General Motors Eyes Ex-Tesla Employee Sterling Anderson As Potential Successor To CEO Mary Barra: Report

Sterling Anderson is reportedly the frontrunner to replace Mary Barra as the CEO of automaker General Motors.

Anderson is currently GM’s chief product officer after previously working with Tesla Inc and co-founding autonomous trucking company Aurora Innovation.

According to Bloomberg, when Anderson joined GM in June, the view was that successfully advancing Barra’s push to bring cutting-edge technology into GM vehicles could position him as a potential successor.

While Anderson’s promotion to the top role has been discussed, it is not final and may not happen soon even if it happens, the report said.

GM’s current CEO, Mary Barra will turn 64 next week but is not obligated to retire at any age and might continue in her role as CEO, the report said. GM President Mark Reuss could also play a role in the succession plan, it added.

Anderson’s Appointment

GM said in May, while announcing Anderson’s appointment, that he will oversee the end-to-end product lifecycle for both gas- and electric-powered vehicles, including hardware, software, services, and user experience while being based in GM’s Mountain View Tech Center in California.

Anderson previously worked with Tesla where he led the Model X program and the team that delivered the company’s autopilot software aimed at automating certain driving tasks before going on to co-found Aurora, a self-driving vehicle technology company based in Pittsburgh, and which recently put self-driving trucks in Texas.

According to Bloomberg, Barra wants Anderson to bring more computing power to every corner of GM’s vehicles, with software controlling more mechanical functions like steering and braking, and to create features that could generate long-term subscription revenue.

Anderson reportedly said in an interview with Bloomberg that he is currently focused on what he is doing and declined to discuss the CEO question.

GM’s Software Efforts

GM is now fast scaling its software development. Earlier this month, the company gave its vehicles access to Apple Music app after it decided to phase out CarPlay from its vehicles in 2023.

The company shut down its autonomous unit Cruise, which actively competed with Alphabet Inc’s Waymo, in 2024 after one of its robotaxis got involved in an accident. However, the company then committed to developing autonomous technology for consumer vehicles.

The company, however, has failed to scale its electric vehicle segment and took a $1.6 billion write down on the business in the third quarter. The company also signaled that more write-downs are in store.

Earlier today, Wedbush raised the firm's price target on General Motors to $95 from $75 while keeping an ‘Outperform’ rating on the shares. The company continues to navigate the macro storms heading into 2026 with a marquee focus on driving cash flow growth through its strong internal combustion engine (ICE) business while executing better than its auto peers who have struggled in the EV transition, the analyst said. The firm believes the company is prepared for all options on the table as it balances its ICE and EV strategies and sees GM embarking down a major path of growth ahead with ICE models starting to make up a larger portion of its business.

How Did Stocktwits Users React?

On Stocktwits, retail sentiment around GM stayed within the ‘bullish’ territory while message volume stayed at ‘high’ levels.

GM stock has gained 52% this year and by about 62% over the past 12 months. 

Also See: Elon Musk's SpaceX Reportedly Scoops Up Over 1,000 Cybertrucks As Tesla Struggles To Scale Demand

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