Marissa West, President and Managing Director of General Motors Canada.
Gabriele Hartshorne-Mehl, a Finance student at McGill University, has contributed to this story.
The future of General Motors is electric and rapidly approaching.
In accordance with the International Forum of The Americas’ Conference of Montreal 2022 theme Lead the Net Zero Transition, GM aims to eliminate tailpipe emissions from all light-duty vehicles by 2035. The company hopes to achieve carbon neutrality in global products and operations a mere five years later.
President of the Canadian division, Marissa West, believes it is a critical time for the industry.
“We are at an absolute inflection point in our transition to an all-electric future,” said Marissa West, President and Managing Director of General Motors Canada.
A third generation GM employee, the company is in West’s blood. Her passion for the industry presented itself as a young child through her love for auto shows and her extensive collection of vehicle pamphlets and automotive memorabilia.
West holds undergraduate and master’s degrees in mechanical engineering from Michigan State and University of Michigan, respectively. She also boasts significant experience in product development leadership at the company, venturing north of the border this past April to fill her recently-acquired role as President. West is passionate about protecting the environment and GM’s unique position to drive change.
“We were part of the start of this industry, and as it's evolved, it's our [responsibility] to transform it and address climate change,” said West.
Situated in the driver’s seat on Canada’s evolution to EV normalcy, West predicts some significant bumps on the road. The most challenging of these issues thus far has been Canada’s lack of charging infrastructure. The vast majority of electrical vehicle charging occurs at Canadian homes and workplaces. However, on the odd venture outside these environs, Canadians still worry they will not find an appropriate outlet.
Another obstacle to consider alongside the convenience of EV chargers is the power these ports necessitate. Public chargers require a reliable and widely distributed energy grid. In more remote areas of the country, ensuring consistent power may prove onerous.
Indeed, Canada has significant work ahead to increase availability of EV charging ports. To aid in this project, GM plans to spend $750 million in the U.S. and Canada on improving access. They have formulated an ingenious strategy dependent on their partnership to 450 local dealers across Canada.
West described the plan.
“We're going to use our dealerships, which are already well-dispersed and distributed, to help us [place] those chargers and install them within their communities because they know best how our customers can use the charging infrastructure.”
One final pothole on the path to mass customer adoption of EVs is the issue of affordability. There exists a cost imbalance between EVs and their gas-guzzling counterparts—one too steep for some Canadians to afford the switch.
To combat this problem, GM developed an electric vehicle platform, called Ultium, that can be used to produce EVs across different vehicle types. From a luxurious Cadillac LYRIQ to the powerful GMC HUMMER EV Pickup and the sporty Chevrolet EV Blazer, each of these vehicles caters to specific user needs and price points. Combined with the abnormally high gas prices we have been witnessing, this greater accessibility of EVs should improve its short- and long-term affordability enough to surpass that of internal combustion engine vehicles.
What is the secret to GM’s successful foothold in Canada’s EV industry? West credits diversity as a vital component necessary to achieve the company’s aspirations.
“It's going to take a tremendous amount of diverse talent to accomplish what General Motors needs to accomplish in our EV transition,” explained West. “We want our workforce to be representative of our customer base and the communities where we sell our products. That requires a deep, diverse bench of talent.”
GM values diversity of gender, race, sexuality, and other backgrounds. The inclusion of individuals of distinct experiences creates the opportunity to elevate the discussion of a homogenous group.
“It's diversity of thought and perspective,” continued West. “When you're at a table, and you have all of those people that are trusted and requested to speak up from their perspective—that's the kind of diversity that's important to me.”
In a traditionally male-dominated field, GM has taken strides to improve both visible diversity and diversity of thought among employees. Global Chair and CEO, Mary Barra, has declared GM’s aspiration to become the world’s most inclusive company. Various endeavors direct the company towards this goal, including mentorship and fostering support for women in STEM during youth education.
“We do believe that showcasing a role model for young girls to see themselves in the automotive industry is really important,” said West.
It is clear that West serves as the perfect role model of female empowerment to which she refers. As a result, like Barra, West is responsible for both safeguarding diversity in the automotive industry and helping GM Canada find success en route to it quest to normalize the transition to electric vehicles.
