Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome. This is the General Motors' 1st completely virtual annual meeting of shareholders and we are delighted to have you participating from your home or office. I am Mary Barra, Chairman and CEO of General Motors and I will chair today's meeting. I would now like to call this meeting to order. At GM, we are committed to safety in everything we do, which is why we start every meeting with a safety message.
Each year, more than 1,000,000 people are killed in crashes around the world, 40,000 in the U. S. Alone. We see a future with 0 crashes where people move seamlessly and safely wherever life takes them. While on the road to 0 crashes, we can do many things to help reduce crashes, injuries and fatalities that include limiting driver distraction.
It is on each one of us to minimize the distracting activities that take our eyes off the road. We must also remind our loved ones to do the same. When you get behind the wheel, remember, your only job is to operate the vehicle. Remember, eyes up, phone down and always buckle up. We are excited at General Motors to transition to a virtual annual meeting this year.
The live webcast provides every shareholder the opportunity to attend the annual meeting from Board and management as well as ask questions all in real time. In fact, we believe the shareholder communication with the Board will be enhanced this year because of the virtual meeting and it gives the shareholders the opportunity to have multiple avenues to submit questions. I would now like to introduce my colleagues who have joined me on the platform. Starting to my left, Tim Salsa, our Independent Lead Director and is the retired Chairman and CEO of Cummins. Craig Litton is our Executive Vice President and General Counsel.
And Rick Hansen is our Corporate Secretary and he will act as the Secretary for the meeting. In addition to Tim Sulso, I would also like to introduce my fellow Board nominees. But before I do, I would like to recognize Jim Mulva and Mike Mullen, who have retired from the Board and I want to thank them for their dedicated service. Because of their counsel, support and leadership, GM is pleasure to work with both of them. GM has embarked on a significant strategic and cultural transformation during a period of unprecedented change in the automotive industry and mobility industry.
It is a top priority of the board and the governance committee to ensure that GM has a board that is composed of directors who bring diverse viewpoints, possess a variety of skills, professional experience and backgrounds and effectively represent the long term interest of our shareholders. As part of this comprehensive refreshment and recruitment process, we have added 2 new directors since our last meeting, Jamie Missick, the CEO and Vice Chairman of Kissinger Associates and Wes Bush, the Chairman of Northrop Grumman Corporation. Jamie's unique and extensive background in intelligence, security and risk analysis and mitigation will add significant insights to the board and the company's overall strategy. WES' experience in complex manufacturing and an enterprise known for its advanced engineering and technology will bring strong financial acumen, excellent strategic instincts and the ability to think broadly about complex business issues. I ask each of my fellow directors to stand briefly as I call your name.
Wes Busch, Chairman of Northrop Grumman Corporation Linda Goodin, Retired Executive Vice President, Lockheed Barton Corporation Joe Jimenez, Retired CEO, Novartis Jane Mendillo, Retired President and CEO, Harvard Management Company Jamie Micic, CEO and Vice Chairman of Kissinger Associates Pat Russo, Chairman, Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company Tom Shoey, Retired Executive Vice President and CFO, Walmart Carol Stephenson, Retired Dean, Ivy Business School, the University of Western Ontario and Devin Wenig, President and CEO of Ebay. Also joining us here in the room today are officers of the company. This team is driving the transformation of General Motors on so many fronts and I could not be prouder to be a part of it. I invite each of them to stand as I call their names. Mark Royce, President Barry Engel, Executive Vice President and President of the Americas Divya Suryadevara, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Gerald Johnson, Executive Vice President, Global Manufacturing Tony Cervone, Senior Vice President, Global Communications Everett Eisenstadt, Senior Vice President, Global Public Policy Kim Brice, Global Vice President Senior Vice President, Global Human Resources.
And finally, let me introduce and ask to Stan, John Cassidy and Jamie Simpson, who are here representing our independent auditor, Ernst and Young. Lastly, Gary Farrar of Broadridge Financial Solutions will serve as the Inspector of Election and has joined the meeting virtually. Thank you. Let's begin the meeting.
Thank you, Mary. Before I turn to the legal requirements of today's meeting, let me review the process for the question and answer session, which will follow our formal meeting. If you are a shareholder entitled to vote, you may submit a question at any time during the meeting by typing it into the Ask a Question field on your screen and clicking Submit. Alternatively, you can call 1-eight seventy seven-three twenty eight 2502. Again, that number is 1-eight seventy seven-three twenty eight-two thousand five hundred and two when we announce the question and answer session has opened.
To the extent we don't have time to answer all of the questions that have been submitted today, we will post answers to the questions that are germane to the annual meeting on our website following the meeting. The meeting agenda lists all items of business to be considered, including the election of the Board of Directors. On behalf of the Board, I now move these items of business and nominate the candidates for nominees for election to the Board. Mary Barra and Craig Glinton, who act as proxies for all shares that have been voted at the meeting thus far, second this motion. Next, I would like to remind you of certain procedural matters related to today's meeting.
1st, this meeting is being held pursuant to a notice dated April 18, 2019. On or about that date, each shareholder of record as of the close of business on April 8, 2019, was sent either a notice of Internet availability of proxy materials or the proxy materials themselves. An affidavit of mailing these materials has been filed with the company's records. 2nd, based on information from the Inspector of Elections Broadridge Financial Solutions, more than 1,400,000,000 shares representing approximately 89% of GM's common stock outstanding are present at the meeting today by proxy. Accordingly, we have the required quorum to proceed with the meeting.
3rd, the polls are open for voting online. All GM shareholders who are entitled to vote at this meeting may do so by clicking the Vote Here button at the bottom of your screen. The polls will remain open until we have concluded the official portion of the meeting. Since the items of business and nominations have been moved and seconded and the requirements for holding today's meeting have been met, I declare that the meeting has been duly convened and may be adjourned at any time for any reason. The agenda along with the rules of conduct are also available for download by clicking the links at the bottom right hand corner of your screen.
The rules of conduct contain the legend regarding forward looking statements and the conduct and content of today's meeting will be governed by this language. To the extent we discuss non GAAP measures in today's presentation, a reconciliation to the most directly comparable GAAP measure is provided in our SEC filings, which is which are available atgm.com. We are committed to holding an annual meeting that allows a respectful exchange of information for everyone. We appreciate your cooperation in making this happen. Mary?
Thank you, Rick. As the agenda outlines, we have 5 items of business on the ballot for today's meeting. These items were previously moved by Rick. Following the conclusion of the official portion of the meeting, we will hold a question and answer session. The first item of business is the election of 11 directors.
Each year, shareholders elect a board to serve for the coming year until their successors are elected. Your board has nominated 11 director nominees identified in the company's proxy statement. You can read a short biography of each of the board's nominees in the company's proxy statement. Your board unanimously recommends a vote for all of the company's director nominees who I introduced earlier. The second item of business is an advisory vote on the compensation of the named executive officers identified in the company's proxy statement.
You can read more about the compensation of these individuals in the proxy statement. Your Board recommends that shareholders vote for this proposal. The 3rd item of business is a proposal to ratify the audit committee selection of Ernst and Young as the company's independent registered public accounting firm for 2019. You can read more about this proposal, including the audit fees and services and the audit committee's pre approval policies and procedures and the company's proxy statement. Your board recommends shareholders for this proposal.
Item 4, I understand that John Chibadan will present the shareholder proposal regarding Independent Board Chairman. He will have 3 minutes to do so. Operator, can you please open the line for Mr. Chevedden?
Mr. Chevedden, your line is now open.
Hello. This is John Chevedden. Can you hear me? Can you hear me?
Yes, Mr. Chevedden, we can.
Thank you. This is proposal 4 for the 1st annual 5 am tape delayed GM computer screen meeting to snub shareholders. Meanwhile, our CEO is walking the factories shaking hands with workers. Proposal 4, Independent Board Chairman. Cheryl has requested our Board of Directors adopt the policy to require that the Chairman of the Board be an independent member of the Board.
53% of the Standard and Poor's 1500 companies separate these two positions, Chairman and CEO. This proposal topic won 50% plus support at 5 major companies in a single year, including 73% support at Netflix. It is especially important to have an independent Board Chairman to help make up for our directors taking away an important shareholder right, the right to an in person annual meeting. Not permitting an in person annual meeting sends a message that our directors consider in person contact with shareholders a nuisance. This is a particular snub to GM shareholders because meanwhile our CEO has a big campaign going out to the factories and shaking hands with workers.
An obligation for management to explain management successes and failures during the past year before a live audience is a powerful incentive for good management of GM. GM is now depriving its shareholders of the benefits of important incentives for management. An in person annual meeting is a motivator of good performance by management and directors throughout the year. Who wants to stand in front of a live audience explaining shrinking sales, epic recalls and loss of market share? It's so much easier to explain it to a microphone.
Because of the substitution of a computer screen shareholder meeting, shareholders should cast an against vote in Committee. These directors can be considered the directors most responsible for the substitution of a computer screen shareholder meeting. Patricia Russo also chairs an underperforming company Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company, which was an early company to substitute a computer screen shareholder meeting. Please vote for 1 reform to help make up for this backsliding by our directors. Independent Board Chairman, Proposal 4.
And I request that this meeting be adjourned until it can be reconvened in person with our CEO.
Thank you, Mr. Chvedden. For the reasons indicated in the company's proxy statement, your Board recommends that shareholders vote against this proposal. The next item of business, Item 5, and I understand that Millicent Budai will present the shareholder proposal regarding reporting on lobbying communications and activities. She will have 3 minutes to do so.
Operator, can you please open Ms. Butai's line? Ms.
Buda, your line is currently open.
Thank you. Good morning. I hereby move proposal 5 on behalf of New York City Controller, Scott M. Stringer and 4 of the 5 New York City Pension Funds and also on behalf of our co filers. The New York City Pension Funds have 180 $3,000,000,000 in assets under management and are substantial long term GM shareholders, with roughly 2 point 9,000,000 shares valued at over $98,400,000 Proposal 5 asked that GM disclose its direct and indirect lobbying activities and the board's oversight and rationale for making these payments.
The proposal was submitted as part the Climate 100 initiative that has over 300 investors managing over $33,400,000,000,000 in assets and which seeks to work with high GHG meeting global companies such as GM to address the systemic risks and opportunities of climate change. 1 of the 3 pillars of the initiative is to implement a strong governance framework, which clearly articulates the board accountability and oversight of climate change. This includes explicitly companies to align their lobbying activities with goals of the Paris Agreement. Despite GM's articulated public support for the Paris Agreement, in our view, GM's current lobbying activities and disclosures are not aligned with the goals of the historic agreement. Among our most acute concerns, GM is a member of the Alliance for Automobile Manufacturers, which has questioned the validity of climate science and lobbied the U.
S. Government and the EPA to lower the CAFE or fuel economy standards for cars and light trucks. We believe this is inconsistent with achieving the goals of the Paris Agreement and also with GM's publicly stated position on climate. GM were genuinely supportive of the climate goals defined in the Paris Agreement. It would: 1, actively negotiate with the California Air Resources Board to develop a compromised solution and commit to comply with those standards regardless of the outcome of the federal rule making process 2, publicly support efforts to undermine publicly oppose efforts to undermine California's authority to set weekly mission standards and by extension the standards of the other 13 states that have adopted California standards 3, strengthen the Board's oversight of corporate lobbying 4, provide a comprehensive report of its membership in trade associations and the amount of its dues that these associations use for lobbying purposes and how it prioritizes public policy issues for lobbying.
Regarding this last request, we strongly encourage the Board to review Royal Dutch Shell's recently published Industrial Association's Climate Review, which assesses Shell's alignment with 19 of its key industrial associations and climate related lobbying. The report also details new governance principles to improve how Shell manages its membership of industrial associations and climate related topics. Our office has provided a copy of the report to GM's management. We encourage GM to prepare and disclose a similar report. The disclosures we're asking for would allow shareholders to better assess the company's management of its lobbying activities, its payment to trade associations that lobby on behalf on the company's behalf and how they align with the long term interest of the company and its shareholders.
We urge you to support our proposal. Thank you.
Thank you, Mrs. Budai. For the reasons indicated in the company's proxy statement, your board recommends the shareholders vote against this proposal. This concludes the item of business to be considered at today's meeting. Following some procedural matters to be addressed by Rick the closing of the polls, we will proceed to the business presentation and then the Q and A session of the meeting.
Rick?
Thank you, Mary. If you are a shareholder entitled to vote and have not yet voted or if you want to change a previously cast vote, please do so now by clicking the Vote Here button on your screen. In a few minutes, we will adjourn the official portion of the meeting and begin the business presentation and question and answer period. Before we do so, I will provide a preliminary report of voting. The preliminary report is based on a tabulation of proxies received prior to the start of this meeting by the Inspector of Elections.
Following today's meeting, the Inspector of Elections will tabulate any votes cast during today's meeting and certify and provide final voting results to us. We will report the final voting results when available on our website atgm.com and in the filing with the U. S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Based on the preliminary report provided by the Inspector of Elections, for the first item of business, the election of directors, all of the company's director nominees have been elected.
Directors received an average favorable vote of 99% of the votes cast. For the 2nd item of business, the advisory vote on the compensation of the named executive officers identified in the company's proxy statement. The proposal is approved by 97% of the votes cast. For the 3rd item of business, ratification of the audit committee selection of Ernst and Young as the company's independent registered public accounting firm for 2019. The proposal has been approved by 99% of the votes cast.
For the 4th item of business, the shareholder proposal regarding independent Board Chairman, the proposal is not approved. It received 37% of the votes cast. For the 5th item of business, the shareholder proposal regarding a report on lobbying communications and activities, the proposal is not approved. It received 29% of the votes cast. This concludes the preliminary voting results.
As mentioned, we will provide the final voting results when available on our website and in the filing with the SEC. This concludes the official portion of today's meeting and I now declare that the voting polls are closed and the official portion of the meeting is adjourned. Before Mary returns to the podium, we would now like to play a brief video highlighting some of the exciting things that are going on here at General Motors. Thank you.
We are on a long journey and a very exciting journey. We're bold. We break down barriers And that I believe is what is helping us generate results today and will be critical for us to generate the results and achieve our vision of 0 crashes, 0 emission and 0
congestion. It was a strong quarter and a strong year, dollars 6.54 in EPS, 11.8% in EBIT adjusted and 8% margins. And it was strength across the board.
I think winning is really all about producing vehicles, products, services that don't require any explanation for our customers and our markets.
There are change agents everywhere and at all levels of the organization. They're not afraid to speak up and share ideas and they understand that no great idea can be implemented without the help of others.
Our message of 0 is greater than General Motors. It's greater than our industry. It's really about the future of our planet and the future of humankind.
We will now move to the discussion of General Motors business performance followed by a question and answer session. Today, I will update you on the journey to transform the company to be more agile, resilient and profitable and position the company for long term success. We've been on this journey for several years executing a comprehensive business strategy that we developed in 2015. Since then, we have delivered record financial results, revamped our vehicle portfolio, established a lead in the future of personal mobility, which is a potential multi $1,000,000,000,000 business. As we transform the company, we are guided by our bold vision to create a world with 0 crashes, 0 emissions and 0 congestion.
It is the right thing to do for our customers, our employees and future generations. Our transformation continues this year with a winning truck franchise with light duty models launching now and all new heavy duty models coming in the fall. The continued momentum of our Cadillac brand, the next generation of our iconic Chevrolet Corvette, a record number of new vehicles launching in China, including the first of our new global family of vehicles, continued cost actions that will help save between $2,000,000,000 $2,500,000,000 in cash savings in 2019 and steadily progressing our future mobility initiatives. Let's start with the full size truck launch, which is on target. I am pleased to say that we are selling every Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra that we can build.
In the Q1, light duty crew cab pickup sales increased by over 20% year over year. As I mentioned, every vehicle we build, including our trucks, is another step toward a zero emission future. These new trucks are larger yet lighter, more fuel efficient, thanks to advanced propulsion technologies and smart materials. Now that we're filling dealer pipelines with crew cabs, we are shipping regular cabs and double cabs in addition, which we expect will improve our share as we move forward. The second phase of our launch begins in the Q3 with the 2020 Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra heavy duty pickups.
To meet higher expected demand for this truck, we added capacity in Flint, Michigan and 1,000 new jobs. These moves will help us build a richer mix of crew cabs and trends that present strong profit and growth opportunities. In Ohio, we announced a $700,000,000 investment to expand operations in Toledo, Parma and Marine, creating another 450 manufacturing jobs. At Cadillac, our new product momentum continues as we expand the SUV lineup with the segment leading XT4 SUV. 2 thirds of sales to customers are new to Cadillac, which is very encouraging.
In addition, a refreshed XT5 crossover, all new XT6 SUV and CT5 sedans go on sale later And we will unveil the next generation Chevrolet Corvette next month, adding a second shift and 400 jobs to build this iconic sports car. Moving on to China, we are launching 20 new and refreshed models. Industry pressures are driving lower volumes. Still, we expect to see the benefits in the second half of the year because of the new products in highly desirable segments. They include our first of our all new global family of vehicles targeting customers in key growth markets like South America and Mexico in addition to China.
These high volume technology filled vehicles are based on a single modern global architecture that reduces cost and complexity. Our relentless focus on cost across the company continues and we've already made significant progress toward our our We shifted our manufacturing footprint in North America in line with changing customer vehicle preferences. In the U. S, we are offering jobs to all 2,800 manufacturing employees impacted by our decisions last year to unallocate product to 4 plants. More than half have already accepted transfers to plants supporting our growth segment and we're not done yet.
And we took steps to transform our salary workforce to ensure we stay agile and have the right skill sets for the future. Many of these actions were taken in the Q1. In addition to our core business, we are continuing to place smart bets on a future we believe will be all electric and autonomous. In March, we announced we will build a second all electric Chevrolet model at our Orient Assembly facility alongside the Bolt EV adding 400 new jobs. We understand that to drive widespread customer acceptance of EVs, we must provide 0 compromised vehicles that are highly desirable and attainable with appropriate range and a robust charging network.
To address customer concerns about range, we recently announced we will collaborate with Bechtel to build a public EV fast charging infrastructure in the United States. This collaboration leverages our scale, flexibility and proprietary data to provide convenient charging options to EV customers as awareness and adoption continues to grow. Earlier this year, we announced our intentions to collaborate with EVgo, ChargePoint and Greenlots, 3 of the nation's leading EV charging networks. This will give our EV customers access to more than 31,000 charging ports and data about charging station availability and compatibility and other real time data driven features through the MyChevrolet app. On the self driving front, in the past year, GM Cruise has secured commitments of more than 6 $1,000,000,000 from external investors who support our integrated approach to autonomous vehicle development.
These investments from SoftBank and Honda funded by and funds from managed by T. Rowe Price and existing partners now value Cruise at $19,000,000,000
to
more electrical bandwidth and connectivity. 2 weeks ago, we unveiled an all new digital vehicle platform that will debut on the Cadillac CT5 and roll out to most of our global lineup by 2023. It ensures that electric propulsion systems, super cruise, driver assistance technology, cybersecurity protections and advanced active safety systems can all operate together. It will also enable additional over the year updates that deliver value and convenience to our customers. And finally, with our sights set on a 0 emissions future, we are also reducing the environmental impact of our operations.
Since 2015, we have eliminated 1,500,000 tons of carbon emissions, roughly the annual electricity use of 260,000 homes. Last year, we continued to make progress to our goal of 100% renewable energy commitment. Today, about 20% of GM's operational electricity needs are powered by renewables. For example, our Arlington assembly plant, where we will build our next generation full size SUVs runs entirely on wind energy. That puts us on the U.
S. Environmental Protection Agency's list of the largest green power users. This year, the EPA recognized our overall efforts to reduce the energy intensity of our operations with the environment and the business. I want to close by spending a couple of minutes on our efforts to build a winning culture at General Motors. If we want to lead the industry today and in the future, we need to have a world class inclusive culture.
This is a business imperative. To redefine personal mobility for everyone, we need diverse perspectives and innovative ideas from the men and women who feel that they can bring their true selves to work. A truly inclusive culture gives our business a competitive edge and winning vehicles and services for our customers. In fact, organizations with inclusive cultures are 6 times more likely to be innovative and anticipate change and respond effectively, 3 times more likely to be high performing and twice as likely to meet or exceed financial targets. Cultural transformation is every leader's job at General Motors.
We are accountable for developing the pipeline of a diverse talent group through career development and from insights from our internal executive networks and employee resource groups. Today, women and minorities make up 20% of the company's senior leadership team. We know we can do better and I'm confident that we are putting the right processes in place to develop and retain diverse candidates at all levels of the company. 3rd parties have recognized our efforts. We received a number one ranking for gender equality from Equiately based on our commitment to pay equity at all levels of the company.
Bloomberg named General Motors to its 2019 Gender Equality Index. And in just 7 years, we've moved from number 73 to 23 on DiversityInc's top 50 companies. And General Motors is the only automaker consistently named Best for Vets Employer by Military Times. So as you can see, our transformation continues. We are taking the right actions to strengthen our core business, drive profitable growth, invest in the future and build a culture to win.
Thank you for joining today. And now we'll take your questions. Rick Hanson, our Corporate Secretary will moderate the Q and A session. Rick, can you get us started?
Thank you, Mary. During today's question and answer session, we will be taking a mix of written questions submitted through the virtual annual meeting portal and live questions over the phone. If you plan to ask a question over the phone, please limit your remarks to 2 minutes. As a reminder, if you are in the question queue and would like to ask a question, please press star 1 on your keypad in order to ask a question. With a written shareholder question that we received through the virtual meeting platform this morning.
Ruffer LLP has asked, in the aftermath of the ignition switch issue, Mary acknowledged issues with GM culture as it relates to product design and quality. Can you please discuss how the wider company culture has changed or evolved since then? Is there anything notable about the changes and progress in GM's product design and quality today versus 2013?
Yes. We have been working on improving the General Motors culture and really creating a culture of not only diversity inclusion, but one of empowerment and accountability. We've worked on not only systems and processes, but also on the behaviors of leadership. In fact, in the fall of 2014, we got the senior leadership team together from around the world, about 300 individuals, and devoted the entire right behaviors to ensure that we are creating the culture that's appropriate. Specifically related to the recall, as we managed through all of the issues associated, we were guided by 3 priorities.
1, do the right thing for the customer 2, be transparent and 3, do everything in our power to make sure nothing like this ever happens again. We also made steps to really revamp the way vehicles were engineered, creating a product integrity group that really focus on system engineering techniques and that has continued to be expanded as we move forward over the last few years. We also work cooperatively and collaboratively with the independent monitors who left us last fall with approximately 250 recommendation, most of which have been already been implemented and the rest will as we move forward. We also put together a speak up for safety tool for employees and truly demonstrated to employees, we want to hear from them. If they're concerned, we want them to speak up.
And that has really driven the culture and we have many of the people participating on the Speak Up For Safety program that are identifying themselves by name and we have a robust tracking process, so issues get answered. We've really worked hard to create a safety mindset that is 20 fourseven at General Motors. In addition to that daily focus, we also dedicate 1 week a year to both product safety and health and safety to make sure that people never forget what happened with the ignition switch recall and we make sure that we're creating the culture going forward that has the appropriate focus on safety. We're working hard to continue to drive that culture and it is really through GM leadership and their behaviors and engaging employees across the entire organization.
Thank you, Mary. We'll take our next question from the phone line. Operator, can you please open the line and introduce our first question?
Yes. Charles Durace, your line is currently open.
Hi, everyone. Thanks for making the meeting more accessible by changing the virtual format. I think that's a nice improvement. My question is regarding trucks and SUVs. Why not separate out the profitability of the truck and SUV segment?
It's got robust profitability, secularly growing end markets, strong commercial demand and it's at least likely to be disrupted by autonomous technology. In short, it's a fantastic business. Other truck manufacturers trade at higher valuations too. There could be enormous value unlock if you split this out. And then secondly, regarding autonomous driving, Cruise AV has advantage versus other players.
But can you describe where you think you rank competitively with them? And also what you would need to see to roll out the service more aggressively to other cities? Thank you.
Thank you. And thanks for your comments related to the virtual meeting. We do appreciate that we have now the opportunity to hear from more shareholders. So thanks for your As it relates to our truck franchise, we do feel we have an extremely valuable leading truck franchise and we are continuing to make sure that people understand the different drivers of this business. Not only have we highlighted it in earnings calls and in January, we covered some of the specific things about the truck market that is different than other parts of the auto industry in our Capital Markets Day.
And just last month, CFO, Dhivya Surydavara, as well as Barry Engle and Duncan Aldred, spent considerable time with investors really outlining not only the truck franchise overall, but the strength of the trucks that we are launching right now, both light duty, heavy duty and then the upcoming SUVs. So we continue to try to make sure people
understand, as you say, the strength of this franchise.
We're going to continue to evaluate the very important parts of the business and others. So we will take your input into consideration. As it relates to the Cruise AV rollout, we think we are very well positioned. In fact, I wouldn't change our position with any of the other competitors in this space because we are the only company working on this with all aspects under one roof. We not only have the team in San Francisco and Seattle that is working on the technology that helps really when you think about autonomous driving, you are perceiving what's happening around you and then you are planning what route you need to take and also predicting what will happen next to determine that planned route.
So that software activity is being developed in San Francisco, but there's extensive integration. People are working together on a daily basis with people located in Warren, in our operations in Canada as well as Israel to get deep integration for the technology, which we think is first going to lead to better safety. As we've gone through and looked at what redundancy needs to be put into the vehicle, we've changed over 40% of the componentry on the EV. And then also looking at the integration, we think will not only lead to more safety, but will our higher safety levels will also lead to efficiencies because of the deep integration. We have also worked very specifically position in a geofenced environment to be able to a position in a geo fenced environment to be able to truly launch an AV system in a rideshare environment without a driver.
So we'll be gated by safety. We're working aggressively. Our rate of iteration continues to improve. So that is the position we're in and that's the
Mary, our next question comes from Walden Asset Management, who submitted a question online. Walden Asset Management writes, the issue of fuel economy and climate change is a central challenge for GM and the whole auto industry. Thank you for GM's strong statements on the importance of addressing climate change, both from an environmental and a business perspective. However, the auto industry in which Ford and GM are major members has dragged its feet on fuel efficiency and actually on occasion question the validity of climate science, which to its credit GM protested. What is GM doing to ensure its trade associations like the Chamber of Commerce and the Auto Trade Association are not undercutting future action on climate change?
Thank you for this climate change is a the science is real and we've long ago acknowledged that. And it is really the driving force behind our vision to create a world with 0 crashes, 0 emission and 0 congestion. In addition, we believe the way to achieve that is by committing to an all electric future. So we are working and recognizing that the transportation sector does contribute to global greenhouse gas emissions and therefore we are taking steps to reduce emissions from both our facilities and our products. As I mentioned today, about 20% of our percent of our operations are powered by renewable energy and we are progressing to our commitment to achieve that to achieve 100%.
And I believe we are the only automaker that has put out 100% objective. We also have called on lawmakers to establish a national zero emission vehicle program as well as complementary policies to spur market acceptance and commercialization of electric vehicles. So we agree and on the important issues like climate change, we will be an advocate for what is in the best interest of our shareholders, our employees and our communities and we are working very aggressively to achieve the future we've outlined.
Mary, while we wait for some additional questions to come in on the phone line, we'll stay with the topic of climate change and GM's plans for an all electric future for the moment. Hermes Investment Management has also submitted a written question noting that while GM offers balanced and complete portfolio of small, midsize and large cars, crossovers, SUVs and trucks and realizes higher margins on the latter products. Although highly profitable, their carbon emissions intensity is higher and this has not appreciably changed in the past 5 years. Given the company's vision for a 0 emissions future, how will it materially decrease the emissions intensity of crossovers, SUVs and truck offerings over the next 5 years?
So we are working with multiple strategies. 1, and looking at every component of the vehicle, especially structures to ensure that we are using all of the latest technology and materials to take mass out of the vehicle. And that has been something that we've demonstrated with every new vehicle architecture that we put out. It is lighter. And as I mentioned with a full size truck, not only lighter, but bigger.
From a propulsion perspective, for internal combustion engines, we are working on many different technologies and we're applying them to our powertrains to make them more efficient and we'll continue to work on that. As well as and we've announced that we will have many new entries from an EV perspective around the globe, including a battery electric truck that we will provide more information as we move forward and due to competitive reasons. But as I mentioned previously, we are committed to an all electric future. On that journey, we're going to continue to do things that are going to make every single vehicle we put on the road with each generation and frankly, each year more efficient and across the board.
Mary, we'll go back to the phone line now. Operator, can you please open the line for our next question?
Yes. Timothy Smith, your line is now open. Good morning. My name is Tim Smith. I'm here in Boston with Walden Asset Management and I have a couple of comments.
I first of all want to thank our CEO for her very clear and articulate statement about our commitment to diversity and pay equity. That leadership is very important from General Motors and an example for other companies. I also think there's so many shareholders that are very appreciative of General Motors' leadership on moving us toward, as you call it, the electric future. That's going to be key for our company and our nation as we try to deal with climate change. I would put one caveat in about the applause you've got from one shareholder about the virtual meeting.
The virtual meeting does not allow an investor to sit in the room and talk directly to the Board and to the CEO. Many companies are doing hybrid meetings. So you'd have the values of the virtual meeting where people could sign in from around the world, but you'd also have the opportunity for people to attend a sit in meeting and, for example, to be able to ask questions or comment on the say on pay vote or the election of directors. At this point, in our 20 minute meeting, we didn't get a chance to ask any questions about important things like compensation. Now we got a huge vote in favor of that say on pay, but it and so there wasn't a lot of controversy.
But nonetheless, I think that's the right of shareholders to be able to do that. My final point is to thank General Motors for being open to the important dialogue with investors on climate change. You have heard Millicent Budai from New York City Pension Plans on participating in. But to circle back and final point about that comes to the lobbying resolution, Part of the Climate 100 Group's agenda is asking all companies to ensure that their personal lobbying by company directly supports the Paris Accord and our desire to have a world that does not rise above 1.5 degrees or 2 degrees centigrade. And we've already heard comments about our trade association, the alliance going in a different tack.
So the point that Mills and Budai made about Shell Oil already having done a review of all their trade associations is one that we would encourage General Motors to do too. So the request to and when nobody is picking on General Motors, the request to hundreds of companies is that they review their lobbying to make sure their government affairs department and their trade associations are being consistent in lobbying to support protecting our climate, not undermining it. So that is a request for you to consider. And thank you very much for allowing the chance for investors to speak to you.
Well, thank you very much. We appreciate your comments on Equity and Diversity and Inclusion. As it relates to the virtual meeting process, we will take your comments and evaluate those. We are always looking to have the most effective meeting possible, focused on having it be in the best interest of our shareholders. And as it relates to lobbying, we will definitely look at the Shell report, but we do believe we already provide comprehensive political and lobbying disclosures.
We know that the success of our business depends on our ability to successfully advocate for sound public policies. So appreciate your comments and we will look into each of them.
Mary, we have time for one more question. This comes pre submitted on the annual meeting portal from William Janik. He writes, since eliminating most small car production in the U. S, what is your plan when the economy slows or fuel prices increase and customers again stop buying trucks as happened in 2,008? Will you return to manufacturing cars?
Well, I would say, 1, we do still produce some cars like the Chevrolet in Malibu. But what we have seen since the period in the 2008 and 2009 timeframe, what has happened is there are tremendously more small and compact SUVs that provide a great experience from a driver perspective and also are very fuel efficient. So although people may shift from a larger SUV to a smaller SUV, from a fuel economy perspective, we think there's now many more choices and many fuel efficient choices when people look at their overall cost of ownership. So we don't see a shift like we saw in the past. I would also note that the truck market, because many people in the full size truck market, their truck is part of their livelihood.
We're seeing less of an impact from a truck perspective. So and we also have new products coming that we're not revealing yet today, but we think will give us the ability to offer consumers good choice even with a variation of fuel prices and then of course electrification on top of that.
Thank you, Mary. Ladies and gentlemen, that's all the time we have for questions today. Again, if there are written questions that we did not have time to address, we will post answers to those questions on our website shortly after the meeting. I'll now invite Mary to deliver some closing thoughts and then we will adjourn the meeting.
Thanks, Rick, and thanks everybody for participating today. For several years, we have been repositioning this company from trying 1, trying to be everyone to everyone and provide everything to all people in all markets to one that is very strategic, agile and drives profitable growth. When we implemented the latest steps of our transformation, we were very focused on creating shareholder value and not only the short term, but the long term. And I'm proud of our track record of delivering on our commitments. Transformation is an incredibly dynamic process and as I told my team, if we get it right, we will never be finished.
We will continue to act with speed, with discipline and integrity to drive the business performance we need to win in today's market and in the future. So thank you very much for your participation.