, in a given period of time? You're trying to split it up even? Right? It depends on the business rhythm you know, and everything else going on now, I'm sure, you know, throughout your career, you've been, you know, you worked in many places, um worn many hats. Have you ever had a mentor specifically that, that has, that has helped you that you've looked up to and, and taken advice from? Totally. I personally believe, I personally believe what drives one's success is having mentors throughout their career. Um I have been incredibly blessed uh to have had mentors. I think almost through my entire all the different stages of career. And by the way, this is one learning I would share. I remember when I first got started, I used to think, well, mentors are when you are initially learning and growing your career, I would actually argue you actually need more mentors. The higher up you go up in the organization because mentors provide you with perspective because they, because you always find higher, you are on the top, the bad news travels fast and you're the last person to get to know. So you want to have perspective um coming from wisdom of people who have been there, done that. You know, everyone likes to think I'm the first one doing a certain task. And truth is that many people before you have done it. And there's so much you can learn uh getting their perspective and also sharing kind of how you're thinking about solving a problem and how they would approach it. So, no, for for a fact. Personally, I think I'm here today because of some amazing mentors I've had throughout my career. I'm sure you had a lot of great advice. But can you think of, um, the best advice or, or, or advice that has really stood out to you that you still keep with you to this day? I think the best advice I ever got was, uh, I remember someone saying, uh, everyone worries about getting the next job or the next promotion, you should worry about how to do the next job before you get the job. I was the best piece of career advice I ever got because for me, it's interesting when you get the next job, people don't realize the clock starts right then and there, right? You own at that point, you own the past, the present and the future. You're not like, oh, you know, the other guy did this other person did this, right? So I think, and imagine, and if you actually have, are a little more deliberate thinking about that next role, how you would do it learning from people who are doing it now, what do they do? Well, what do they not do? Well, it's such an incredible opportunity and you just don't have the uh time to reflect when you are in the role. So I, I thought that was probably the best and also that was the best piece of advice for me because one thing is I think it reframed how I approach roles. I I approached roles as this is my last job. This is my last job at the company. Alright. It's not about, you know, using this job to get to the next job. It is about this job and you know, what am I going to do there? That's good advice. And in terms of um in terms of leadership, what what do you consider the most successful traits of good leaders, either leaders that you work with or traits that you try to um project yourself? What are the most successful ones from? For, for leadership? Do you think I would tell you two things, right? I'll learn one. So, I mean, personally, I would say it's self-awareness and humility uh gives you the right to lead people and they're both equally important self awareness, really being aware of. What is your strength and more importantly, what's your opportunity? How are you going to complement that with team members who could bring their strength to it and also being self-aware about what your perception of self is and how do people perceive you? Sometimes there's a gap, right? So I think the self awareness is a big, big area. And the other thing is the humility. I mean, it's such an understated thing. But the fact of the matter is when you're humble, you listen, you learn, you reflect and then you act and I think those two things are probably in all of the best leaders, I've seen variations of those two qualities and that's something, you know, I aspire for and has anyone's career particularly inspired you in your own journey, not necessarily just within Pepsi, but in, in the wider industry or someone outside of your industry, perhaps that you looked at and thought, you know, that's, that's the kind of executive or the kind of leader that I want to be. Well, you know, first, I've been incredibly blessed to growing up here in Pepsico, we had a, it's known as an academic leadership company and we've, you know, created amazing leaders. Um you know, I personally don't look at somebody's career and say, hey, that's something I want to emulate. I personally look for, hey, are there qualities or impact this person has driven that, that I can aspire that I aspire for or, and this could be impact within, within the context of, you know, the company that they work at, but it could be impact within the broader ecosystem of, of an industry or um you know, just personal impact on causes of, you know, things. So I don't know whether I always, because I, you know, the other thing you find managing your career, I think we talked, started talking about this when you made a reference to one of my friends, you can plan everything. OK. Right. But the career, there's a lot of things that happens by chance. So I'm not sure. Um, you can say, hey, that's a career I want to emulate. Right. It's gonna, so I would rather focus on what is it about that particular person that left and legacy and impact that I would want to emulate? You know, you don't get as high as, as, as you've done and been as successful as you've been without making mistakes. And that's something that everyone has to deal with, you know, regardless of their rank or, or how long they've been doing their job. Um How do you deal with mistakes because it's something you know, I say happens to everyone. How do you deal with them? How do you move past them? You know, as you said, Massimo, I think uh for you to learn and grow, you do need to make some mistakes. Um And, and also one of the things I'm, I'm a big believer, especially when you're trying to make transformative moves is to experiment. And by definition, you're gonna make mistakes when you experiment. One of the things uh you have to, I learned at least is being uh what I call this notion of purposeful experimentation, meaning I have a clear objective. If the experiment is a success, I know how to scale it. If I were to fail. I know exactly how I'm going to apply it. So I think that's one notion. The second thing I think I talked about before, which is the notion of after action review which is like, hey, it didn't work. Why did it not work? What is it that I can learn from that we would apply the next time around? Uh I mean, outside of that, I think on the mistake, the biggest thing is, I mean, one is obviously being self critical and being objective about judging the mistake you made. But then, then also being incredibly generous and empathetic with the team because that's the part that you have to balance. Because if you are, if you don't reflect those qualities, then they're never going to experiment, they're gonna just do what uh what was done before and we will never transform. So it's one of those things that you have to balance out and what do you feel matters way less than you thought it was. So when you're a younger man, what, what do you know now that matters way less than, than you anticipate that it would, I would tell you job titles matter less at the end of the day. Um You rent it for a while. Uh They don't drive who you are as a person or your identity. I think that's probably again, one of those learnings which comes with age and maturity also easy for a CEO to say, oh, don't worry about it guys. Yeah. Yeah. Um And this is, this is a more of a philosophical one. But what one change could you make today? That would have the most positive impact on, on your life going forward, either personally or professionally. Um You know, it's interesting in most cases, I find your towering strength is always an area of opportunity, right? We all lean into it, right? For me, I think you mentioned it before pausing to celebrate. Uh enjoying the moment I think would probably make me more of a contented person and I think it also would reflect on other team members. I I think for sure, I think that's something I need to work on. Uh second could be this ratio that I talked about with time management as much as I try to balance that, you know, some years or not it gets out of whack. And I wish I could be even more purposeful in managing that ratio. Right. So those would probably be good changes to make and they would definitely be positive. Maybe, hopefully. Anyway, I think that's it. Thanks so much. Thank you. Appreciate it.

Chris Baker, Head of North America, Enel X Way, Bart Franey, Vice President, Clean Energy Development, National Grid, Kristen Siemen, Vice President, Sustainable Workplaces, and Chief Sustainability Officer, General Motors Moderator: Peter Vanham, FORTUNE

Impact Initiative 2023: The Electric Revolution

Chris Baker, Head of North America, Enel X Way Bart Franey, Vice President, Clean Energy Development, National Grid Kristen Siemen, Vice President, Sustainable Workplaces, and Chief Sustainability Officer, General Motors Moderator: Peter Vanham, FORTUNE

Chris Baker, Enel X Way, Bart Franey, National Grid, Kristen Siemen, General Motors, Peter Vanham, FORTUNE

Ok. I think we're all aware that to tackle climate change, we have to end our reliance on fossil fuels, eventually increase our investment in alternative energies. Electricity is and will continue to play an increasing role in the energy transition. According to the United Nations fossil fuels account for more than 75% of global greenhouse gas emissions, nearly 90% of carbon dioxide emissions. Our next group of speakers are going to be with uh Fortune executive editor Peter Van. Him to talk about how they are advancing renewable energy through electrification. Please welcome Chris Baker, Head of North America at Enel X Way, an organization aiming to add charging stations around the country which is a significant barrier. Bart Fry, vice President of Clean Energy Development for National Grid and Kristen Seaman, vice president of sustainable workplaces, chief Sustainability Officer at General Motors with Peter Van. Please welcome them to the stage. Thank you so much. Great to be back is the last time you'll see of me today, but not of a. Um And I'm very glad that we're having this discussion now on uh the electric revolution. Uh because it's a topic that I think is very important. And I just don't, I, I don't just say that I write about that too. Uh, and I've, I've written a story both about you, Chris and, and about Kirsten. Well, about your companies. Uh, but maybe you're up next. So what would you say? Um, but let me maybe start off with, um, with you, uh, Kirsten because, you know, a lot is happening in the world of cars. Uh, You know, GM, I don't remember this. Maybe you do remember the GM one, right? The EV one. Is that right? That was, that was over 25 years ago. Anyone ever own or drive one you're doing? Oh, there we go. Ok. Ok. That, that works. So you were of course a pioneer in electric cars back in the day. Some appreciation here. Um I'm too young for that. That's my excuse. Um But uh but of course, in the meanwhile, a lot changed Tesla came, became the most valuable car company. The GM said we're gonna go all electric by 2035 in the United States for New Light to the US vehicles. Yes. Right. And this is a big deal, right? For, for Gim. But then as you know, in recent weeks, we've heard news from your competitors including Lantis, I believe. Did you tell me that your husband works for this conversation? Um So that said we're actually going to continue to produce cars with internal combustion engines until at least 2050. Now, when you discuss that with your husband at the dinner table, uh, next question, uh, you stick with 2035 all electric. Yes, I, I mean, you can see our portfolio of vehicles that's coming out from the GM perspective, you know, and, and once you drive, uh, uh, an electric vehicle, you don't want to go back. If you look at G M's carbon footprint, over 75% is scope three category 11. The customer usage of our vehicles for us to get to our vision that was actually set back in 2017. Around zero crashes, zero emissions, zero congestion, you know, getting to zero requires us to go all electric and to decarbonise the grid. No second thoughts then because you know, it does, you know, make you wonder and I look at this and I think many of us look at this and say, well, you know, these the other big car makers, you know, they're, they've thought this through as well. They're no dummies, you know, and they say we cannot do it or we will not do it. Which of us do is it? Do you think already won't? II I can't answer for them. Of course. Right? I mean, all I can focus on is, is our strategy and, and what we see from a consumer demand standpoint and it's gonna take some time to transition, right? We can't do this by ourselves. We need a charging infrastructure, right? We need um materials. I mean, we've done a lot with sourcing of battery materials in order to be able to produce and, and localize and have a strong and resilient and sustainable supply chain. Um We need governments, you know, to partner with us. And so, so that is all gonna take time, but you can see our product portfolio that's coming out 2035 remains, you know, our, where are we today in America for GM new uh vehicle sold, percentage share of, I don't have the exact number, I mean, but we've made announcements, you know, we'll have capacity for um you know, up to a million um EVs by 2025 in the US and you know, pardon? Yes, yeah. So, so it's coming, I mean, the you can see the products that are out there and the excitement that they're driving, whether it be, you know, um our, our loyal customers for the bolt in the vault, you know, were, were tremendous. I mean, and, and huge loyalty. Ex Exactly. And um so, you know, in the recent announcement to reimagine the bolt based on the customer feedback, you know, it's a very affordable ev in the market. But then you think about products like the Cadillac Lyric, um the IQ that was recently announced um you know, the Silverado EV pick up is gonna be on the road soon, the super truck. So you see the um portfolio growing to offer products across, you know, all segments and really to be able to have everybody participate in and be in an ev the blazer, you know, the equinox. Do you see any resistance? I mean, do you think Silverado, the client? I, I would think that might be a client that would be resistant. Is that the case or not at all? I, I mean, it's gonna be some time for that entire segment to transition, right? And so we'll be producing both simultaneously to um as time goes on and that conversion occurs. But um they're awesome products. And so I think once people experience it, they're fun to drive, the acceleration is incredible and to be able to see the infrastructure continuing to grow and develop and that you can really live in a world, you know, people are used to seeing a gas station on every corner. Um We know you don't need one on every corner, but people want to see a charging station even though most people charge at home or at work, but there's still multi dwelling, you know, housing solutions that need to be addressed. And so well, I'm glad you brought it up because as it happens, our second Panelist, Chris Baker is actually building that infrastructure. Chris tell us, tell us a little bit more because you work for a company that I know from back in Europe. And now as being like, you know, a stuffy old school monopoly player in providing Italian no less uh uh energy. Um So, but then I discovered that you were like the most innovative and most ambitious player when it comes to electric charge in America. What is that the same company or do you share the same name? Well, thanks for the glowing intro. So, yeah, I mean, for those who don't know, and then many of you don't know that NL group is dedicated to empowering sustainable progress, right? That sounds fancy. But we did 150 billion in revenue last year. And the way in which we do that is really simplicity, right? So that the goal is to drive simplicity for our customers and for our businesses to make it as easy as possible for them to procure renewable energy um in the charging world. What that practically means is smart charging, right? So if you look at the numbers last year, 19.1 billion miles were driven by electric cars that was six terawatt hours of power. Most of you have no idea what I was gonna say. I was gonna try to sound smart, but it's a big number. So it's a million megawatt hours and practically what it means is to meet the projected growth of the market in the US. Uh You'll need to increase the power capacity 0.3 to 0.6% annually every year for the next 25 years of the grid, right of the grid so you could do that through adding 2 to 4 nuclear plants every year for the rest of our lives. Maybe not the best idea or you can do it through smart charging and incentivizing. And this is really what we need to see a little more from the energy commissions from the utility commissions. How do you incentivize charging at night and off peak hours when there's an excess of solar capacity so that you can, you can enable these evs at the lowest total cost. And that's what you're doing and that's what we're doing. How many, you were very ambitious? Right. Well, how many charges do you want to install in America? 10,000? 10,000? That would make you remember what that layer? Yeah, that, that would make us uh near the top if not the top II, I think it's also practical to say um that was two months before Tesla announced, the North American charging standard is uh a much more open network for many of these auto manufacturers. And uh practically what that means is much greater access to fast charging infrastructure, which is absolutely good, right? You don't pull up to a gas station and have seven different apps and seven different charging types for your vehicle. That makes no sense. But you stick with your ambition to build 10,000. I think the timing in which we do do so will potentially change. But I think what we're looking at really is. So there's a greater supply of chargers, lower utilization, where can we unique add value. And I think it's really supporting utilities and in the fleet depot space where we can aggregate our energy storage, aggregate our. And so what that means is that you don't just install chargers, but you also install batteries as opposed with those chargers that basically can harness correct when the, when the time is right. And, and this is where I think uh to do this properly, you the timing matters, right? So there's lots of renewables when the sun isn't shining or the wind doesn't blow, you can't create a stress on the grid because ultimately, we would all pay for that. So the intelligence and the timing of the charging really matters. So let's let's turn to uh to you Bart um because you work for the national grid, which, which was very confusing to me. Um Because you're obviously American and you work for a company called National Grid. But National Grid to be clear is not the American national grid. Well, it's not the physical national grid, but we do operate in Northeast New York and Massachusetts, primarily in the US. But we also have roughly 60% of our asset base is in the UK. And that's, that's where you operate National National Grid. Welcome to. Um you know, thank you America. I could say that as a um but so talk about this grid. Um And about how you develop it because obviously, there's a challenge that we're gonna have to increase if I understand by 0.6 to 0.9% the capacity of the grid each year. Uh There's the challenge also of making the grid clean. Am I right? Uh Can you tell us a little bit more about the current state of play and how do you think it will change? Absolutely. Um Before I get there a little bit about national grid, we are a large international electric and gas utility. Our strategic ambition is to provide equitable fair, affordable energy transition. And my work is focused on enabling that. So it is all about getting ahead with one of them was sustainable, right? Or not equitable equitable fair, affordable, affordable energy transition. But, but it is transitioning to clean. Oh, absolutely, absolutely. We are, we are very involved in integrating and modernizing the grid to accommodate large scale renewables. These are the things that are gonna move the needle in decarbonising the grid. We're also involved in laser focus conducting studies um advocating for anticipatory build outs that would enable electrification of transport. So all the transportation need not just in the passenger vehicle space but the medium and heavy duty truck space where they're not going to be charging at home. They're gonna want a seamless experience where they're going to pull into a service plaza, they're going to plug in and their, their batteries are going to be up to a megawatt, which is a big number. Are we ever going to see those replaceable batteries in cars? Does anyone have a prediction on that? That was the thing? Right. That point, it was the thing. It's still a thing. It's still a thing. Ok. Well, ok, we'll talk about that later then. Um So, uh so you're working on all of that? Where is America today? And where do you think it will be or should be, let's say five or 10 years down the line. So we're in this critical decade and we're 75 months away from 2030. And the reason why I say 75 months, because we're a large investor in infrastructure and infrastructure as you know, it takes a tremendous amount of time and that's why we need to have actionable plans today. We can't wait till the demand arises in some ways like uh Chris was saying, you know, people need to see that charger before they buy the car. So when you say 2030 that's because there isn't a stated goal of how green the grid will be by 2030. So how much would would that work? We want to achieve a 70% renewable energy target by, that's huge. That is huge. And we are today at uh 34. It's probably 60. OK. So it is actually quite, it's ahead of the nation, I suppose a lot of hydro. Mm um I want to turn to the to the audience for, for a question if, if you want to uh before I'm gonna ask my, my question about the batteries over here. If you state your name and your affiliation. Hi, my name is Angelo Molino. I am the president of Latina and Wellness. I am a fan of the electric car. I am Italian. Sorry for the uh no, no problem. We have a huge problem with infrastructure but my question is this the technology of the batteries when we will improve, we are waiting for the solid state batteries because the problem is that I cannot stop on the on the road to charge my car four hours. Ok. Now, I know that new models are very faster but the dream is go there and have the same meaning. So when I pump correct, I don't know where you charge. It takes four hours on the road. II, I won't be mean Italy but uh but it's, but it's what? 30 minutes, 40 minutes uh on a standard uh fast charger. I mean, it's obviously depends on capacity but it's frustratingly low, uh slow and nevertheless, right? So where, where are we headed to? What? Thank you. Yeah, thank you. I I personally think, I mean, and it's hard to conflate the diagrams of artificial intelligence, potentially quantum computing. But uh I think it's a basic R and D investment, right? If you have new material technologies for batteries, you will absolutely have superior battery lifetime safety density. Right. Solid state batteries are certainly coming along quite, quite well. I defer to when they're actually ready for show time on the road because there's heat and vibration, all sorts of things. Right. Yeah, I mean, battery technology, we're innovating every single day, um, to advance, you know, if you talk back to the, to the EV one to where we, you know, we with the volt and then the bolt and the the new technology, the ALL M platform that GM is coming out with, you know, is focused on increasing efficiency, reducing critical material usage, you know, which drives ultimately with faster charging and better customer experience. And so do you have a plan for what to put on the market in uh salt state battery? I mean technology, we're looking at everything, right? You know, and it's just a matter of the M platform is what we're producing with today. So, and that is that technology. No, no, no, no. So, but I, I mean, it's, it's really looking at what can give the best solution from an overall customer standpoint, right? And I think focusing on the customer experience and what the battery can provide in the from a platform standpoint and being able to put that across all segments is is what's important and the materials that it takes to produce that, you know, in ensuring that they're again available, done sustainably, you know, we've made a number of announcements with raw raw material suppliers to be able to secure that supply for the production that we're talking about. Fast charging is important. Battery is important. Grid is important. You're also working on your own, on creating infrastructure, aren't you on your own? I mean, actually with other car makers, can you tell us a little bit more about that? Yeah, so recently we made an announcement with um a number of other automakers, um Honda BMW and many others about developing a public charging network again to really accelerate this transition, you know, in, in being getting and customers to be able to see that that infrastructure is available. There's no shortage of opportunities in the space right now. Um And so we've done a lot on our own. Obviously, other companies are doing their own. We've adopted the North America charging standard which will also be available in our vehicles to give our customers access to, as you mentioned, the, the Tesla network also. And so that's really just gonna continue to accelerate um the availability for the consumers if you bring it all down. But you know, you have these predictions, you said 75 months to 2030 reaching certain targets. You know, if you see all this activity, do you think it's feasible? Yes. Yes. Because if we, the only frustration would be we have the plans in place, we just need to execute on them sooner. And because we're primarily a regulated business it's, it's hard for policy makers to commit that kind of capital and, and pass along those two to ratepayers and consumers across the state without there being a need. But it's, we can't, it's not a chicken and an egg scenario. They're coming and we need to get out there and ready the grid for it. I can't wait for it. I have an electric car at home. Uh but I have to say after hearing this panel, I think like, you know, it's electric car heaven here and uh over here. But then I think back on my experience and I realize I've never been an electric car in America, so we're going to stay hopeful. Thank you all of you for this, a very interesting panel. And thanks to the audience for uh listening to.

Kristen Siemen, Vice President and Chief Sustainability Officer, General Motors 
Interviewer: Nick Lichtenberg, FORTUNE

Impact Initiative 2022 - Leadership In Action with Kristen Siemen

Impact Initiative 2022 - Leadership In Action

So, General Motors underlined its green credentials with its announcement to only sell electric vehicles by 2035. In our next conversation, we'll sit down with GM chief sustainability officer and explore the transformation underway at the corporate giant will also learn how the company is helping expand E. V access and developing new infrastructure to support their mission. Please welcome to the stage, Kristen Seaman, vice president and chief sustainability officer of General Motors for an interview with Fortune's executive editor, Nick Lichtenberg. Hi Kristin, thanks for being with us today. Thank you for having me here. Yeah, so it's exciting to talk to you because the electric future is really here. Um, you're one of the world's largest automakers on track to create a world with zero crashes, zero emissions, zero congestion. Um, you're planning to sell only electric vehicles by 2035, I think we all know about this. It's, it's ambitious but it's exciting. Um, it creates business opportunities. Um, so can you talk about how you shift an entire product offering in that amount of time? So what types of strategic organizational operational changes you have to make and you still have to make in the future? Yeah, so as you mentioned that we're very proud of the goals that we set the, the vision around 0000 crashes, zero emissions, zero congestion actually was set back in 2017 and I was saying last night, you kind of go from wow, that was five years ago to wow, that was only five years ago and what we've accomplished and what we said and then the ambitions that you mentioned around, you know, we've set a carbon neutral goal for 2040 and our products and operations and our plan to eliminate tailpipe emissions from new like due to us vehicles by 2035. So a lot of big bold commitments um, based on science. So we do have science based targets approved as well um, for those. So, you know, it really is a cultural change. I would say in the company, we talk a lot about everybody in that this transition. We cannot do it alone. It's going to take public and private. It's going to take our suppliers, our employees are really working together to come up with solutions to make this transition. But it's reality, it's happening fast. I mean I think you can see some of the, you know, certainly proud of the products that we've introduced and and seeing those on the road is, is exciting. Yeah. So we know you're going to get to all E. V. By 2035. How long do you think global adoption will really take? How long until the whole world has electric cars? Oh, that's a great question. Um, you know, I think it's about a lot of, I think a lot of these goals are big and bold and it's hard to see how you get to the end game today and you know, I'll use my our renewable energy goal as an example. We set Our renewable energy goal back in 2016 to be sourcing, 100% renewable for our operations, original goals for 2050 and when we said that it was kind of like, I don't know how we're gonna get there right? Yeah, I mean I wasn't involved in that specific goal back then, but then in 2021 we looked at it and we said, you know what, we can get there by 2035 again, not exactly sure how everywhere, but we can accelerate. So I accelerated it 15 years by the end of last year. We said, you know, we can get there in the US by 2025 we actually announced just about a month ago that we completed our sourcing and are now meeting that goal. We have all of our projects sourced to be in it. So, so here it is. You know, we sent out of course an announcement internally and, and one of the employees responded and coming in and they said you skipped a generation, you know, and when you think about it that way, you're like, wow, we really did. But so I think it's really about setting those goals, making the steps every day to see how you can get there and a lot of times you can get there faster than you anticipated. So if you set a long distance goal and then you check up on it, you'll realize, hey, 15 years, they just disappeared off exactly. I want to ask about the stuff you need to make electric vehicles, metals, minerals, I mean, some of you have probably heard about the rare minerals that are needed to, to make an E. V. Um how are you ensuring that this doesn't wind up with a new version of the fossil fuel climate challenge with these rare minerals? I love your description of stuff, there is a lot of stuff that we have to do to put in there. But um, you know, it, we've, we've got um supply agreements in place to meet our um our plan of having a million units of E. V. Capacity in the U. S and china by 2025. So we've already got those agreements in place, you know, and I think it's important as well look at the supply, um again, working with our suppliers, but really ensuring that we're looking at it from a sustainability standpoint and so a lot of work to, to localize that, get the supply chain closer to us, particularly in north America. Um, you know, and making sure that as we work with those suppliers that they have sustainability goals as well in in making sure that we look at it and, and then even things like circularity, you know, there's a lot of focus on the batteries and then what we do it in the life to reuse those materials. We've got partnerships with with companies, you know, service solutions is one where we're working with them to take the materials then out of used batteries and put them back into the process, both from a manufacturing standpoint and, and then the life, right. So these are really precious batteries and be very careful how you use and reuse them exactly. Um, we're talking backstage about how, um, You came to engineering, um, and you're also passionate about um, bringing more engineers into GM can you talk about what that what that's been like? Yeah, sure. So, so as I shared, I've been with General Motors almost 29 years, 27 of those were in product development. So I'm an electrical engineer by degree and uh, You know, coming into this space was a little bit unusual. Um, you know, I didn't grow up in the environmental side of the business, but it's really proven to be a great advantage to have that background um, of the company and really understand what it takes to make those changes and what we need to do from our biggest part of our footprint is the customer usage of our vehicles, our scope three category 11. And so it's about 84% of our total footprint. So if you think about how we get to carbon neutral it is by changing over our portfolio and my role previous to this, I was leading our global energy strategy team and really managing g H G from a regulatory and compliance standpoint and worked with my predecessor on setting those goals, you know, and as engineers as I shared, we're trained to solve problems and climate change is a gigantic problem, exactly that we need to do. And so it's really been great to to have the opportunity to work with our, our leaders across the company, you know, purchasing and supply chain and you know, I run into now suppliers that I worked with in my previous roles and talking to them about their sustainability journeys. And, you know, to be able to do that with a sense of understanding of what it takes and how early we need to get those things into the design phase, you know, material selection from an engineer. Um, thinking about not just, you know, how the product performs when it's in use, but now how it performs at the end of life. And what happens to it, you know, is it designed for not just for assembly or force service design for recycling bility. And so all of those conversations, you know, really need to take place across the company and driving it into the overall culture. Yeah, I mean, you told me that you got the call for this job, you came from this, this related background, but it almost sounded like like batman, what was that? Like you got the call? And you ask yourself um, yeah, so we have time for, I think one final word on this, what was that like to to get the call and then to ask yourself, am I the right person for this? Yeah. I mean, I think it's um maybe two fold. Right? I mean we talk a lot about you mentioned the ei as well, you know, I think women traditionally, you know, we talk a lot about how we tend to be second guessed ourselves. We talk about the impostor syndrome. You know, Am I really ready? Am I really the most qualified for that role? Um You know, there's statistics that say if there's a um job qualification out there that a woman will look at it and say, you know, like I meet nine out of 10, I'm not going to apply. You know, and men maybe traditionally would say I got to I'm good, you know? Um so, you know, I certainly went through that and I went through the, you know, do I have the knowledge and environmental and and all of those things. But it really um I I took it as an honor that I was selected and that they thought I could do it and it's really been a great opportunity and advantage to again, to work across the company on the great goals that we've set, right. And then before, you know it, you cut 15 years of your timeline. Um we actually do have time for one final question. I mean, what would you say about the critical leadership criteria about this transition? So the leaders in this room, what what can other leaders navigating this transformation take away from from your playbook? Yeah, I would say one of the things that I I talked about setting ambitious goals and and making sure that you know, you put something out there and before you know what you're gonna accomplish more than you thought you could, one of the big focus areas that we have is really about making sure that this is an equitable transition. You know, these types of transformations, particularly as an industry have in the past had a tendency of leaving communities behind. And so at Gm we've really put a strong focus on equitable climate action and kind of really focused on four key pillars. It's about the future of work. In fact on stage yesterday we talked about, you know, the transformation of the industry and we really we are focused on bringing our workforce along with us and I mean the knowledge and expertise that that we have in the company isn't something you create overnight. We've been around for well over 100 years. And so that's something that's important to its infrastructure action. Um making sure that charging stations are available for communities across the board um products e. V. Access. One of the things we're really proud of is having affordable TVs. So products across every price point and segment, you know that um everyone can live in this future world. And then we also started a climate equity fund to really work with community organizations that grassroots, that are making a difference for this transition. So I would say for us it's important. It's not just about what you do, but it's how you do it and making sure that it's done in an equitable and inclusive way is important. Thank you so much. Thank you. Absolutely. Thanks thanks for having me.

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