GM would rather be strong No. 2 than weaker No. 1

[Nitin]

"Lutz also said the U.S. market and GM are doing better than they were five years ago and that it may be possible for GM to compete with India's Tata Motors Ltd's planned $2,500 Nano car through vehicles it builds now in a venture in China."

Now I wonder what that's gonna go.

[wanderlustindia]

Originally Posted by ram_hyundai

what all GM guys do it wont give results unless they increase their production capacity.i have heard lot of people say -i had spark in mind but because of waiting period i am opting for alto or wagonn r.so better increase their production capacity.
ram

The GM plant in Talegaon near Pune should be up and running by the end of this year. I personally visited the site a couple of months back and work is progressing at a great pace. Maybe then the issues pertinent to production capability will be sorted out for GM.

[BUSA]

Originally Posted by ram_hyundai

what all GM guys do it wont give results unless they increase their production capacity.i have heard lot of people say -i had spark in mind but because of waiting period i am opting for alto or wagonn r.so better increase their production capacity.
ram

Even if there is no waiting for Spark, Toyota is going to throw GM off the first postion.

Its high time GM finds a new slogan for their company, since their current one "GM, Worlds No.1" wont do for much long.

[vasudeva]

Originally Posted by finneyp

GM India is not aggresive in pushing thier Cars in India.

Huh!. Go to any GM dealer (at least in Delhi and environs) with an enquiry and show some serious interest. Then see the fireworks erupt as each dealer outbids the others in giving you discounts.

[vasudeva]

Here is an article that was published in the Automotive News last month about one factor that makes Detroit 3 uncompetitive:

The domestic automakers must take their lumps for the inordinate number of gasoline-swilling SUVs and personal-use pickups that clog the roads today. For the past 15 years, that's about all the Detroit 3 have been interested in selling. Cars? Ha! Buy them from Honda.

On a lesser plane, a dart currently aimed at the Detroit 3 is "They have too many dealers. That's why nobody makes money. How could they get into this terrible state? Look at Toyota, Honda, Nissan. They have the right number of dealers."

Do you know who would be first to agree? General Motors, Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler LLC. And do you know why Toyota, Honda and Nissan have the correct number of dealers?

Go back to the presidency of Dwight David Eisenhower (1953-61) and one of Ike's major projects. I'm talking about the Interstate Highway System. Huh? What do highways have to do with the number of auto dealerships? Everything. The Detroit 3 built their dealer organizations in the days of city streets and stoplights. A 20-mile trip was a major excursion. So Ford, Chevy, Plymouth (remember Plymouth?) et al. had to have an outlet every few miles to serve their customers.

Today, 20 miles is a pleasant jaunt along an expressway.

The imports built their dealer organizations during the Expressway Age. The guys and gals who run the import-car companies are smart, smart, smart. They know how many dealerships they need, and that's how many they have.

Currently, Chevrolet and Toyota Division sell just about the same number of cars and light trucks in the United States. At the beginning of this year, Chevy had 4,063 franchises; Toyota Division had 1,224. You think Chevy wouldn't like to be closer to the Toyota total? Of course it would. Chevy would save millions in administration, promotion, types of advertising, training, field travelers. You name it. It's a lot less expensive to work with 1,224 locations than with 4,063.

Sales per dealership would certainly look a lot better. In 2006, Chevrolet sold almost 350,000 more new vehicles than Toyota, but Toyota sold nearly three times as many per dealership — 1,679 to 586.

At the beginning of this year, GM had 6,901 car and light-truck dealerships, easily twice as many as it needs in today's climate. Ford Motor had 4,270; and the Chrysler group had 3,749. Both Ford and Chrysler would be more efficient if those totals were trimmed by one-half to two-thirds.

But it ain't gonna happen. Dualing is the reason. About 78 percent of Detroit 3 dealerships are dualed (more than 1 brand sold) within their corporations. It is infinitely harder to untangle a dual than to chop an exclusive. Compare that with Japan's Big 3 brands: Toyota, 71 percent exclusive; Nissan, 74 percent; Honda, 82 percent.

[hondadude]

source

TOKYO: Japan's Toyota Motor Corp. said Monday that it had produced almost 9.498 million vehicles in 2007, leapfrogging US rival General Motors to become the world number one in terms of production.

Toyota, which sold slightly fewer vehicles than GM last year, said it produced 9,497,754 vehicles in 2007, including subsidiaries truckmaker Hino Motors Ltd and small car specialist Daihatsu Motor Co, an increase of 5.3 percent from 2006.

The tally is slightly below an earlier forecast by the Japanese automaker for output of 9.51 million vehicles in 2007.

But it is still easily ahead of GM, which said earlier this month that it had produced 9.284 million vehicles worldwide in 2007.

In terms of sales, Toyota has yet to end GM's 76-year reign as the world number one, lagging slightly behind its US rival in 2007.

Toyota said last week it sold 9.366 million vehicles last year, only around 3,500 vehicles fewer than GM, which reported global sales of 9,369,524.

[vasudeva]

Do you trust Maximum Bob with his statements, when he says `climate change is a crock of `s..t'.

[vasudeva]

Automotive News (AN) had called Toyota the world's largest car maker by sales in 2006. It has confirmed this position for 2007. So GM is now the world's 2nd-largest automaker for the 2nd year running. In 2007, GM slipped well behind Toyota in global sales. GM sold 8885599 vehicles in 2007, while Toyota says it sold an estimated 9370000. Toyota will issue an official total in about a month.

It was widely reported in Jan 2008 that they had finished in a dead heat for the No. 1 spot. This was because GM includes 516435 vehicles of the Wuling brand in China. However, GM owns only 34% of the Chinese company that produces Wuling vehicles, SAIC-GM-Wuling Automobile Co.

AN follows the standard industry practice by including sales of only majority-owned (>50%) subsidiaries in an automaker's global total. So AN subtracted Wuling-brand sales from GM's reported total, arriving at 8,885,599. Including Wuling, GM sold 9402034 in 2007.

[vasudeva]

This link gives US sales in 2006 for various models. See how much of fleet sales are of various brands. Fleet sales are of course sales, but they hurt the manufacturer because it involves discounting, and alienates customers because fleet cars are sold after 6-12 months at knock down prices affecting `private car resales'. GM and Ford have claimed to cut down fleet sales in 2007/

http://www.automotive-fleet.com/fc_r...enger-Regs.jpg


A recent article in Sydney Morning Herald has also noted that although GM's Holden Commodore is the best seller in Australia, around 80% of its sales are to fleet. For private car buyers, Corolla is the no. 1. Commodore which was No.1 overall, was No. 9 with private buyers.