General Motors appoints auto industry's first female CEO

General Motors named a woman as its next chief executive Tuesday, touting 33-year veteran Mary Barra as the first female head of a major U.S. car company.

GM announced that company veteran Barra would succeed Dan Akerson as CEO on Jan. 15. Barra, 51, currently works as executive vice president for global product development, purchasing and supply chain.

In announcing the news, GM said Barra is "a leader in the company's ongoing turnaround" after a long decline.

Barra has worked at GM for more than three decades, rising through a series of manufacturing, engineering and senior staff positions.

An engineer by training, Barra has also served as vice president of global human resources, where she was credited with shaking up a corporate culture that had stifled profits and innovation.

Her GM-heavy background contrasts with that of Akerson, who joined GM as chief executive in 2010 after working on buyouts for investment firm The Carlyle Group.

Akerson, 65, accelerated the succession plan by several months after his wife was recently diagnosed with "an advanced stage of cancer," the company said.

Barra currently holds what many say is the most important job in the company. In this position, she oversees the design, engineering and quality of all of GM's vehicles worldwide and has shepherded most of the company's recent new vehicle introductions.

Under her command, GM rolled out brawny new full-size pickup trucks, the Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra, and the Chevrolet Impala, a full-size car, which earned the highest score for a sedan from Consumer Reports magazine.

It's quality scores also rose in surveys conducted by J.D. Power and Associates. Barra also led development of the new Chevrolet Corvette.

Erik Gordon, a professor at the University of Michigan's Ross School of Business, said Barra is the daughter of a die maker in the auto industry and truly has experience to lead GM.

Akerson and his predecessor, Ed Whitacre, who came from the telecommunications industry, lacked the auto industry experience that Barra has, Gordon said.

"There's nobody with more years of honest 'car-guy' credentials than she has," Gordon said.

Barra joins a growing list of prominent female chief executives in the U.S.

Among them are IBM's Virginia Rometty, Meg Whitman at Hewlett-Packard, Patricia Woertz at Archer Daniels Midland, Ellen Kullman at DuPont and Yahoo chief executive Marissa Mayer, who also serves on the Walmart board.

Meanwhile, Janet Yellen, currently the vice chair of the U.S. Federal Reserve, is expected to be confirmed by the Senate as chairman of the central bank in the coming weeks and could assume one of the world's most prominent economic policy posts in January.

GM's announcement came just one day after the U.S. Treasury sold its last shares in the company, closing the books on a 2008 bailout executed amid the financial crisis. GM and fellow U.S. automakers Ford and Chrysler have gained on surging auto sales throughout 2013.

Wire services