GM Believes in America’s Automotive Future
Photo: © General Motors
If you have been watching new car sales for the past few months, you know that the rapid growth of new car sales is slowing down. After a few years of recovery from the recession, it isn’t totally surprising that the record-breaking momentum couldn’t keep going forever. While other automakers are ready to defend their assets and employees from the downturn, GM and Mary Barra are preparing to fight through the slowdown, on the offensive to gain back ground it has lost.
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According to Business Insider, in the “golden age” of the 1950s, GM had a 50% share of America’s automotive market. Now it controls less than 20%. Of course, since that time many foreign automakers have come over to the US, but GM would still like to regain some of its ground. For the first part of her tenure, leader Mary Barra has been making sure that investors are seeing returns (something that Mark Fields neglected); she is getting ready to take the US marketplace by storm when competitors are sticking to constant strategies. After selling the unprofitable Opel and Vauxhall earlier this year, some are even calling her one of the toughest CEOs that GM has seen in a while, making her the prime candidate for this kind of bold move.
Sources say that Mary Barra and GM are preparing for a US auto market downturn in 2018 or 2019. With GM now mainly serving China, Latin America, and the US, Barra is banking on the fall in US markets, causing a rise in Latin America. GM is already a leader in China, which will also help bring more money in the door. From there, GM will leverage one of the most diverse vehicle offerings in the US to conquer its slower moving competitors that are more spread out over the globe, like Toyota and the Renault-Nissan Alliance.
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It is estimated that GM could raise its market share to 25% of American car sales with a strategy like this. We shall see if this downturn strategy is needed, or if GM decides to invest in new car technology to put itself ahead of that dramatic race.
News Source: Business Insider
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