General Motors announced that Mary Barra had been selected as the American automaker's CEO on Tuesday, succeeding Dan Akerson after his retirement.

The first woman to serve as CEO of a United States carmaker, Barra had been working as senior vice president of global operations, Jalopnik reported.

Part of GM since 1980, Barra started her career with the company as a student and has climbed in the ranks with several engineering and managerial positions. Her titles in the last 30-plus years with GM have included executive director of competitive operations engineering; plant manager of GM's Hamtramck Assembly plant; vice president of global manufacturing engineering and vice president of global human resources.

GM is experiencing key changes with the CEO changing of the guard and the end of government ownership. The U.S. treasury department sold off its remaining GM shares on Monday, five years after the automaker was bailed out by the federal government.

Industry watchdogs had expected current North American Vice President Mark Reuss--who will take on the role of VP of global operations after Barra moves up--to be selected as CEO. Reuss has headed all of GM's biggest launches in the last few years, according to Jalopnik.

The appointment will make Barra both the first woman to lead a U.S. automaker and the only woman to head a car company around the world. GM has the most female representation with its officials, compared with Ford and Chrysler; however, it still only includes four women on a 14-member board. Among the corporate officials, 25 percent are women.

"With an amazing portfolio of cars and trucks and the strongest financial performance in our recent history, this is an exciting time at today's GM," Barra said in a press release Tuesday. "I'm honored to lead the best team in the business and to keep our momentum at full speed." 

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