POWERING AHEAD As one of the world’s automotive giants, General Motors needs little introduction. And since being floated on the stock exchange in 2010, the company has gone from strength to strength. Industry Europe looks at its global presence, most recent models and the importance it places on strong supplier relationships.
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eneral Motors (GM) is a truly global player in the automotive industry. There can hardly be a person out there who is not familiar with at least some of its leading brands: Opel, Vauxhall, Buick, Cadillac and Chevrolet to name just a few. It currently employs over 200,000 people in 396 facilities across six continents. Although the company’s history goes all the way back to 1897, the biggest milestone in recent years came in 2010 when GM completed the world’s largest initial public offering. This has set in train a new period of prosperity and growth, following its filing for bankruptcy in 2009. The ‘New GM’ which emerged from this has identified five key principles to guide its future strategy. These are: Safety and Quality First; Create Lifelong Customers; Innovate; Deliver Long-Term Investment Value; and Make a Positive Difference. 54 Industry Europe
Global presence and investments The new GM is a smaller, leaner company than its predecessor. It has a more focused network of 4500 dealers. It continues to grow globally, with more than 70 per cent of its sales now coming from exports. Its top five markets in terms of sales are now China, the US, Brazil, the UK and Germany. It also has significant equity stakes in major joint ventures in China including SAIC-GM, SAIC-GM-Wuling, FAW-GM and GM Korea. GM’s facilities throughout the world are equipped with the latest technologies to enable it to follow its five core principles. Each of its brands – Chevrolet, Buick, GMC, Cadillac, Baojun, Holden, Isuzu, Jiefang, Opel, Vauxhall and Wuling – has its own manufacturing facilities in strategic locations and it regularly invests in these to ensure they are ahead of the curve when it comes to manufacturing.
For example, in July this year it broke ground on a new complex of buildings at its Opel manufacturing headquarters in Rüsselsheim, Germany. This investment totals almost €245 million and will serve to increase the plant’s output with the addition of new models. Opel already builds four variants of its Insignia model here, plus the Zafira Tourer that begins production in 2015. Two future vehicles that are to be added to the plant’s production portfolio by the end of the decade will be a brand-new model and another variant of the Insignia, the details of which are still to be announced.
New models launched for Opel For a company like GM to remain at the forefront of the global automotive industry, constant innovation is a must. The company is continually launching new models on the market, or upgrades of existing ranges. For
