Sterling Anderson Is Front-Runner to Succeed GM's Mary Barra
Aurora Co-Founder Was Hired to Advance GM's Autonomous, Software Ambitions
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Sterling Anderson, the executive leading General Motors Co.’s technology push, is emerging as the front-runner to eventually succeed CEO Mary Barra, 63, when she retires from the storied automaker.
Anderson joined the company as chief product officer in June after working for Tesla Inc. and co-founding the autonomous trucking company Aurora Innovation Inc. The understanding when he was hired, according to people familiar with the matter, was that if Anderson can satisfy Barra’s demand for him to bring cutting-edge software and self-driving technology to GM cars, he has a good shot at succeeding her.
It’s a daunting challenge, but one that draws on the experience of Anderson, 42. Barra wants him to bring more computing power to every corner of GM’s vehicles, with software controlling more mechanical functions like steering and braking, and to create features that could generate long-term revenue from subscriptions. More broadly, he will also ride herd on a renewed push to make the company’s money-losing electric vehiclesǴھٲ.
Anderson’s ascension to the top job has been discussed but isn’t a done deal, and even it it happens, it may not be a quick journey. Barra, who turns 64 next week, isn’t obligated to retire at any age and may well decide to keep going, said the people familiar with her thinking, who asked not to be identified discussing private information. GM President Mark Reuss, 62, also has gas in the tank and could play a role in the succession plan.
Anderson said he’s all-in on his current job and declined to discuss the CEO question.
“My focus is on what I’m doing,” Anderson said in an interview. “I’ve got plenty work to do where I am.”
CEO Mary Barra wants Anderson to bring more computing power to every corner of GM’s vehicles. (Jeff Kowalsky/Bloomberg News)
But it’s easy to see how Anderson’s experience would make him a top candidate to lead a car company that’s seeking to become a tech powerhouse. Before joining GM, he was the chief product officer at Aurora, which recently put its self-driving trucks on the road in Texas. Anderson was instrumental in pivoting the company from its initial focus on the robotaxi business to focus on fully autonomous freight. Anderson said seeing the technology advance that far was a good point for him to make a break and do something new.
Prior to starting with Aurora, Anderson headed up development of the Tesla Model X and AutoPilot driver assist system. He left Tesla in part over disagreements about its approach to AutoPilot, which has been investigated by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration over accidents involving the technology.
GM is already using software to improve owners’ experiences. The company recently gave its vehicles Apple Music with an over-the-air update, and another feature called “King Crab Mode” that enables its huge Hummer electric vehicles to turn in a tighter radius. It was all done by software downloaded into the car via a cellular network.
Still, GM has struggled with other aspects of the industry’s technology push. EV sales have stalled out since President Donald Trump ended federal sales credits of up to $7,500, which undercut Barra’s aspiration to go all-electric by 2035.
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GM took a $1.6 billion writedown on its EV business in the third quarter and will add to that in the fourth quarter. The company spent more than $10 billion on its Cruise robotaxi business and shut it down a year ago after a pedestrian accident undercut the company’s credibility and costs to develop the business became daunting.
GM’s first step into software-defined vehicles was a stumble. The company launched its Chevrolet Blazer electric vehicle with significantglitches, and stopped selling the vehicle for three months last year to work out the bugs.
In the future, GM sees far more of its vehicles controlled with electronics and software. The company had hired several executives away from Apple Inc. to develop its total vehicle software system, whichgoes livein 2028. When it does, it will enable drivers to take their hands off the wheel and eyes off the road on the highway. Anderson said he wants to make it capable of operating in urban environments, eventually.
A big part of his job is rebuilding the vehicle software group. Two top executives, both from Apple, recently left the company. And GMcut1,000 software engineers a year ago in part to find people who had the right skill set. It’s up to Anderson to build the group.
Another big job will be doubling down on GM’s self-driving technology. GMshut downits Cruise unit andlaid offmany of its staff, but vowed to keep developing autonomous technology for the vehicles it sells. Since joining GM, Anderson has startedhiringformer Cruise employees back and adding outsiders who have autonomy experience.
Hiring Anderson “shows the emphasis on autonomy that we’re putting out there. And it’s a huge focus in the company right now,” said Kurt Kelty, GM’s vice president of battery and propulsion. “And frankly, we don’t have all that talent internally. Nobody does. We have to recruit from the outside.”
Kelty and Anderson are working together to drive down costs of GM’s electric vehicles. Anderson said GM’s top solution is lithium manganese-rich batteries, or LMR, which are similar in cost to the lithium iron phosphate batteries the Chinese automakers use for their low-cost EVs.
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GM can reduce the cost of its large EVs, like the Chevrolet Silverado pickup and Cadillac Escalade IQ SUV, by $10,000 a vehicle with LMR batteries, Anderson said, predicting the future energy packs will be “a game changer” when they come out in 2028.
In the meantime, it will be a tough road, with GM indefinitely delaying some planned EVs and the opening of a battery plant in Indiana. Despite the slowdown in EV sales and Trump policies that encourage gas guzzlers, Anderson said GM will continue its push rather than risk falling behind Tesla and China’s automakers.
“We appreciate that in the long term, electric vehicle platforms are very likely the dominant ones,” Anderson said. “It would be shortsighted for us to pull back in the interests of near term profitability, and only focus on internal combustion engine vehicles.”
To accomplish GM’s goals, let alone secure the top job, Anderson also needs to beat the interloper’s curse. Detroit’s automakers have a long history of chewing up outsiders who try to bring change. Former Steelcase CEO Jim Hackett left Ford after three years with shares slumping. Dan Ammann, a Morgan Stanley banker who later was president at GM and led Cruise, was fired by Barra amid disagreements about how to run and fund the self-driving car unit.
Anderson told Reuss, the GM president, when he was hired that he had concerns about the track record of outsiders in Detroit.
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“That was my biggest single concern that I told Mark when I came in was, am I going to be rejected here?” Anderson said.
He said Reuss told him he would help ensure that the company is aligned with the technology vision.
The first thing Anderson did on arriving at the company was meet with the thousands of engineers, managers and other GM veterans and told them he wants to listen and understand the business before making big changes.
“You simply cannot afford to break a company and hope to pull the pieces back together at a company like General Motors,” Anderson said. “What you want to do, and what I told Mark was my intent, is understand how it works and then start to surgically make changes across the company to where they needed to be made. And that’s been the attack, that’s been the approach.”
