GM DIVERSITY NEWSLETTER

Importance of Diversity at GM

Rick Wagoner
General Motors Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
Detroit Yacht Club

Thank you, Reverend Jackson. On behalf of the men and women of General Motors, I am very honored to accept this distinguished award.

We at GM were proud when Bo Andersson received the Rainbow PUSH "Trade Advocate Award" in June, and we're equally proud today.
I was advised that, in determining the recipient of the Corporate Trading Partner award, Rainbow PUSH sought out an organization that continuously includes people of color and women in all aspects of the business - from supplier and dealer opportunities to representation throughout the workforce.
That's exactly what we are trying to do at GM ... and we will continue to work diligently on this.

At General Motors, we know that to succeed in today's global marketplace, we need a diverse workforce - one that brings together a wide range of talents, ideas, experiences, and perspectives. But, to give credit where it's due, my predecessors put GM on this course many years ago.

We were the first major U.S. Corporation to have an African-American on our board of directors - Rev. Leon Sullivan, beginning in 1971.
In 1977, still as a member of the GM board of directors, Rev. Sullivan established his famous Sullivan Principles - a powerful tool for helping end apartheid in the Republic of South Africa.

We were the first company to adopt the Sullivan Principles, and some 30 years later, we still embrace his global principles in all of our operations around the globe.

Moreover, GM has been at the forefront of many other important diversity initiatives. Let me highlight just a few:

In 1968, GM established the auto industry's first supplier diversity program.

Since then, GM has purchased more than $60 billion in goods and services from minority suppliers.

And today, we remain committed to growing our business with minority suppliers, by using tools like our minority mentored supplier program, in which 34 minority suppliers are currently receiving support in developing business plans, and new business opportunities.

Along with mentoring, we also do a lot of listening through our Supplier Diversity Council, which enables an open dialogue between our purchasing team and our minority suppliers.
And all this is working ... because minority suppliers are some of GM's best. In fact, five were named to our extremely exclusive list of "GM Global Suppliers of the Year" this year.

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On the sales side, GM was the first automaker to institute a minority dealer development program in 1972.

Today, we're pleased to have nearly 350 minority-owned dealerships and nearly 270 women-owned dealerships - more than anyone in the industry. We're very proud of that ... but we're not stopping there.

We're committed to continue to grow the number and percentage of minority dealers, and to keep them growing profitably.
- In fact, we just completed a thorough review of our minority dealer program, and as a result, have begun to implement more than 100 new initiatives to support minority dealer growth and profitability.

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At GM, we also make diversity and inclusion a top priority in our own work force, because the best organizations are the ones fueled by multiple perspectives.

For example ... GM is not only one of the leading employers of African Americans ... we have a number of African Americans in key positions on our senior leadership team. They know our business... and they're driving our business to a successful future.
Over the years, we've learned that the best way to improve diversity in the executive suite is to grow our own talent - and that's what we're doing today at GM, in a very consistent and deliberate way... building our own talent base from the diverse pool of men and women that we hire and train, and helping them grow their careers within the company. And we continue to exhibit good progress.

For example, in GM's nearly 100-year history, only six people have been in charge of product design - the lifeblood of our business. And the sixth person to hold that prestigious position is an African American, Ed Welburn.

Ed's doing a terrific job leading our global design efforts (and he's also currently starring in ads for the next generation, all-new Cadillac CTS.)
Another great example is with us today ... Rod Gillum, GM vice president of Corporate Responsibility and Diversity. Among other things, Rod leads GM's efforts in doing what's right for the communities in which we operate.

In communities across the country, GM has invested millions of dollars to support organizations such as the NAACP, 100 Black Men of America, the United Negro College Fund, the Martin Luther King, Jr., Memorial Foundation, and many others.

And, beyond our dollars, our employees have given their time as well. Here, in our home city of Detroit, we have more than 300 GM employees who volunteer in 43 city schools in support of A World in Motion, a terrific Society of Automotive Engineers program aimed at developing interest in careers in engineering, math and science.
The 3,000 students involved in this program at these 43 Detroit schools are predominately African American. In addition to teaching science, math and engineering principles to these youngsters, our volunteers talk with them about learning, about education, about future careers.
Beyond this, members of our employee affinity groups, such as our African American Ancestry Network, go into local schools to serve as role models ... someone for the young students to talk to, to relate to, and to look up to.

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So, all-in-all, I'm proud of the fact that, at GM, we're not just talking about diversity. We're living it, and we've been doing it for a long time. And, for sure, we've benefited greatly from it.
In fact, I'd argue that our diverse workforce, and supplier and dealer base, have helped General Motors stay on top of societal trends, and develop vehicles to meet changing consumer tastes and needs.

For example, minority suppliers support many of our most critical new products.
Our new segment leading full-size Chevy Silverado and GMC Sierra pickup trucks have parts and services from 27 minority suppliers, including for example, Bing Metal Group.

Our new crossover vehicles - the Buick Enclave, Saturn Outlook and GMC Acadia - are not only a howling success in the marketplace, they also speak to the power of diversity.

Grace Lieblein, a Hispanic woman, is the chief engineer on this program, while Michael Burton, an African American, designed the interiors. (In fact, you might have seen Michael in some of the ads for the Buick Enclave.)
In addition, 16 minority suppliers supply parts to these terrific crossovers - companies like Detroit Technologies, which provide acoustics materials, and Bridgewater, which provides interior systems.
Of course, I could go on with many more examples, like the 14 minority suppliers who are working on the new Cadillac CTS ... or the 10 who are helping with the all-new Chevy Malibu. But, my point is simply this: General Motors benefits in all aspects of our business when we utilize the best ideas from everyone.

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I think this is particularly evident as we continue to develop our aggressive and far-reaching strategy to offer the industry's broadest range of advanced propulsion vehicles.
- With growing concerns over the U.S. reliance on imported oil and greenhouse gas emissions, it's time to step up and lead our industry away from its traditional 98 percent reliance on oil to power our vehicles.

We're working on everything from improving the internal combustion engine and building more cars and trucks that run on bio fuels ... to developing new hybrids and fuel cell vehicles.

We're particularly excited about our Chevy Volt concept car, which combines many of these technologies in one vehicle. Not only is this a dynamic vehicle, but it was also developed by a very dynamic and diverse team of GM'ers.
We pooled our resources from around the world to ensure we captured the best ideas. For example, contributions from Nigerian-born Jelani Aliyu, Maximiliano Larroquette of Argentina, Young Sun Kim of South Korea, Mathieu Boimare of France and Therese Tant of the U.S. made the Volt possible.

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So, whether it's developing our industry's next generation propulsion systems, or introducing the industry's first minority supplier and dealer development programs, it's all about staying ahead of the curve by doing the right thing. That's our history at GM, and our commitment to the future.
In closing, let me thank Reverend Jackson for his longstanding and committed leadership in driving for equal opportunity for all, and thank the Rainbow PUSH team for the "Corporate Trading Partner Award."
As always, it's great to be with you.

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