General Motors - countdown to collapse

General Motors - countdown to collapse

formatting link
The decline of the great carmaker

As General Motors careers towards the biggest bankruptcy collapse in American corporate history, we look back at the long and sometimes glorious history of the classic US carmaker.

1900s

William "Billy" Durant founded General Motors in 1908 in Flint, Michigan, at the dawn of the US car industry. Durant had previously manufactured horse-drawn vehicles, before acquiring a stake in the Buick Motor Company and turning the struggling carmaker into a major player. Durant's vision was to assemble a series of carmakers under a single company, with each one targeting a particular part of the market, rather than competing directly with each other. Durant doubled GM's stable of companies to two in November of 1908 by acquiring Oldsmobile, before buying Cadillac, Cartercar, Elmore, Ewing, and Oakland in 1909.

1910s

Two more brands, Welch and Rainier, were added, before Durant was ousted from the company in 1910 by its bankers following a battle over the $1m debt pile built up during its acquisition spree. Durant went on to co-found Chevrolet, before buying a large stake in GM and returning as president in 1916. In 1919 the company started building its landmark headquarters in Detroit. With more Americans keen to own a car, it set up the GM Acceptance Corp (GMAC) to allow customers to buy a vehicle on credit.

1920s

General Motors expanded internationally through the decade, opening its first European assembly plant in Copenhagen in 1923. Two years later it bought Vauxhall Motors and in 1929 it bought a controlling stake in Opel. These two divisions are the core of General Motors Europe today. The company also set up operations in Argentina, France and China. It also overtook Ford for sales, partly due to GMAC's success in persuading people to acquire a car with only a downpayment.

1930s

Political upheaval touched GM in December 1936 when the newly created United Auto Worker union called employees in Flint out on strike. The industrial action spread, leading to violent clashes between workers and the police, and ended in February 1937 after the company agreed to recognise the UAW.

1940s

With the second world war raging, GM turned its manufacturing operations over to producing airplanes, tanks and trucks for the Allied war effort. Churchill tanks were made at Vauxhall, and Franklin D Roosevelt called the Detroit area the "arsenal of democracy" in recognition of its rapid conversion from making cars to armaments. But Opel's factories were used to produce equipment for the German war effort, and some historians have questioned GM's assertion that it had no control over operations at Opel after 1939.

1950s

GM's range became sleeker and curvier, sporting tailfins and chrome trim, during a decade of technological innovation. It started offering power steering, power brakes and front suspension, and launched the Chevrolet Corvette ? the "first production sports car" ? in 1953 for $3,498. In 1954, its US market share reached 54%, and it made its 50 millionth car.

1960s

Facing pressure in its core US market from smaller vehicles from Europe, GM tried to compete by offering the Chevrolet Corvair in 1960. But the car was plagued by safety fears, especially after consumer champion Ralph Nader published "Unsafe at Any Speed" ? an investigation into auto safety that led to congressional hearings. With sales flagging, the Corvair was dropped in 1969.

1970s

The car industry was rocked by the impact of the energy crisis in 1973. Gasoline prices soared after Opec hit America with an oil embargo, and this forced GM and its rivals to start making smaller, more fuel-efficient models.

1980s

Competition from overseas and questionable management decisions at home meant GM made its first loss since the 1920s. Dogged by production problems, labour disputes, and design flaws, the company sent managers to Japan to learn new business practices, but it struggled to change its own production cycle and its market share shrank. Chief executive Roger B Smith tried to streamline operations, but his consolidation left GM in a terrible state and cost tens of thousands of jobs. He was lampooned by Michael Moore in a documentary called Roger & Me, and CNBC recently ranked Smith 13th on a list of the worst American CEOs of all time.

1990s

GM flirted with bankruptcy after falling sales pushed the company into a $4.45bn loss in 1991. President Robert Stempel, Roger Smith's replacement, decided to close 21 factories and lay off 24,000 workers. He was later succeeded by Jack Smith who rebuilt profitability by making further deep cost-cutting and shaking up the management. His measures sparked another strike in Flint, which lasted seven weeks.

2000-2008

Rick Wagoner became CEO in 2000, and cut 10% of white collar staff. Tens of thousands of workers took early retirement or redundancy as GM tried to slim down. But in 2005 it made a loss of $8.6bn, forcing a new drive of cost-cutting and factory closures. In 2006, President George Bush refused to help with GM's immense pension obligations, and activist investor Kirk Kerkorian failed to orchestrate an alliance with Nissan and Renault. It lost its crown as the world's biggest carmaker to Toyota, and by 2007 its losses soared to $38.7bn. The oil spike of 2008 was another heavy blow, followed by the global economic downturn, and by the summer of 2008 the company was desperately cutting costs by $15bn to try and conserve cash as sales plummeted.

By October 2008, GM and rival firms Chrysler and Ford were deep in a fight for survival. Their shares tumbled on Wall Street as traders lost faith in their ability to avoid bankruptcy, prompting another global stock market wobble. With houses in Detroit on sale for $800, GM was refused a request for $10bn of government aid. In November, GM admitted it would go bust unless it was bailed out or taken over.

After winning the presidential election, Barack Obama began the process of trying to rescue the American car industry, as the Big Three pleaded for help. They were eventually given a $17bn bailout, but had to come up with viable restructuring plans by March 2009.

2009

With car sales hitting a 26-year low, GM promised US politicians that yet more jobs would be cut, as it joined Chrysler to ask for $37bn of funding. In Germany, union leaders began pushing for GM Europe to break away before its parent company ? which reported a $31bn loss for 2008 ? collapsed.

In March, it emerged GM might have just 30 days left, and at the end of the month President Obama ousted Wagoner from the company. His departure was the price for another financial lifeline, but Obama also declared GM and Chrysler may both have to go bankrupt.

By April, Italy's Fiat had emerged as a surprise contender to buy Opel and Vauxhall, and to also take a major stake in Chrysler. But as rescue talks continued, it was clear bondholders in both companies were unwilling to see their loans wiped out. Obama savaged Chrysler's creditors for forcing the firm into bankruptcy.

Facing a deadline of 1 June, GM spent May cutting its dealer network and searching for a buyer for its European arm, as its shares hit their lowest point since the Great Depression.

Fiat, the Canadian parts supplier Magna International, and US private equity firm Ripplewood Holdings, all told the German government they were interested in taking control of Opel. Union leaders feared heavy losses at Vauxhall, after it emerged Magna would safeguard German factories but make cuts in the UK.

On 27 May, GM's bondholders pushed the company to the brink of bankruptcy by refusing to convert $27bn of debt into shares, and talks over the sale of Opel broke down in the early hours of 28 May without agreement. Vauxhall's operations had already been transferred to Opel, leaving 5,500 Vauxhall workers in limbo.

Reply to
Jim Higgins
Loading thread data ...

Yep, it is what happens when you get too many paracites in an organization. Now the biggest paracites of them all, our governments are rewarding their failure with lots of pork, blood sucking the taxpayers.

And they want us to buy their products? Ha. General Motors is toast. Long live the corrupt Government Motors assured by more more taxpayer blood sucking.

Amazing how our representatives are failing to prevent such obviously wasteful things like this from happening and charging those who were key in fraud.

Reply to
Canuck57

MotorsForum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.