General Motors
General Motors Company (GM)[2] is an American multinational automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States.[3] The company is most known for owning and manufacturing four automobile brands, Chevrolet, GMC, Cadillac and Buick. By sales, it was the largest automaker in the United States in 2022, and was the largest in the world for 77 years before losing the top spot to Toyota in 2008.[4][5]
Formerly
- September 16, 1908[1] (original company)
- July 10, 2009 (present company)
396 facilities on six continents[2]
Worldwide
- Mary Barra
(Chair & CEO) - Mark Reuss
(President) - Pierre S. du Pont
Chairman of the Board (1915-1929) - Charles Kettering
Director of Research (1920-1947) - Alfred P. Sloan
CEO (1923-1946)
6,186,000 vehicles (sales, 2023)[2]
US$9.298 billion (2023)[2]
US$9.840 billion (2023)[2]
US$273.1 billion (2023)[2]
US$68.19 billion (2023)[2]
163,000 (2023)[2]
- Transportation
Financial services
Others
Logistics:- GM Certified Service
- GM Energy
- GM Envolve
- OnStar
- ACDelco
- DMAX
- GM Components Holdings
- GM Defense
- GM Subsystems Manufacturing LLC
- Ultium Cells LLC
General Motors operates manufacturing plants in eight countries.[6] In addition to its four core brands, GM also holds interests in Chinese brands Baojun and Wuling via SAIC-GM-Wuling Automobile.[2] GM further owns the BrightDrop delivery vehicle manufacturer,[7] a namesake defense vehicles division which produces military vehicles for the United States government and military,[8] the vehicle safety, security, and information services provider OnStar,[9] the auto parts company ACDelco, a namesake financial lending service, and majority ownership in the self-driving cars enterprise Cruise LLC.
The company originated as a holding company for Buick established on September 16, 1908, by William C. Durant, the largest seller of horse-drawn vehicles at the time. The first half of the 20th century saw the company grow into an automotive behemoth through acquisitions; going into the second half, the company pursued innovation and new offerings to consumers as well as collaborations with NASA to develop the earliest electric vehicles.[10][11] The current entity was established in 2009 after the General Motors Chapter 11 reorganization.[12]
As of 2024, General Motors ranks 25th by total revenue out of all American companies on the Fortune 500 and 50th on the Fortune Global 500.[13][14] In 2023, the company was ranked 70th in the Forbes Global 2000.[15] In 2021, GM announced its intent to end production of vehicles using internal combustion engines by 2035, as part of its plan to achieve carbon neutrality by 2040.[16]
![1938–1964[181]](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1c/Gm_logo_1938.png/73px-Gm_logo_1938.png){kind=logo}
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![2010–2021[181]](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/59/GM-actualizado.svg/90px-GM-actualizado.svg.png)
![2021 (gradient)[181]](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/65/General_Motors_2021_gloss.svg/90px-General_Motors_2021_gloss.svg.png)
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Financial results[edit]
Vehicle sales[edit]
General Motors was the largest global automaker by annual vehicle sales for 77 consecutive years, from 1931, when it overtook Ford Motor Company, until 2008 when it was overtaken by Toyota. This reign was longer than any other automaker, and GM is still among the world's largest automakers by vehicle unit sales.[188]
In 2008, the third-largest individual country by sales was Brazil, with some 550,000 GM vehicles sold. In that year, Argentina, Colombia, and Venezuela sold another 300,000 GM vehicles, suggesting that the total GM sales in South America (including sales in other South American countries such as Chile, Peru, Ecuador, Bolivia, etc.) in that year were at a similar level to sales in China.
In 2009, General Motors sold 6.5 million cars and trucks globally; in 2010, it sold 8.39 million.[189] Sales in China rose 66.9% in 2009 to 1,830,000 vehicles and accounting for 13.4% of the market.[190]
In 2010, General Motors ranked second worldwide with 8.5 million vehicles produced.[191] In 2011, GM returned to the first place with 9.025 million units sold worldwide, corresponding to 11.9% market share of the global motor vehicle industry. In 2010, vehicle sales in China by GM rose 28.8% to a record 2,351,610 units.[192] The top two markets in 2011 were China, with 2,547,203 units, and the United States, with 2,503,820 vehicles sold. The Chevrolet brand was the main contributor to GM performance, with 4.76 million vehicles sold around the world in 2011, a global sales record.[193]
Based on global sales in 2012, General Motors was ranked among the world's largest automakers.[194]
In May 2012, GM recorded an 18.4% market share in the U.S. with stock imported.[195]
Annual worldwide sales volume reached 10 million vehicles in 2016.[196][197][198] Sales in India for April 2016 – March 2017 declined to 25,823 units from 32,540 the previous year and market share contracted from 1.17% to 0.85% for the same period. However, exports surged 89% during the same period to 70,969 units. GMTC-I, GM's technical center in Bangalore, India continued in operation. Weak product line-up and below par service quality were the reasons for the poor showing by GM in India that year.[199][200]
Global Volt/Ampera family sales totalled about 177,000 units from its inception in December 2010 through 2018.[201] including over 10,000 Opel/Vauxhall Amperas sold in Europe up to December 2015.[202][203] The Volt family of vehicles ranked as the world's all-time top-selling plug-in hybrid as of September 2018, and it is also the third best selling plug-in electric car in history after the Nissan Leaf (375,000) and the Tesla Model S (253,000), as of October 2018.[201] The Chevrolet Volt is also the U.S. all-time top-selling plug-in electric car with 148,556 units delivered through October 2018.[204][205]
Management[edit]
Current board of directors[edit]
Notable members of the board of directors of the company are as follows:[2]
General Motors is mainly owned by institutional investors, who own over 90% of shares. The largest shareholders in December 2023 were:[224]
Philanthropy[edit]
GM publishes an annual Social Impact Report detailing its contributions to charity; in 2020 it provided nearly $35 million in funding to 357 U.S.-based non-profits as well as in-kind assets (primarily donations of vehicles) to non-profits valued at more than $9.8 million.[225][226] From 1976 until 2017, philanthropic activity was carried out via the General Motors Foundation, a 501(c)(3) foundation.[227]
General Motors has a close relationship with the Nature Conservancy and has fundraised for and donated cash and vehicles to the charity.[228]
In 1996, GM commissioned five designer-original vehicles, sold in a silent auction for Concept: Cure, to benefit the Nina Hyde Center for breast cancer research, founded by Ralph Lauren. The program involved five designers, each lending their artistic talents to customize five different vehicles. Nicole Miller, Richard Tyler, Anna Sui, Todd Oldham, and Mark Eisen were tasked with transforming a Cadillac STS, Buick Riviera, GMC Yukon, Oldsmobile Bravada and Chevrolet Camaro Z28, respectively. The cars were then auctioned with the proceeds presented to the Nina Hyde Center at the Greater LA Auto Show in 1997.[229][230][231][232]
Since 1997, GM has been a source of funding for Safe Kids Worldwide's "Safe Kids Buckle Up" program, an initiative to ensure child automobile safety through education and inspection.[233][234]
