General Motors Company, also
known as GM, is a United States
based automaker with headquarters in Detroit
, Michigan
.
GM was the world's 18th largest corporate entity and third largest
automaker as ranked by 2008 revenues on the
Fortune Global 500. Ranked by global unit
sales for 2008, it was the world's second largest automaker. GM
manufactures cars and trucks in 34 countries, recently employed
244,500 people around the world, and sells and services vehicles in
some 140 countries.
On June 1, 2009 General Motors filed for
Chapter 11
bankruptcy proceedings from which it emerged on July 10, 2009 in a
reorganization in which a new entity acquired the most valuable
assets.
GM
is now majority owned by the United States
Treasury
and Canadian
governments,
with the US government investing a total of $57.6 billion under the
Troubled Asset Relief
Program.
While no GM shares are currently available to the public, the
company plans an
initial public
stock offering in 2010.
GM plans to focus its business on its four core US brands —
Chevrolet,
Cadillac,
Buick, and
GMC. In Europe, following a period of
negotiation to sell a majority stake in its
Opel and
Vauxhall
brands, GM decided to retain full ownership of these
operations.
Company overview
.jpg/180px-12_(236012210).jpg)
General Motors GMT800 truck assembly
line.
In 2009, General Motors employs approximately 244,500 people around
the world.
General Motors' global headquarters is the
Renaissance
Center
located in Detroit, Michigan, United
States. In 2008, GM sold 8.35 million cars and trucks
globally. GM is the majority shareholder in
GM
Daewoo Auto & Technology Co. of South Korea and has
collaborations with
Shanghai Automotive
Industry Corporation of China,
AvtoVAZ
of Russia, and most recently, UzAvtosanoa of Uzbekistan.
GM has had
collaborations with various automakers including Fiat
(see
GM/Fiat Premium platform)
and Ford Motor Company. GM
retains various stakes in different automakers.
GM received loans from European governments in 2009, and has
reduced its ownership stake in European operations as part of its
reorganization." As of July 10, 2009, the new GM has over $40B in
cash, with the company's reorganized liability total of $48.8 B
which includes $24.4 B to be paid to the Voluntary Employee
Benefits Association (VEBA) trust, $9 B to the U.S. and Canadian
governments, and $15 B in liabilities to suppliers and other bills.
GM is slated to pay $10 B to the VEBA trust in December 2009, with
the remainder being paid in increments from 2012-19. GM isn't
required to make contributions to its pension fund until 2013, but
it may elect to if needed, since the company contribued $15.2 B to
its pension fund in 2003. Stock market conditions cause the fund
value to fluctuate. In February 2009, GM's combined pension fund
had about $85 B in assets, $56B in assets for hourly pensions and
$29B in assets for salaried pensions.The
domain name gm.com attracted at least 7
million visitors annually by 2008.
GM
worldwide vehicle sales by country 2008
(thousands) |
Rank
in GM |
Country |
Vehicle
sales |
Market
share (%) |
|
Rank
in GM |
Country |
Vehicle
sales |
Market
share (%) |
|
1
|
|
2,981 |
22.1%
|
|
9
|
|
133 |
13.1%
|
|
2
|
|
1,095 |
12.0%
|
|
10
|
|
117 |
9.7%
|
|
3
|
|
549 |
19.5%
|
|
11
|
|
114 |
4.4%
|
|
4
|
|
384 |
15.4%
|
|
12
|
|
107 |
7.8%
|
|
5
|
|
359 |
21.4%
|
|
13
|
|
95 |
15.5%
|
|
6
|
|
338 |
11.1%
|
|
14
|
|
91 |
33.3%
|
|
7
|
|
300 |
8.8%
|
|
15
|
|
80 |
36.3%
|
|
8
|
|
212 |
19.8%
|
|
16
|
|
66 |
3.3%
|
|
Top 4 markets/regions by vehicle sales in 2008
(thousands) |
|
1
|
North America |
3,552 |
21.9%
|
|
3
|
European Union |
905 |
12,3%
|
|
2
|
China |
1,095 |
12.0%
|
|
4
|
South America |
815 |
20.8%
|
Structure
General Motors is structured into the following operating
groups:
| Group |
Number of employees
March 2009 |
| GMAP (GM Asia-Pacific) |
33,000 |
| GME (GM Europe) |
55,000 |
| GM LAAM (GM Latin America, Africa and the Middle East) |
33,000 |
| GMNA (GM North America) |
112,000 |
| Other operations |
2,000 |
| Total number of employees |
235,000 |
Management
On July 23, 2009, GM announced its new Board of Directors:
Daniel F. Akerson,
David
Bonderman,
Robert D. Krebs,
Patricia
F. Russo along with current
members
Ed Whitacre (GM
Chairman) and
Fritz Henderson
(GM CEO). Board members who are not GM employees will be paid
$200,000 annually.
As of December 1, 2009, The General Motors Board Of Directors
accepted Fritz Henderson's resignation. Ed Whitacre has been given
the position as an interim until a new CEO is found. Searching for
the next GM CEO will begin immediately.
History
General
Motors was founded on September 16, 1908, in Flint
, Michigan, as a
holding company for Buick, then controlled by William C. Durant. It acquired
Oldsmobile later that year. In 1909, Durant
brought in
Cadillac,
Elmore,
Oakland and several others.
Also in
1909, General Motors acquired the Reliance Motor Truck Company of
Owosso
, Michigan, and the
Rapid Motor Vehicle Company of Pontiac
, Michigan, the
predecessors of GMC Truck.
Durant lost control of GM in 1910 to a bankers' trust, because of
the large amount of debt taken on in its acquisitions coupled with
a collapse in new vehicle sales. A few years later, Durant started
the
Chevrolet Motor car company and
through this he secretly purchased a controlling interest in GM.
Durant took back control of the company after one of the most
dramatic
proxy wars in American business
history. Durant then reorganized General Motors Company into
General Motors Corporation. Shortly after, he again lost control,
this time for good, after the new vehicle market collapsed.
Alfred P. Sloan was picked to take charge of the
corporation and led it to its post war
global dominance. This unprecedented growth of GM would last into
the early 1980s when it employed 349,000 workers and operated 150
assembly plants.
GM previously led in global sales for 77 consecutive years (1931 to
2007), longer than any other automaker.
Chapter 11 reorganization
On July 10, 2009, a new entity, NGMCO Inc. purchased the ongoing
operations and trademarks from General Motors Corporation.The
purchasing company in turn changed its name from NGMCO Inc. to
General Motors Company, marking the emergence of a new operation
from the "pre-packaged"
Chapter 11
reorganization.Under the reorganization process, termed a 363 sale
(for Section 363 which is located in Title 11, Chapter 3,
Subchapter IV of the
United States
Code, a part of the Bankruptcy Code), the purchaser of the
assets of a company in bankruptcy proceedings is able to obtain
approval for the purchase from the court prior to the submission of
a re-organization plan, free of liens and other claims. It’s used
in most Chapter 11 cases that involve a sale of property or other
assets. This process is typical of large organizations with complex
branding and intellectual property rights issues upon exiting
bankruptcy. The new company plans to issue an
initial public offering (IPO) of
stock in 2010.
GM's remaining pre-petition creditors' claims are paid from the
remaining assets of
Motors Liquidation Company, the new name of the former General
Motors Corporation, although the directors of that company believe
its debts far outweigh its assets. This means that while the former
GM's bondholders may recover a small portion of their investment,
former GM shareholders (now shareholders of Motors Liquidation
Company) will likely not receive anything.
Also on July 10, 2009, GM announced plans to trim its U.S.
workforce by 20,000 employees as part of its reorganization by the
end of 2009 due to economic conditions.
The following table is a comparison (estimates) of the new GM and
the old GM:
| Old GM (1908 - 2009) |
|
New GM (2009 - ) |
| Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, GMDaewoo (48.2%), GMC, Holden,
Hummer, Oldsmobile, Opel, Pontiac, Saab, Saturn, Vauxhall |
Brands |
Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet,
GMDaewoo (70.1%), GMC, Holden,
Opel, Vauxhall |
| 5,900 |
US Dealerships |
3,600 |
| Common shareholders, bondholders and secured creditors |
Ownership |
The
United States Treasury, the Crown in Right
of Canada, Old GM bondholders, and
UAW union |
| 47 |
US Plants |
34 |
| $94.7 B |
Debt |
$17 B |
| 91,000 |
US employees |
68,500 |
North America
Core brand focus
In North America, GM will focus primarily on its four core brands —
Chevrolet, Cadillac, Buick, and GMC — while selling, discontinuing,
or scaling back its other brands. In October 2009, GM sold its
Hummer brand of premium off-road vehicles to
the Chinese
Sichuan
Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery Company while a 20 percent
share is held by Suolang Douji, a private investor from Hong Kong
who holds a big share of Tengzhong. The deal still has to be
approved by the U.S. and Chinese regulatory agencies. The Hummer H2
led the 2009 list of "meanest vehicles for the environment," which
is part of the annual "Green Book" produced by the
American
Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy. The White House
characterized the GM restructuring as a shift toward a new leaner,
greener GM, which will aim to break even with annual sales much
lower than previously stated. President Obama declared that the
restructuring "will mark the end of an old GM, and the beginning of
a new GM; a new GM that can produce the high-quality, safe, and
fuel-efficient cars of tomorrow; that can lead America towards an
energy independent future; and that is once more a symbol of
America's success."
In the middle of 2005, GM announced that its corporate chrome
emblem "
Mark of Excellence" would
begin appearing on all recently introduced and all-new 2006 model
vehicles produced and sold in North America. However, in 2009 the
"New GM" reversed this, saying that emphasis on its four core
brands would dictate downplaying the GM name.
Production of SUVs and trucks vs. cars
In the late 1990s, the U.S. economy was on the rise and GM and
Ford gained market share producing enormous
profits primarily from the sale of light trucks and sport-utility
vehicles.
Following the
September 11
attacks, a severe stock market decline caused a pension and
benefit fund underfunding crisis.GM began its
Keep America
Rolling campaign, which boosted sales, and other auto makers
were forced to follow suit. The U.S. automakers saw sales increase
to leverage costs as gross margins deteriorated.
In 2004, GM redirected resources from the development of new sedans
to an accelerated refurbishment of their light trucks and
SUVs for introduction as 2007 models
in early 2006. Shortly after this decision, fuel prices increased
by over 50% and this in turn affected both the trade-in value of
used vehicles and the perceived desirability of new offerings in
these market segments. The current marketing plan is to tout these
revised vehicles extensively as offering the best fuel economy
in their class (of vehicle). GM claims its hybrid trucks
will have fuel economy improvements of 25%.
Sales
U.S. sales figures
| Calendar Year |
Total U.S. sales |
Chg/yr. |
| 1998 |
4,603,991 |
|
| 1999 |
5,017,150 |
9.0% |
| 2000 |
4,953,163 |
1.3% |
| 2001 |
4,904,015 |
1.0% |
| 2002 |
4,858,705 |
0.9% |
| 2003 |
4,756,403 |
2.1% |
| 2004 |
4,707,416 |
1.0% |
| 2005 |
4,517,730 |
4.0% |
| 2006 |
4,124,645 |
8.7% |
| 2007 |
3,866,620 |
6.3% |
| 2008 |
2,980,688 |
22.9% |
| 2009 Jan-Oct |
1,724,554 |
33.8% |
In 2005, GM promoted sales through an "employee discount" to all
buyers. Marketed as the lowest possible price, GM cleared an
inventory buildup of 2005 models to make way for its 2006
lineup.
SUV sales
In 2008, rapidly rising gasoline prices resulted in a 30% drop-off
of sales of SUVs. These had been GM's most profitable product,
often returning profits of $10,000 to $15,000 per vehicle. Sales of
SUVs had been decreasing since 2004, and in May 2008, a $2 billion
investment program for a new SUV platform, the CXX program, was
canceled. During the first 6 months of 2008, GM lost $18.8 billion;
by late October, its stock had dropped 76%, and it was considering
a merger with Chrysler. In only 12 months (October 2007-2008), GM
sales in the US dropped 45 percent. GM's concentration on SUVs as a
profit center dated from the 1990s.
On
Tuesday, December 23, 2008, the Janesville
, Wisconsin
plant, which produced the Chevrolet Tahoe, the Suburban, and the GMC Yukon, and the Moraine
, Ohio
plant which
produced the Chevrolet Blazer and
the GMC Envoy, closed permanently.
This left
General Motors with only one factory (in Arlington
, Texas
) producing
its largest SUVs.
Small car sales
"As part of General Motors Company (GM)'s restructuring, it plans
to revive one of its idled U.S. factories for the production of a
small car (the factories under consideration included one in or
near the Pontiac and Orion Township areas of Michigan, one in
Wisconsin, and one in Tennessee; the factory in Michigan was
ultimately selected to be revived, but only 1,200 out of a former
3,400 jobs will be left). The new small car will add to a group of
small and fuel-efficient vehicles that the company is planning to
roll out in the near future. The retooled plant will be capable of
building 160,000 cars annually, including both small and compact
vehicles. As part of its restructuring, GM will sell its iconic
Hummer brand."
Canada
In March
2005, the Canadian Crown-in-Council
provided C$200 million in incentives
to General Motors for its Ontario
plants to expand production and provide jobs,
according to Jim
Harris. Similar incentives were promised to non-North
American auto companies like Toyota. Ontario Premier
Dalton McGuinty said the money pledged for
the project by the
provincial Crown
of Ontario and by the federal government was well spent.
China
The
Buick brand is especially strong in China,
led by the
Buick Excelle subcompact.
The last emperor of China owned a Buick. The
Cadillac brand was introduced in China in 2004,
starting with imports from the United States. GM pushed the
marketing of the
Chevrolet brand in China
in 2005 as well, moving the former
Buick
Sail to that marque. The company manufactures most of its China
market vehicles locally through
Shanghai
GM, a joint venture with the Chinese company SAIC, which was
created on March 25, 1997. The Shanghai GM plant was officially
opened on December 15, 1998, when the first Chinese-built Buick
came off the assembly line. The
SAIC-GM-Wuling Automobile
joint-venture is also successfully selling trucks and vans under
the
Wuling marque (34%
owned by GM).
GM plans to invest $250m to create a research facility in Shanghai
to develop
hybrid cars and
alternative fuel vehicles.
Labor relations
On September 24, 2007 General Motors workers represented by the
United Auto Workers union went
on the first nationwide strike against GM since 1970. The ripple
effect of the strike reached into Canada the following day as two
car assembly plants and a transmission facility were forced to
close. Overnight a tentative agreement was reached, however, and
UAW officials declared the end of the strike in a news conference
at 4 a.m. on September 26. By the following day, all GM workers in
both countries were back to work.
A new labor contract was ratified by UAW members exactly one week
after the tentative agreement was reached, passing by a majority
62% vote. In the contract are several product and employment
guarantees stretching well into the next decade. One of GM's key
future products, the Chevy Volt, was promised to the GM
Poletown/Detroit-Hamtramck plant in 2010. Also included is a VEBA
(Voluntary Employee Beneficiary Association) which will transfer
retiree health care obligations to the UAW by 2010. This eliminates
more than $50 billion from GM's healthcare tab. It will be funded
by $30 billion in cash and $1.4 billion in GM stock paid to the UAW
over the next four years of the contract. It also eliminates 70% of
the labor cost gap with GM's Japanese rivals.
A strike at American Axle and Manufacturing Holdings Inc. will
result in lost production of an additional 230,000 vehicles in the
second quarter, with an estimated $1.8 billion impact on earnings
before tax, and a total strike cost of $2.81 billion.
Together with the
United Auto
Workers, GM created a joint venture dedicated to the quality of
life needs of employees in 1985.
The UAW-GM Center for human resources in
Detroit is dedicated
to providing GM salaried employees and GM UAW members programs and
services related to medical care, diversity issues, education,
training and tuition assistance, as well as
programs related to work and family concerns, in addition to the
traditional union-employer health and
safety partnership.
2008 Canadian Auto Workers bargaining
In an unusual move,
GM
Canada and the
Canadian Auto
Workers (CAW) union ratified a new collective bargaining
contract in May 2008, four months before the expiration of the
existing contract. As part of the agreement, among other production
commitments, GM pledged to maintain production at the Oshawa,
Ontario pickup truck plant. Less than three weeks later, GM
announced that rising gasoline prices and falling truck sales made
it necessary to close certain truck and SUV plants, including the
Oshawa pickup plant. In
response, CAW members staged a 12-day blockade of the GM Canada
headquarters.
After further discussions with the CAW, GM
agreed to compensate workers at the truck plant, as well as making
product commitments for the Oshawa car assembly plant
.
Labor costs
GM announced elimination of lifetime health benefits for about
100,000 of its white collar retirees at the end of 2008.
Auto racing
General Motors has an extensive history in numerous forms of
racing. In particular, the
Chevrolet
Corvette has long been popular and successful in international
road racing. GM also is a supplier of racing components, such as
engines, transmissions, and electronics equipments.
GM's
Oldsmobile Aurora engine
platform was successful in the
Indy
Racing League (IRL) throughout the 1990s, winning many races in
the small
V-8 class. GM has also done much
work in the
development of
electronics for GM auto racing. An unmodified Aurora V-8 in the
Aerotech, captured 47 world records, including the record for speed
endurance in the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America. Recently, the
Cadillac V-Series has entered
motorsports racing. GM has also used many cars in the American
racing series
NASCAR. Currently the
Chevrolet Impala is the only entry in the
series but in the past the
Pontiac
Grand Prix,
Buick Regal,
Oldsmobile Cutlass,
Chevrolet Lumina,
Chevrolet Malibu, and the
Chevrolet Monte Carlo were also
used.
In touring cars (mainly in Europe),
Vauxhall is a key player and former champion
in the
British Touring
Car Championship (BTCC) series and competes with a
Vauxhall Vectra in Super 2000 spec, although
have announced plans to withdraw at the end of 2009.
Opel used to participate in the
DTM series and also in
the 1980s in the World Rally Championship and other Rally Series
with Group B Spec Opel Manta's before this category of Rallying was
banned.
Chevrolet competes with a
Chevrolet Cruze in the
FIA World
Touring Car Championship (WTCC).
Tempus
Sport and
RML also compete with
privately run Lacettis in the BTCC.
In Australia, there is the prestigious
V8
Supercar Championship which is battled out by the two main
rivals of
Holden and
Ford. The current
Holden Racing Team cars are based on the
Holden Commodore and run a 5.0-litre
V8-cylinder engine producing . These cars have a top speed of and
run 0–100 km/h in 3.8 seconds. The
Holden Racing Team is Australia's most
successful team in Australian Touring Car History. In 2006 &
2007, the Drivers championship was won by the very closely linked
HSV Dealer Team.
Alternative propulsion initiatives
The company has long worked on
alternative-technology vehicles,
and has recently led the industry with ethanol burning
flexible-fuel vehicles that can run on
either
E85 (ethanol) or
gasoline. The company was the first to use
turbochargers and was an early proponent of
V6 engines in the 1960s, but quickly lost
interest as the
muscle car race took
hold. They demonstrated
gas turbine
vehicles powered by
kerosene, an area of
interest throughout the industry, but abandoned the alternative
engine configuration in view of the
1973
oil crisis. In the 1970s and 1980s, GM pushed the benefits of
diesel engines and
cylinder deactivation technologies
with disastrous results due to poor durability in the
Oldsmobile diesels and drivability issues in the
Cadillac V8-6-4 variable cylinder engines.
In 1987, GM, in conjunction with
AeroVironment, built the
Sunraycer, which won the inaugural
World Solar Challenge and was a
showcase of advanced technology. Much of the technology from
Sunraycer found its way into the Impact prototype electric vehicle
(also built by Aerovironment) and was the predecessor to the
EV1.
GM supported a compromise version of the
CAFE
standard increase from to , the first such increase in over 20
years.
Hybrid electric initiative
In May 2004, GM delivered the world's first full sized hybrid
pickups, the 1/2-ton Silverado/Sierra. These hybrids did not use
electrical energy for propulsion, like GM's later designs. In 2005,
the
Opel Astra diesel Hybrid
concept vehicle was introduced. The
2006
Saturn Vue Green Line was
the first hybrid passenger vehicle from GM and is also a
mild design. GM has hinted at new hybrid
technologies to be employed that will be optimized for higher
speeds in
freeway driving.
GM currently offers two types of hybrid systems. The first type,
used in the Saturn Vue, Saturn Aura, and Chevrolet Malibu, is what
GM calls the
BAS Hybrid system a type of
mild hybrid which was canceled in 2009. The second hybrid drive
system, co-developed with
Daimler AG and
BMW, is called a "
Two-Mode Hybrid." The two-mode is used by
the Chevrolet Tahoe/GMC Yukon and will later be used on the Saturn
Vue (cancelled), Cadillac Escalade, GM 1/2-ton pickups and possibly
other vehicles.
GM's current hybrid electric models:
GM has recently introduced the concept cars
Chevrolet Volt and
Opel Flextreme, which are electric vehicles
with back-up generators, powered by gasoline, E85, or fuel cells.
According to GM, a production Chevrolet Volt will be available by
late 2010 as a 2011 model.
The GM Magic Bus is a hybrid powered bus.
GM sold 843 hybrids of all types during the first quarter of 2008,
according to the industry newspaper
Automotive News. Compare that with
Ford, which sold 5,225 hybrids during that time. CSM Worldwide,
expects GM to seriously increase its hybrid output, turning the
automaker into a serious contender within the next few years. He
expects it to produce 40,000 to 50,000 hybrids this year, more than
doubling last year's production.
All-electric vehicles
GM was the first american company (in the modern era) to release an
all-electric automobile. In 1990, GM debuted the revolutionary
"Impact" concept car at the Los Angeles Auto Show. It was the first
car with zero-emissions marketed in the US in over three decades.
The Impact was eventually produced as the
EV1
for the 1996 model year. It was available through dealers located
in only a few regions (e.g., California, Arizona, Georgia).
Vehicles were leased, rather than sold, to individuals. In 2003 GM
decided to cease production of the vehicles.
General Motors has announced that it is building a prototype
two-seat electric vehicle with
Segway. An
early prototype of the Personal Urban Mobility and Accessibility
vehicle—dubbed
Project P.U.M.A.
-- will
be shown off in New York a day ahead of the press previews for the
2009 New York International Auto
Show
.
Plug-in hybrids
On September 16, 2008, as part of its 100th anniversary
celebration, GM unveiled the "production" version of the
Chevrolet Volt at the GM headquarters in
Detroit.
Battery packs for electric vehicles
GM will build battery packs with LG Chem in Michigan.
GM also plans to
build an automotive
battery laboratory in Michigan. GM will take full responsibility for all
the battery management systems and power electronics. The company
will build a new factory in Michigan, but a specific site has yet
to be announced, in part because negotiations are ongoing with
state and local authorities on the usual financial incentives and
approvals. LG Chem's US subsidiary, Compact Power of Troy,
Michigan, has been building the prototype packs for the development
vehicles and will continue to provide integration support and act
as a liaison for the program.
Hydrogen initiative
GM has prided its research and prototype development of
hydrogen powered vehicles, to be produced
in early 2010, using a support infrastructure still in a prototype
state. The economic feasibility of the technically challenging
hydrogen car, and the low-cost production of hydrogen to fuel it,
has also been discussed by other automobile manufacturers such as
Ford and
Chrysler.
In June 2007, Larry Burns, vice president of research and
development, said he's not yet willing to say exactly when hydrogen
vehicles will be mass produced, but he said it should happen before
2020, the year many experts have predicted. He said "I sure would
be disappointed if we weren't there" before 2020.
Flexible-fuel vehicles
North American market
GM produces several
flexible-fuel
vehicles that can operate on
E85 ethanol fuel or gasoline, or any blend of both.
Since 2006 GM started featuring a bright yellow gas cap to remind
drivers of the E85 capabilities, and also using badging with the
text "Flexfuel/E85 Ethanol" to clearly mark the car as an E85
FFV.
GM is the North American leader in E85 flex fuel vehicles, with
over 3 million FlexFuel vehicles on the road in the U.S. As of
2009, GM offers 18 ethanol-enabled FlexFuel cars and trucks in the
US, and produce more than one million new FlexFuel vehicles. GM's
goal is to have half of their annual vehicle production be E85 or
biodiesel capable by 2012.
Despite the significant amount of flex fuel vehicles sold in the US
and Canada, the percentage of users actually using ethanol has been
very low as many owners are not aware they owned an E85 flex or not
enough E85 fueling stations are available nearby, except for the
Corn Belt states, where there is a great
concentration of E85 stations, as most corn ethanol is produced
there. A 2005 survey found that 68% of American flex-fuel car
owners were not aware they owned an E85 flex. Several critics have
argued that GM and the other American automakers have been
producing E85 flex models motivated by a loophole in the
CAFE (Corporate Average Fuel Economy) requirements,
that allows for a fuel economy credit for every flex-fuel vehicle
sold, whether or not in practice these vehicles are fueled with
E85. This loophole might have allowed the car industry to meet the
CAFE targets in fuel economy just by spending between USD 100 to
USD 200 that it cost to turn a conventional vehicle into a
flex-fuel, without investing in new technology to improve fuel
economy, and saving them the potential fines for not achieving that
standard in a given model year.
Brazilian market
GM's largest overseas subsidiary is
General Motors do Brasil, which
started producing
flexible-fuel
vehicles since its inception in the Brazilian market in 2003.
Like other Brazilian flex-fuel vehicles, GM's flex fuel cars and
light-duty trucks are optimized to run on any mix of
E20-E25 gasoline and
up to 100%
hydrous ethanol fuel (
E100). GM launched its
first flex fuel in June 2003, the
Chevrolet Corsa 1.8 FlexPower, just two
months after the first flex car was launched by another Brazilian
carmaker.
GM do Brasil also introduced the MultiPower engine in August 2004,
which was capable of using
natural gas , ethanol and gasoline
(
E20-E25
blend) as fuel, and it was used in the
multifuel Chevrolet
Astra 2.0 model 2005, aimed at the local taxi cab market. The
Brazilian GM Powertrain unit also developed the EconoFlex
technology, used for the first time in the
Chevrolet Prisma 1.4, which allows the flex
fuel engine to maximize fuel economy and power.
Due to the success and rapid consumer acceptance of the flex
versions, GM sold 192,613 flex vehicles and 135,636
gasoline-powered automobiles in 2005, jumping to 501,681 flex-fuel
vehicles, while only 949 cars and 6,834 light trucks powered by
gasoline were sold in 2007, and reaching new car sales of 535.454
flex fuels in 2008, representing 97 percent of all cars and light
duty trucks sold in that year.
Philanthropy
Since 1996, General Motors has been the exclusive source of funding
for
Safe Kids USA's "Safe Kids Buckle
Up" program, a national initiative to ensure child automobile
safety through education and inspection. Through 2002, the Pace
Awards program led by GM, EDS, and SUN Microsystems, gave over $1.2
billion of in-kind contributions which includes computers to over
18 universities to support engineering education. In 2009, the GM
led group has helped the Pace Awards program worldwide. General
Motors is a leading contributor to charity. In 2004, GM gave
$51,200,000 in cash contributions and $17,200,000 in-kind donations
to charitable causes.
Politics
In the 2008 election cycle, General Motors contributed $802,414,
with 52% of that amount going to the Democrats and 48% to the
Republicans.GM's Saturn division put up a display at the 2009
Detroit Auto Show congratulating Barack Obama on his election as
the first African-American president of the United States.
Environmental issues
In the
middle of 1999, the Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) removed of contaminated sediments and
soil from the General Motors site in Massena
, New York for disposal at a licensed facility in
Utah
. The amount contained of contaminated
sediments dredged from the St. Lawrence
River. The sediments had been stored on the site since 1995. There
was also of contaminated
sludge from the
active
wastewater treatment plant on the
General Motors property. The Political Economy Research Institute
ranks GM 18th among corporations emitting airborne pollutants in
the United States. The ranking is based on the emission quantity (8
million pounds in 2005) and toxicity.
In
September 2006, the state of California
filed suit against General Motors, Chrysler, Nissan, Toyota, Honda, and Ford. The companies were accused of producing
cars that emitted over 289 million
metric
tons of
carbon per year in the United
States, accounting for nearly 20% of carbon
emissions in the United States and 30% of carbon
emissions in California.
This lawsuit was dismissed by a judge in September 2007.
The
Union of Concerned
Scientists ranked General Motors as seventh out of the eight
world's largest automakers in 2007 for environmental performance.
The report noted that GM manufactured the most vehicles achieving
or better, but also the most vehicles under .
Brands and subsidiaries
Current brands (as of 2009)
| Marque |
Years used |
Markets |
| Buick |
1908–present |
North America, China, Israel, Taiwan |
| Cadillac |
1909–present |
Global, except South America, India, SE Asia, Australia |
| GMC |
1912–present |
North America, Middle East |
| Chevrolet |
1917–present |
Global, except Australia |
| Vauxhall |
1925–present |
United Kingdom |
| Pontiac |
1926–2010 |
North America |
| Opel |
1929–present |
Europe (except UK), Russia, South Africa, Middle East, China,
India |
| Holden |
1948–present |
Australia, New Zealand |
| Saturn |
1985–2010 |
North America |
| Saab |
1989–present |
Global, except India, South America |
| Hummer* |
1992–2009 |
Global, except South America, China, India |
| Daewoo |
2002–present |
South Korea, Latin America |
| Wuling |
2002–present |
China |
*In the process of being sold to Chinese heavy duty
equipment maker Sichuan
Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery Company.
Defunct brands
Sold brands
Former affiliates
Spin-offs
Subsidiaries
See also
People
Books and films
- Final Offer – A
documentary film that shows the 1984 GM contract negotiations, that
resulted in the union split of the Canadian arm of the UAW.
- Roger & Me – the
first film by Michael Moore. The film
criticizes General Motors for closing down its factories in Moore's
home-town of Flint, Michigan, despite record profits. After many
Flint residents lose jobs at GM, Moore claims, the town descends
into economic chaos.
- Who Killed the
Electric Car? – A documentary film charting GM's launch,
then alleged self-sabotage of the electric car EV1.
- General Motors is mentioned several times in
Wheels a novel by Arthur Hailey
- The Great Petrodollar Takeover is a novel about Arab
oil wealth being used to fund a bid for GM.
Industry associations
Competitions
Categories
References
Further reading
- Articles
- Books
- Barabba, Vincent P. Surviving Transformation: Lessons from
GM's Surprising Turnaround (2004)
- Chandler, Alfred D., Jr., ed. Giant Enterprise: Ford,
General Motors, and the Automobile Industry 1964.
- Cray, Ed. Chrome Colossus: General Motors and Its
Times. 1980.
- Farber, David. Sloan Rules: Alfred P. Sloan and
the Triumph of General Motors U of Chicago Press 2002
- Gustin, Lawrence R. Billy Durant: Creator of General
Motors, 1973.
- Halberstam, David. The Reckoning (1986) detailed
reporting on the crises of 1973 – mid 1980s
- Keller, Maryann. Rude Awakening: The Rise, Fall, and
Struggle for Recovery of General Motors, 1989.
- Leslie, Stuart W. Boss Kettering: Wizard of General
Motors Columbia University Press, 1983.
- Maxton, Graeme P. and John Wormald, Time for a Model
Change: Re-engineering the Global Automotive Industry
(2004)
- Maynard, Micheline. The End of Detroit: How the Big Three
Lost Their Grip on the American Car Market (2003)
- Pelfrey, William. Billy, Alfred, and General Motors: The
Story of Two Unique Men, a Legendary Company, and a Remarkable Time
in American History (2006)
- Rae, John B. The American Automobile: A Brief History.
University of Chicago Press, 1965.
- Sloan, Alfred P., Jr. My Years with General Motors,
1963.
- Weisberger, Bernard A. The Dream Maker: William C.
Durant, Founder of General Motors, 1979
External links
GM websites
Other links
and as General Dynamics Land
Systems division of General
Dynamics
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