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DETROIT — The top leaders of General Motors took a deep dive into the state of the automaker's global operations on Tuesday during its inaugural Global Business Conference, an event where finance industry professionals and other stakeholders gathered to hear presentations from GM chairman and chief executive officer Ed Whitacre and other executives.

GM said it has not held such an event since it emerged from its bankruptcy and reorganization process from a year ago.

The conference was held at the company's Technical Center in Warren, Mich., where Whitacre began the day with an examination of the company's current state, its progress and the direction GM can go from here.

"We're not reintroducing GM today; we're introducing a new GM, because we are a new and much different company than we were 12 months ago," Whitacre shared. 

"We're creating a new GM — one that truly is different. We have a simplified focus on designing, building and selling the world's best vehicles," he added. "We're producing first-rate cars and trucks that customers are buying around the world. We have a new management team that 'gets it' and is executing well."

Reports were made by Whitacre, vice chairman Steve Girsky and vice chairman and chief financial officer Chris Liddell, along with the automaker's regional presidents.

Additionally, Tom Stephens — GM's vice chairman of global product operations — detailed the automaker's global product portfolio. Moreover, he offered a sneak peak at vehicles coming down the pipeline.

Included in that bunch were the looks at upcoming new versions of the Opel Insignia, Chevrolet Malibu and Cadillac CTS models.

The day also featured evaluations of individual markets, which were made by the following: Tim Lee, president of GM's International Operations; Jamie Ardila, president of GM South America; Nick Reilly, president of GM Europe and chairman of the management board of Opel/Vauxhall; Mark James, vice president and CFO of Opel/Vauxhall Europe; and Mark Reuss, president of GM North America

GM contends that "closely managing the business at the regional level, with specific focus on the trends in local markets" along with utilizing the automaker's potential on the worldwide scale gives the company a strong opportunity to maximize what is likely to be further expansion in the world's auto industry.

Guests were also treated to a "ride-and-drive" that included almost the entirety of the automaker's current U.S. Chevrolet, Buick, GMC and Cadillac products. Two of those were the Chevrolet Cruze and the Chevrolet Volt.

Moving on to Girsky's presentation, featured in this was insight into the changes GM has made in its operations and how those have come to fruition. Girsky examined the hurdles facing GM across the world. Some of these are continued "fragmentation" in the industry as well as a topsy-turvy new-car market.

The executive showed what GM is doing to tackle the issues and how GM is positioning itself to maximize its potential.

Wrapping up the event was Liddell's summary of the vital role the company's global resources and financial strength play in fostering stability and growth in GM.

Liddell emphasized again that the automaker is dedicated to open and consistent communications, as well as focusing on what's important to the business and stakeholders.

"Today's event gave us a unique opportunity to highlight the fundamental changes we're making at GM," Liddell noted. "With global growth potential in both mature and emerging markets, a dramatically lower break-even level in North America, actions underway to restructure Europe, and a much stronger balance sheet, we are making the changes needed for long-term success."