Mary Teresa Barra (born 24 December 1961) is an American businesswoman who has been the Chair and CEO of General Motors since 2014. She is the first female CEO of a "Big Three" automaker. A lifer at GM, she started as a co-op student checking fender panels and rose through the ranks of engineering and HR. Barra has steered GM through significant crises, including the ignition switch recall, and has aggressively pivoted the company towards an all-electric future ("Ultium" battery platform). She has made bold decisions to exit unprofitable markets like Europe and Australia to focus on profitability and autonomous driving technology (Cruise).