“We know this industry is being disrupted,” Ms Barra told investors. “But we are disrupters too.”
Asked about reports that Apple plans an autonomous car and how it affected GM’s plans, Ms Barra said it would always “add more pressure” to have another competitor in the market.
“I don’t think it changes where we’re headed or how quickly we’re going there or potential partnerships that might exist there,” she said
The conference is the first opportunity for Ms Barra to present a comprehensive strategy for GM free of the shadow of the crisis over faulty ignition switches that broke only weeks after she became the company’s first female chief executive in January 2014. The company announced an agreement with US prosecutors over the crisis — which has been linked to at least 124 deaths — on September 17.