General Motors Guide, Meaning , Facts, Information and Description
General Motors Corporation, also known as GM, is a United States-based automobile maker with worldwide operations and brands including Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, Daewoo, GMC, Holden, Hummer, Oldsmobile, Opel, Pontiac, Saturn, Saab, and Vauxhall.
Chevrolet and GMC divisions produce trucks, as well as passenger vehicles, while Oldsmobile is being phased out during 2004. Other brands include ACDelco, Allison Transmission, and General Motors Electro-Motive Division that produces diesel-electric locomotives. GM also has stakes in Isuzu, Subaru, and Suzuki in Japan, Fiat, Alfa Romeo, and Lancia in Italy and also has a joint venture with Auto Vaz (Lada) in Russia. In December 2003, it acquired Delta in South Africa, in which it had taken a 45 per cent stake in 1997, and which is now a fully-owned subsidiary, General Motors South Africa.
GM's headquarters are in Detroit, Michigan.
General Motors is the world's largest vehicle manufacturer and employs over 340,000 people. In 2001 GM through all its branches sold 8.5 million vehicles. In 2002 GM sold 15% of all cars and trucks in the world. They also own Electronic Data Systems, and prior to selling it to News Corporation, DirecTV. GM owned Frigidaire from 1918 to 1979.
The current Chairman (since May 1, 2003) and Chief Executive Officer (since June 1, 2000) is Rick Wagoner, succeeding John F. Smith, Jr
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General Motors was founded in 1908 as a holding company for Buick, by then controlled by William C. Durant, and acquired Oldsmobile later that year.
During the 1920s and 1930s General Motors bought out the bus company Yellow Coach, helped create Greyhound bus lines, replaced intercity train transport with buses, and established subsidiary companies to buy out tram (streetcar) companies and replace the trams by buses. General Motors bought the internal combustion engined railcar builder Electro-Motive Corporation and its engine supplier Winton Engine in 1930, renaming both as the General Motors Electro-Motive Division. Over the next twenty years diesel-powered locomotives and trains, the majority built by GM, largely replaced other forms of traction on American railroads.
On December 31, 1955 General Motors became the first American corporation to make over one billion dollars in a year.
A strike began at the General Motors parts factory in Flint, Michigan on June 5, 1998 that quickly spread to five other assembly plants and lasted seven weeks.
At one point it was the largest corporation in the United States ever, in terms of its revenues as a percent of GDP. During the 1950's, GM president Charles E. Wilson famously stated, "What's good for General Motors is good for the country." At the time, GM was the one of the largest employers in the world - only Soviet State Industries employed more people.
Financial analysts question whether General Motors has successfully managed its European brands including Saab, Opel and Vauxhall. Large layoffs were announced in 2004. Because of consistently poor earnings and concerns about unfunded pension liabilities, the company's debt was ranked by Moody's in 2004 at only one rung higher than junk bond status. A significant factor in the poor performance was rising health care costs of its employees in the United, with a respected analyst measuring these at $1800 per vehicle. The company reminded the financial markets of its cash reserves of $25 billion which it said provided it with sufficient funds to trade out of its difficulties. [1] In 2004, analysts also questioned the sustainability and the impact on profits of deep discounting, subsidized financing at 0% and cash rebates on GM cars, particularly SUVs. Rising inventories of automobiles were thought to have been the catalyst of the discounts.[1]
GM also faced problems with large unfunded pension liabilities for its North American employees. UBS analysts in 2002 estimated that liability around $25 billion. In 2003, GM raised $13 billion in debt principally to provide sufficient monies for its pension funds. Many other large American businesses have similar problems with their pension funds, with some estimates quantifying the liability at $239 billion for the S&P 500.[1]
This is an Article on General Motors. Page Contains Information, Facts Details or Explanation Guide About General Motors History
Financial Challenges
Unfunded pension liabilities
Related topics
External links