GM Appoints Auto Industry's First Female CEO

GM appoints the U.S. auto industry's first female CEO. "The auto industry had been a holdout, however, overseas as well as in the United States. That is until Tuesday, when, right after the news that the U.S. Treasury had sold the last of its General Motors stock, the company announced it had chosen 30-year veteran Mary Barra as its first female chief executive -- and the entire sector's first, as well. Of course, Barra has lots to recommend her besides her gender. An electrical engineer by training, she's served in most departments at GM, most recently as chief product officer, where she's taken on the company's high cost structure for making stuff that isn't necessarily better than its competition. Before that, as head of human resources, she attacked the reams of red tape around what people could and couldn't do while at work (including wearing jeans)." Lydia DePillis in The Washington Post