New GM CEO Barra seen as a winner early in her career

DETROIT: Until two years ago, Mary Barra, the incoming CEO of General Motors Co, was little known outside the automaker. But her rapid rise inside the company, including a 2011 promotion to senior vice president, was signaled more than a decade ago.

Barra, a 33-year GM veteran who turns 52 on Christmas Eve, was marked for future success in the company's "Progression and Succession" reviews, annual surveys designed to identify young high-potential employees, former GM executives said.