General Motors, Volkswagen, Tesla and China’s BYD were named among Time’s 100 most influential companies Tuesday. Time featured GM CEO Mary Barra on one of five covers.
The new, unranked list recognizes 100 businesses making an impact around the world. The list highlights companies “that are shaping our collective future, as well as the leaders who steer them,” Time Editor-in-Chief Edward Felsenthal said in a statement.
The TIME100 Most Influential Companies issue spotlighted each CEO on the five covers with longer profiles. In addition to Barra, Time featured Reese Witherspoon of Hello Sunshine, Adam Silver of the National Basketball Association, Francis deSouza of Illumina and Sara Menker of Gro Intelligence on the covers.
Time accepted nominations across multiple business sectors, such as health care, entertainment, transportation, technology and more. Each company was evaluated on relevance, impact, innovation, leadership, ambition and success.
GM was selected for the list’s “Titans” category for engineering a greener future. Barra emphasized GM’s vision for an all-electric future. The automaker has pledged to invest $27 billion in electric and autonomous vehicle development and launch 30 EVs globally through 2025. By 2035, GM will aim to have a zero-emission light-vehicle portfolio.
“Virtually all the assets necessary to achieve our vision we already have and have demonstrated,” Barra told Time. “Sometimes we will forget we actually sell more vehicles in this country than anyone else. We have strong brands. We have industry-leading loyalty. And we have an incredibly capable manufacturing team. We have to tell our story better and put a few more points on the board.”
Volkswagen Group was part of Time’s “Leaders” list, also for electrification. Tesla and SpaceX, the aerospace manufacturer and space transportation services company also run by Tesla CEO Elon Musk, were featured in Time’s “Disruptors” category.
BYD, backed by legendary investor Warren Buffet, also was named to the list for its efforts to develop electric transportation. It appeared under the “Innovators” category.
Tech giant Nvidia, which is playing a major role in autonomous driving development, also appeared on the list under “Innovators.”
Time published the list in conjunction with the launch of Time Business, which will cover the global impact of business and how it intersects with consumers’ public and personal lives.
