GM Down 14% Shows Barra Challenges From Recalls to Chin
By Tim Higgins Mar 26, 2014 11:08 AM ET
Less than three months into her tenure as General Motors Co. chief executive officer, Mary Barra has more than recalls to worry about.
GM shares are down almost 14 percent since Barra took the helm Jan. 15 through yesterday, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index has risen. Microsoft Corp., which also named a new CEO around the same time, has climbed about 13 percent.
Within weeks of taking the helm, Barra, 52, began recalling 1.6 million small cars with faulty ignition switches tied to 12 deaths. Her challenges also include stemming losses in Europe, navigating currency fluctuations in South America, buffering Volkswagen AG’s advances in China, and managing a slow start to 2014 sales in the U.S. where a bitterly cold winter hamstrung retail activity.
“The reason GM’s stock is down has more to do with the fundamentals” than the recalls, Matt Stover, an analyst with Guggenheim Securities LLC, said in a telephone interview. Ford Motor Co., facing similar industry headwinds, is down 6.5 percent through yesterday.
While GM has been looking to benefit from last year’s introduction of 18 new or refreshed vehicles in the U.S., deliveries of the redesigned Chevrolet Silverado full-size pickup fell 15 percent in the first two months of this year, compared with a year earlier. Cadillac, one of the market’s top-performing brands last year with a 22 percent increase, has seen sales slide 7.9 percent through February this year.
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