General Motors Essay Research Paper

“The company’s main competitors in cars and trucks in the United States and Canada are the Ford Motor Company, DaimlerChrysler Corporation, Toyota Corporation, Nissan Motor Corporation, Ltd., Honda Motor Company, Ltd., Mazda Motor Corporation, Mitsubishi Motors Corporation, Volkswagen A.G., Hyundai Motor Company, Ltd., Bayerische Motoren Werke AG (BMW), Volvo AB, and Kia Motors Corporation.”(www.gm.com)

John Smith, Jr., has been the overseer of GM’s operations since he came to the company in January 1996. Smith deals with business relationships with GM’s associates. G Wagoner Jr. became president and CEO of GM in June of 2000. He is currently on the board of directors. Wagoner so far has been a great leader for GM. He is chairman of the automotive strategy board. Harry J. Pearce is an African American who is also the director of the General Motors Corporation Board of Directors and vice chairman of the corporation since Jan. 1, 1996.(www.yahoo.com)

The fifty-four day strike in 1998 in Flint Michigan by the United Auto Workers against GM is probably one of the most notable strikes in the history of the united states. Over this time period, much money was lost. In the end, there seemed to be no winners from the strike. The worker union lost more than $150 million during the strike and GM lost about $75 million a day! That doesn’t include what GM lost in the minds of all their consumers.(Encarta, Unions) However, today, GM seems to have developed a trustworthy relationship with their consumers which is vital towards their success in the future.

General Motors has always made it a top priority to be environmentally sound in it production of automobiles. Each car has low emission standards and GM makes it a point to reduce the standards every year. There have been no major lawsuits filed against the company over their production methods making GM one of the most environmentally sound major corporations ever.

General Motors have proved themselves to be one of the leaders in automotive production throughout their existence. Today they are regarded as one of the most “sure investments” that the average Joe Schmoe could invest in. Short-term, they may not produce major gains for consumers but they are a sure bet to steadily produce in the long run. GM globally has been doing very well as they try to spread worldwide increasing revenue in foreign nations. In the future, GM will become more global and capitalize on the worldwide consumers that can bring income into GM. GM has been noted to be very consumer friendly as its cars always rate on the high safety as well as the comfort end of the scale. General Motors has always been one of the most stable companies in the NYSE and their success in the future seems certain.