What kind of vehicle do you drive? Would it happen to be a Chevrolet? A Buick? How about a Cadillac? Or a GMC? All of these brands plus more are made by General Motors Company, or better known as GM. GM is the 2nd largest car manufacture in the world (General Motors Company, 2011). They have provided millions, if not more, vehicles to the world. Thanks to GM, many of the popular vehicle brands that are available, they have produced. You can understand how vital GM has been to the automotive world when you find out that “it was the world’s largest car maker from 1931 to 2008, when it was surpassed by Toyota” (Costantini).
The history of GM dates back to 1908. At this time or to be more specific on September 16, GM was founded in Flint, Michigan, by William C Durant (General Motors Company, 2011). The company started as Durant-Dot Carriage Company which started in 1886 and by 1900 was producing over 100,000 carriages a year (Flint). In the late 1920’s GM’s sales passed Ford Motor Company due to the fact that they were paying special attention to consumer demands “Car buyers no longer wanted the cheapest and most basic model; they wanted style, power, and prestige, which GM offered them” (100 Years of GM – A Brief History of General Motors). Whereas Ford was concentrated on reducing the cost of vehicles. In addition, GM was offering payment plans and Ford was not, Henry was opposed to credit on moral principles (100 Years of GM – A Brief History of General Motors). In the 1950s, GM continued to dominate the automotive industry. They had 46 percent of the American auto market, Ford and Chrysler had 44 percent, and all of the other automotive companies combined had 10 percent. In the 1960’s, GM’s percentage had increased to 51, more t...
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Costantini, F. (2011, February 24). General Motors. In The New York Times. Retrieved March 10, 2011, from http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/business/companies/general_motors_corporation/index.html
Elliott, H. (2009, April 27). America's Fastest-Dying Car Brands. Retrieved March 9, 2011, from Forbes.com: http://www.forbes.com/2009/04/27/dying-car-brands-lifestyle-vehicles-pontiac.html
Flint (n.d.). In Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved March 9, 2011, from http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/210279/Flint?anchor=ref282801
General Motors Company. (2011). About GM. Retrieved March 9, 2011, from General Motors: http://www.gm.com/corporate/about/
General Motors Company. (2011). Explore GM History. Retrieved March 9, 2011, from General Motors: http://www.gm.com/corporate/about/history/historyPopUp.jsp?0
General Motors sells vehicles in more than 120 countries CITE. GM customers live in varied climates and terrains and use their vehicles for a variety of applications. This means that GM’s fleet must contain vehicles that span a...
The automaker Chevrolet has experienced much technological change in the past 104 years. Although it, Chevrolet, is a French name, it is an American car company. It was primarily founded by William C, Durant, along with Louis Chevrolet, on November 3, 1911. It wasn’t until six years of existence that it became part of the Automotive Division at General Motors, otherwise known as GM. Durant had previously tried to buy out Ford and failed. This caused him to resort to co-founding Chevrolet. The first car sold by the company commonly called Chevy was the Classic Six, at the price of 2,500 dollars. Chevy started producing these vehicles in 1912-1913. The car’s value may seem like pocket change but that is the common day equivalent of roughly 57,000
Entering the 1950s, no corporation even came close to General Motors in its size, or it's profits. GM was twice as big as the second biggest company in the world, Standard Oil of New Jersey (father of today's Exxon Mobil), and had a vast diversity of businesses ranging from home appliances to providing insurance and building Buicks, Cadillacs, Chevys, GMCs, Oldsmobiles, Pontiacs and trains. It was so big that it made more than half the cars sold in the United States and the U.S. Department of Justice's antitrust division was threatening to break it up(to prevent Monopolies, Like how Standard oil was broken up). In the 21st century, it's almost hard to imagine how powerful GM was in the 50s and 60s. Sports cars from Europe were getting popular, because of servicemen coming back from WWII, and wanted sports cars, but American Automakers didn't make sports cars, so they would either buy foreign, or go without. A man named McLean would still try to make a low priced sports car. But it didn't work. The idea of a car coming from GM that could compete with Jaguar, MG or Triumph was pretty much considered stupid and insane. C1:Generation: Bad but valuable. Just 300 Corvettes were made in 1953. Each of these first-year Corvettes was a white roadster with red interior. The Corvette was made of fiberglass for light weight, but the first cars were made with a really weak, (and kind of pathetic for a “sports car”) 150 horsepower 6-cylinder engine and an automatic transmission. The result was more of a look at me, I’m rich car than a race car. The first generation of the Corvette was introduced late in 1953. It was originally designed as a show car for GM's traveling car show, Motorama, the Corvette was a Show Car for the 1953 Motorama display...
Standard & Poor’s. General Motors (GM). (1999) Standard Corporation Descriptions. (pp. 6000 – 6003) New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.
"Is the Auto Industry's Recovery a 'Success Story?'." Internet Wire 24 Nov. 2010. General OneFile. Web. 25 Nov. 2011.
Entering the 1950s, no corporation even came close to General Motors in its size, or it's profits. GM was twice as big as the second biggest company in the world, Standard Oil of New Jersey (father of today's ExxonMobil), and had a vast diversity of businesses ranging from home appliances to providing insurance and building Buicks, Cadillacs, Chevys, GMCs, Oldsmobiles, Pontiacs and trains. It was so big that it made more than half the cars sold in the United States and the U.S. Department of Justice's antitrust division was threatening to break it up(to prevent Monopolies, Like how Standard oil was broken up). In the 21st century, it's almost hard to imagine how powerful GM was in the 50s and 60s.Sports cars from Europe were getting popular, because of servicemen coming back from WWII, and wanted sports cars, but American Automakers didn't make sports cars, so they would either buy foreign, or go without. A man named McLean would still try to make a low priced sports car. But it didn't work. The idea of a car coming from GM that could compete with Jaguar, MG or Triumph was pretty much considered stupid and insane. C1:Generation: Bad but valuable. Just 300 Corvettes were made in 1953. Each of these first-year Corvettes was a white roadster with red interior. The Corvette was made of fiberglass for light weight, but the first cars were made with a really weak, (and kind of pathetic for a “sports car”) 150 horsepower 6-cylinder engine and an automatic transmission. The result was more of a look at me, I’m rich car than a race car. The first generation of the Corvette was introduced late in 1953. It was originally designed as a show car for GM's traveling car show, Motorama, the Corvette was a Show Car for the 1953 Motorama display at...
du Pont who owned stock became the President of General Motors and developed his “Organization Study” a document that showed how a highly diversified corporation could give division manager adequate freedom and reward to excel, while top management still would have strategic and financial control. The company’s philosophy and strategy from 1910 to late 1920 was a car for every purse and purpose and as demands for automobiles increased, General Motors set the pace for innovation, production, and design for others to follow. Despite high profits, General Motors suffered from a divided management and the war interfered with the company’s ability to solve the problem. During wartime, General Motors showed its commitment and social responsibility by supplying “12 billion dollars worth of materials, such as trucks, tanks, and airplanes, to support the Allied war effort” (General Motors, 2015). The citizens of America had a profound respect for GM’s positive efforts. On the other hand, in 1949 after the purchase of National City Lines of Los Angeles, GM was accused of buying streetcar companies since the 1920’s and replacing them with bus systems (Associate Press, 2008). Consequently, in this Los Angeles case General Motors was convicted of conspiracy, their first major cover up. After the war, GM executives persuaded DuPont’s directors to invest 25 million dollars in GM. DuPont could use their products of plastics, paints, and artificial leather with GM automakers designs and jointly dominated the market. In addition, DuPont developed anti-knock gasoline additive and their Engineering Department helped General Motors build production plants and employee housing. According to Holstein, “General Motors controlled 50.7% of the U.S. automotive market in 1962” (p. 5). DuPont and General Motors had a successful business partnership, but unfortunately, the stock interest DuPont held in General Motors violated the Clayton Antitrust Act according to the
Henry Ford and his engineers designed several automobiles, each one designated by a letter of the alphabet: these included the small, four cylinder Model N (which sold for $500), and the more luxurious six-cylinder Model K (which sold poorly for $2500). In October 1908, ...
GM should continue to use its technological advantages to create innovative automobiles, but do so cautiously. GM should follow the direction of today’s environmentally conscious consumers who want less expensive, economical automobiles. GM should primarily utilize a cooperative game-theory approach in its sales and marketing strategies in order to stay in sync with the current automotive industry needs.
Model T’s were everywhere in America, even long after Ford stopped production in 1927. (Henry) While Ford was the number one brand, selling the most cars throughout the early 1900’s, the Model T created a new industry that is distinctly American; the auto industry. Three manufacturers, Ford, General Motors, and Chrysler dominated the American auto industry, and all three companies still produce cars today. The Model T gave birth to the competitive auto market. To this day, car companies in America are constantly racing to innovate, improve, and outsell their competitors. Manufacturing of cars “became the backbone of a new consumer goods-oriented society. By the mid-1920s it ranked first in value of product, and in 1982 it provided one out of every six jobs in the United States.” (history –idk yet) The demand for cars also resulted in a booming petroleum industry, and a high demand for metals, like steel. ( History idk yet) Furthermore, with so many people driving cars, construction of roads was necessary. The popularity of automobiles set off a chain reaction that created new opportunities all across the country. All sections of the modern automotive industry, from marketing to manufacturing, as well industries like petroleum refining, steel production, and road construction, can trace their beginnings to the Ford Model
General Motors is one of the world's most dominant automakers from 1931. After 1980s economic recession the main goal for automobile companies was cost reduction. Customers became more price-sensitive. Also Japanese competitors came into market with the new effective system of production. So market was highly competitive and directed toward price reduction. The case states that in 1991 GM suffered $ 4.5 billion losses and most part of the costs of manufacturing was due to purchased components. GM NA hired Lopez in order to find the way from "extraordinary" situation and reduce costs.
General Motors Company (GM) is an American multinational corporation that manufactures, designs, markets and distributes vehicles and vehicle parts, and sells financial services. GM produces vehicles in 37 countries, selling and servicing them through thirteen brands such as Alpheon, Chevrolet, Cadillac, Holden and Wuling (Our Company, 2014). GM is among the world 's largest automakers by vehicle unit sales. It employs about 212,000 people working in 396 facilities touching six continents and has 21,000 dealers around the world (Our Company, 2014).
When you look at the history of General Motors, you will find a long, rich heritage. General Motors came into existence in 1908 when it was founded by William "Billy" Durant. At that time Buick Motor Company was a member of GM. over the years GM would acquire more than 20 companies, to include Opel, Chevrolet, Cadillac, Pontiac, and Oldsmobile. By the 1960's through 1979 was known as a revolution period for General Motors. Everyone was focusing on environmental concerns, increased prices of gasoline lead to the unprecedented downsizing of vehicles. The smaller cars lead to one the largest re-engineering program ever taken in the industry. By 1973, General Motors was the first to offer an air bag in a production car.
As the automobile industry made its first appearance in the early 1900s, General Motors had already slowly begun its formation. GM was founded in 1908 by William C. Durant, a carriage manufacturer of Flint, Michigan, and today operates manufacturing and assembly plants and distribution centers in many countries, including Canada . Its major products include automobiles and trucks, a wide range of automotive components, engines, and defense and aerospace materiel. General Motors has a long history of business and technological innovation designed to deliver ever-increasing value to their customers and society. GM today has manufacturing operations in more than 30 countries and its vehicles are sold in about 200 countries.
Henry Ford began a family automobile business in 1903; this was during the industrial revolution. This business has become the most famous automobile brand in the world. Over the years the business structure had adapted to changes in leadership, markets trends and the economic conditions. The Ford family still controls the company through multiple voting shares, even though it owns a much lower proportion of the equity