Historia De Ford

A. Adding Chevrolet, Vauxhall and Opel, diversified the selection and added to the reach of GM. With the philosophy and strategy of “a car for every purse and purpose,” and a series of landmark innovations that changed the automobile itself, GM’s vehicles went beyond transportation, becoming statements and aspirations in their own right. During these years GM also opened more than a dozen newplants outside the United States.


B. Hard times in America and political change in Europe throughout the 30s brought new uncertainty, but GM’s commitment to innovation continued unabated. The return of peace following World War II brought a new optimism with consumers eager for goods that had been out of reach for so long. GM responded with an unprecedented string of milestone designs thatcontinue to inspire to this day.


C. There were storm clouds on the horizon, however.  Germany and Japan, now recovered from the devastation of World War II, began exporting cars to the U.S. in larger numbers, and fuel price shocks sparked consumer interest in these new, more fuel-efficient vehicles.  GM rushed to develop smaller vehicles as well, but the company had been too large and toosuccessful for too long to change direction easily, and GM’s undisputed dominance of the U.S. market began to erode.


D. 1995 was a big year for GM. Annual vehicle sales outside North America exceeded three million units for the first time. Five million vehicles were sold in the United States that year and GM entered into its first joint venture agreement in China. By the end of the 90s, thefoundation for global growth in the new millennium had been set.


E. General Motors was founded by William “Billy” Durant on September 16, 1908. Durant had become a leading manufacturer of horse-drawn vehicles in Flint, before making his foray into the automobile industry. At its inception GM held only the Buick Motor Company, but in a matter of years would acquire more than 20 companies includingOldsmobile, Cadillac, and Oakland, today known as Pontiac.


F. By the start of the new millennium, GM had built a strong presence in emerging markets such as China and Brazil, and had largely completed its transformation into a single global company. The creation of GM Daewoo in 2002 gave GM a new organization specializing and engineering and manufacturing smaller cars, proving an important boostto Chevrolet’s growth as a global brand. The design and quality of GM’s new cars improved significantly, but GM found it difficult to regain share from its offshore competitors, and legacy cost from GM’s decades as a larger, less efficient company continued to weigh on financial results.


G. Earlier inventions such as the electric light bulb, the telephone, and the radio marked a new era ofpossibilities. In particular, the automobile sent the imagination racing and expanded the horizon upon which people could dream. As demand for automobiles grew to unexpected heights in the 1920s, General Motors set the pace of production, design, and marketing innovation for others to follow.


H. At the new General Motors, we are passionate about designing, building and selling the world’s bestvehicles.  This vision unites us as a team each and every day and is the hallmark of our customer-driven culture.  


I. The 60s and 70s were a time of new challenges and great change. Environmental concerns, increased as prices and foreign competition led to an unprecedented downsizing of vehicles across all GM vehicle lines. It was the largest reengineering program ever undertaken in theindustry, ushering in an age of lighter, aerodynamic and more fuel-efficient vehicles.


J. Although General Motors was always active internationally, the 1980s and 1990s brought a new urgency for GM to operate as a single global company, to improve the efficiency of its operations and better compete with global competitors. GM also began a series of reorganizations in North America that led to a...