GM intends to win, proclaims CEO Barra, during a speech to Detroit business leaders.

General Motors is no longer going to act a polite competitor, GM chief executive officer Mary Barra said during an appearance before the Detroit Economic Club.

“I want to win,” Barra said. Not get by. Not hold on. Not be competitive. But win.

“I want GM to excel. To build relationships with customers for life. To be the most valued automotive company in the world,” Barra added. “If we aren’t here to win, to lead, to excel, why are we here?”

In her speech to the leaders of the Detroit business community, Barra made it clear she wasn’t chosen to be CEO just to put a friendly face on the once-bankrupt automaker. Already having walked through fire as she has had to steer GM through an embarrassing and costly recall crisis, Barra has shaken up the maker and is clearly planning more major changes.

She stressed that “the day of GM being a polite competitor is over. We will be professional. We will be ethical, of course. But we will be tough, unrelenting competitors. And everyone who cares about the success of the company should expect nothing less of us,” Barra said during her speech.

(GM top-ranked domestic maker in annual Consumer Reports reliability study. Click Here to see how it and the competition fared.)

There are plenty of skeptics, of course. GM’s once formidable grip on the American car market has steadily eroded over the past four decades. Its share of the market is now less than half what it was a half century ago, Japanese giant Toyota only a few share points behind in the U.S. market, and well ahead globally.

GM has "raised the bar" when it comes to handling safety issues, asserted Barra.

But where GM executves long tended to shrug off the loss of market share by offering excuses, Barra said that approach is no longer acceptable.

During a brief news conference Barra said that the company has taken major steps to address the problems that led to the sweeping safety problems that have resulted in 30 million vehicles being recalled so far this year.

(GM ignition switch death toll reaches 30. Click Here for more.)

The objective is to build a “zero defect culture” inside GM, she said. “We’re very focused on protecting the customers. I think we have a very good system and if we have an issue, we’re finding it very quickly,” the CEO added.

GM will clearly have to prove it has changed its game. It is facing investigation on Capitol Hill, a criminal probe by the U.S. Justice Department, and a number of lawsuits, including two that each could cost the maker $10 billion if successful.

Asked if the worst of its recall problems are over, Barra noted there have been far fewer service actions announced in recent weeks. And, if anything, she insisted that GM’s willing to openly address its problems show, “I think we’re raising the bar.” The company, she explained, is overhauling its processes and now  encourages employees to identify problems outside their regular chain of command, rather than looking the other way. The program has already helped uncover defects that needed fixing, though she offered no specifics.

“As I stand here today, GM is a company with many strengths. But I also know we must improve significantly and rapidly,” admitted Barra. “These are the facts. Complacency and over confidence have no place in the global automotive industry… and no place at our company.”

There are some independent signs of progress. This week, GM was rated the top domestic maker by Consumer Reports magazine, though its annual automotive reliability study showed the Detroit maker still lagging quality leaders like Toyota and its luxury brand Lexus.

A good portion of Barra’s speech focused on technology, in particular the next-generation Chevrolet Volt. She offered a few hints about the next-generation plug-in hybrid, which will debut at the 2015 Detroit Auto Show. Among other things, it will adopt a new battery-electric drivetrain that will “go further on a charge, will accelerate faster and….use even less fuel.”

(For more on the second-generation Chevy Volt, Click Here.)

GM is also aiming to take the lead in autonomous and connected vehicle technologies. It will participate with the federal government in a pilot smart highway project covering a swath of Michigan highways, and its Cadillac division will roll out a new SuperDrive system permitting hands-off motoring on the freeway.

GM recently brought in a new global boss for Cadillac, former Infiniti CEO Johan de Nysschen. Giving a large bank account to tap and significant autonomy, the South African-born executive is planning a major product assault that will give no quarter to Caddy’s traditional rivals. The goal, said de Nysschen, is to “annihilate the opposition.” That’s something Barra made clear she expects from all of GM’s brands going forward.

(Paul A. Eisenstein contributed to this report.)