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Frustrated GM investors ask what more Mary Barra can do

DETROIT — General Motors Co Chief Executive Mary Barra has transformed the No. 1 U.S. automaker in her almost five years in charge, but that is still not enough to satisfy investors. Ahead of third-quarter results due on Oct. 31, GM shares are trading about 6 percent below the $33 per share price at which they launched in 2010 in a post-bankruptcy initial public offering. The Detroit carmaker's stock is down 22 percent since Barra took over in January 2014. After hitting an all-time high of $46.48 on Oct. 24, 2017, the shares have declined 33 percent. In the same period, the Standard & Poor's 500 index has climbed 7.8 percent. Several shareholders contacted by Reuters said GM could face a third major action by activist shareholders in less than four years if the share price does not improve. "I've been expecting it," said John Levin, chairman of Levin Capital Strategies. "It just seems a tempting morsel to somebody." Levin's firm owns more than seven million GM shares. Barra has guided the company through the settlement of a federal criminal probe of a mishandled safety recall, sold off money-losing European operations, and returned $25 billion to shareholders through dividends and stock buybacks from 2012 through 2017. GM declined to comment for this story, but the company's executives privately express frustration with the market's reluctance to see it as anything more than a manufacturer tied mainly to auto market sales cycles. GM's profitable North American truck and SUV business and its money-making China operations are valued at just $14 billion, excluding the value of GM's stake in its $14.6 billion Cruise automated vehicle business and its cash reserves from its $44 billion market capitalization. The recent slump in the Chinese market, GM's largest, and plateauing U.S. demand are ratcheting up the pressure. GM is one of the few global automakers without a founding family or a government to serve as a bulwark against corporate raiders. In 2015, a group led by investor Harry Wilson pressed GM to launch a $5 billion share buyback, and commit to what is now an $18 billion ceiling on the level of cash the company would hold. In 2017, GM fended off a call by hedge fund manager David Einhorn to split its common stock shares into two classes. Einhorn, whose firm still owned more than 21 million shares at the end of June, declined to comment about GM's stock price. Other investors said there were no clear alternatives to Barra's approach.

Cadillac puts on a big performance for the Oscars with 'Rise' campaign

Cadillac skipped the Super Bowl, saving its big play for the 91st Oscars telecast tonight. America's luxury brand has a presence planned for nearly every medium, from television to Twitter to stairstep stories tied into the new commercial campaign. Speaking of which, that campaign is called "Rise," and lauds the "now-complete SUV portfolio" as well as Cadillac's determination to get back to the top. Four new spots will debut: "Rise Above," celebrating the XT6 and the rest of the new range, "Take the Stage," focused on the Escalade, "Make Your Escape," all about the XT4, "Take Flight," for the XT5. The first commercial will be 60 seconds, while the other three are 30-second spots. Cadillac chose Childish Gambino's song "Me and Your Mama" for the campaign soundtrack — it works a lot better than you might guess based on the track name. Beyond that, the Cadillac logo will grace the red carpet, the first time any commercial logo has made a home on the walk of honor. The stairs will be decorated with blue horizontals, inspired by the stair-like pattern of blue in the Cadillac crest. The blue in the carmaker's logo is said to represent "knightly valor" — which, yes, is totally made up, but Cadillac made it up a long time ago, not for this campaign. The real point is that two celebrities in attendance will stand on the steps and present their own stories of rising up. You can check out all the commercials here, watch them unveiled in real time during the Oscars telecast, keep up with what your eleventy hundred Twitter friends think by checking out the hashtag #KeepRising, and finish it off with some time on the Keep Rising microsite.

2021 Cadillac CT5 adorned with Diamond Sky Special Edition Package

Among the changes due to appear on the 2021 Cadillac CT5 will be an exclusive Diamond Sky Special Edition Package. We don't have photos of the design theme yet, but Cadillac Society reports that the heaven-hued composition will only be available on the Premium Luxury trim. It starts with Diamond Sky Metallic paint that could provide perfect contrast for the Dark Sky Metallic offered on the GMC Sierra 1500. The CT5 goes all-in with the exterior color, dressing the rocker moldings and rear diffuser in Diamond Sky Metallic, and sitting on 19-inch wheels with a Diamond Cut/Midnight Silver finish. Tucked behind the wheels, buyers will find blue Brembo V Performance brake calipers. And having decided that standard taillamps will detract from the effect, for the first time on a non-V and non-V Sport Cadillac, the special edition CT5 will get clear taillights with a gray-tinted outer lens. The interior fabric comes in Sky Cool Gray with a Diamond Fall seat perforation pattern, offset with Jet Black accents, Galaxy Wood trim, and alloy pedals.  In typical Cadillac fashion, getting the Diamond Sky Special Edition Package will necessitate ordering another package when ordering opens next year. The required Climate Package bundles heated and ventilated driver and front passenger seats and an automatic heated steering wheel, and costs $1,090 in 2020. Elsewhere for the CT5 and the CT4, the next model year delivers a 12-inch customizable digital gauge cluster, plus the option of Super Cruise. Some of the changes already outlined for the 2021 CT5-V are likely headed to the CT5, so in the case of Super Cruise, for instance, checking that option could get real pricey, requiring the $1,300 Driver Awareness Plus Package as well as either the $8,330 Platinum Package or $1,950 Driver Assist Package.  Related Video: