In naming Mary Barra as its next chief executive, General Motors will become the first U.S. auto maker to be headed by a woman. But it is her background, as opposed to her gender, that sends a stronger message to investors.
通用汽车(General Motors)任命玛丽•巴拉(Mary Barra)为该公司首席执行长，成为第一家由女性领导的美国汽车生产商。但对于投资者来说，更具意义的是巴拉的职业背景而不是她的性别。
GM is much leaner than it was when it sought bankruptcy protection in 2009. But investors have been nagged by concerns that vestiges of the hidebound culture that sent the company over the edge remain. GM's continuing problems in Europe, and its inability so far to match Ford Motor's success in streamlining vehicle platforms, hasn't helped.
与2009年申请破产保护时相比，现在通用汽车已进行了大幅度的瘦身。但投资者担心，曾经导致该公司陷入破产边缘的僵化的企业文化还没有被完全消除。通用汽车在欧洲市场仍面临困境，另外迄今为止该公司在精简汽车平台方面的成果仍无法和福特汽车(Ford Motor)相媲美，这些都对通用汽车不利。
Regardless of who leads GM, Europe, where the industry is struggling with structural excess capacity, will be a problem for some time. The good news, such as it is, is that Europe has stabilized lately, with industrywide sales up 2.5% in the three months ended in October from a year earlier.
无论谁领导通用汽车，正在结构性产能过剩中挣扎的欧洲汽车市场未来一段时间内仍将是一个棘手的问题。但好消息是欧洲市场最近已经企稳，截至10月份的三个月中，欧洲汽车行业的总销量同比增长2.5%。
The effort to reduce platforms, or basic sets of vehicle architecture, which over the long haul should bring down development costs, improve quality and improve flexibility as drivers' tastes shift, is an area where Ms. Barra may be able to make a difference. Currently head of product development, with stints managing a plant and running engineering divisions, her appointment represents a break from GM's reputation of favoring career bean counters for its top spot.
巴拉在减少汽车平台（即基本车型）方面可能会有所作为。长期而言，减少平台应当会降低研发成本，改善质量，并可以根据买家喜好的变化而增加灵活性。巴拉目前担任产品研发主管，她拥有管理工厂和工程部门的经验。她获任首席执行长对于通用汽车来说是一个突破，此前该公司一直喜欢聘请精打细算的职业经理人担任首席执行长。
'That she's been put in that position is a significant change for the company and the culture,' says IHS Automotive analyst Tom Libby.
IHS Automotive分析师利比(Tom Libby)表示，巴拉被任命为通用汽车首席执行长是该公司及其企业文化的一个重大改变。
It is, to be sure, one thing to put an emphasis on streamlining and refreshing GM's vehicle lineup and quite another to succeed at it. But the shift in focus from merely surviving to making better cars more efficiently may convince more investors to lean into GM's stock.
虽然通用汽车加强精简和更新汽车车型方面的工作并不等于就能够在方面取得成功，但该公司的业务重点将从勉强生存下去转向以更高效率生产更好的汽车，这可能会吸引更多投资者购买通用汽车的股票。