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12 FROM THE TOP » CARLOS ZARLENGA, GENERAL MOTORS December 2018 | AutoData will see that they are some of the stron- gest in history. It’s another thing. We have to be responsible and understand how to maintain sustainability in the future. The industry in the United States today is at a much higher level than expected, and we know that the auto business is cyclical, therewill be a downturn at some point. Recently, our CEO has been asked if she believed that a crisis could happen and when it would be: she replied that she did not know exactlywhen, but that every daywe are closer to it. That’s true. You can’t predict exactly, but we have to keep our eyes open. There is a vehi- cle segment in the United States that is showing better profitability than before, there is a move to electrification, there is a very strong investment for the auto- nomous vehicles... what GM is doing is directing investments in the best places where it can win. And is Brazil one of these places? Yes. We are number one in the world’s sixth economy, Brazil, and number one in Mercosur, one of the largest automotive markets in the world. Brazil clearly is a place where we can win and so we will invest in it. What does selling Opel have to dowith it? Opel had a small market share in Europe (less than 4%) it needed very strong in- vestments to complywith local emission rules and didn’t have a large capacity to growglobally. It was a strategic decision, to focus on autonomous and electric vehicles, and we are leading both seg- ments. When we announced that we would have a commercially viable auto- nomous model in 2019 it was a shock to the industry, even to the company itself. GM has been very disciplined to decide where to apply its capital. We also left Russia, India and South Africa because we didn’t think wewerewinning in these markets aswe should. GM investors think this is a good idea. “There are a lot of people saying that the most important thing is to be the leader. I would say the most important thing is the customer, and I’m not sure if being the number one makes any difference to them.” th and 2% in the next one. Our process is sustainable, constant. But I want to make it clear that we are not seeking market leadership as our goal. We want a relevant company, especially for the client, that is profitable, sustainable and growing with a strong and enthusiastic chain. When all this happens together you will automatically be in the leading position or very close to it. A company is formed by many things, and if you just go after a specific thing, ‘oh I want to be the number 1’, you unbalance the rest. There are a lot of people saying that the most important thing is to be the leader. I would say that themost important thing is the customer, and I’m not sure if being the number one makes any difference to them. About the headquarters’ announcement saying that GMwill shut down factories and cut jobs… can it happen in Brazil? No. We are going to announce a new investment package in Brazil next year. But we have to understand that we are one company, our region is not detached from the rest of the world. GM is not in a difficult financial situation today. The spending cuts that GM announced in the United States have nothing to do with this: if you look at our results there you