General motors

General Motors Corporation was formed as a result of the merger of several car manufacturers. The oldest company to form a corporation was founded by R.E. Olds in 1892 in Detroit under the name Olds Motor Vehicle Company. At the turn of the century, also in Detroit, Henry Leland, who previously worked at the Olds factory, founded the Cadillac Automobile Company , and David Buick - the Buick Motor Company . To avoid competition, in 1903, at the initiative of Buick Director William Durant , General Motors Corporation was created, which included the Olds Motor Vehicle Company and Buick, in 1909 they were joined by Cadillac and Oakland (renamed Pontiac) . In subsequent years, General Motors took over a number of small car manufacturers, in 1918 Chevrolet became a part of the corporation, and in 1920 - the Canadian McLaughlin Motor Company, which later became a subsidiary of General Motors of Canada Limited. Also in 1920, Dayton Engineering Laboratories, the starter inventor company Charles F. Kettering , was merged, and Kettering himself became the scientific director of GM. In 1917-1919, up to 90% of GM products were for military use ^[8] .

In 1923, Alfred Sloan became president of GM (he held this post until 1956), under his leadership the foreign expansion of the corporation began: in 1925 the British company Vauxhall Motors was bought, and in 1931 the German Adam Opel ; The share of the American market was also significantly increased - from 12% in 1921 to 44% in 1941. From 1940 to 1945, GM produced $ 12.3 billion worth of military products, including 1,300 aircraft and a quarter of all aircraft engines in the United States. Up to 19% of GM's production capacity was also directed to the war in Korea ^[8] .

The 1950s were marked by a number of innovations in cars manufactured by GM. Since 1950, all brands of cars became available with an automatic transmission , since 1955 - eight - cylinder engines , the aerodynamics of cars were improved, power was switched from 6 to 12 volts, power steering and brakes, as well as air conditioners and seat belts appeared . However, from the mid-1950s, European cars began to acquire increasing popularity in the United States. In 1956, sales of the Detroit automotive giants (GM, Ford , Chrysler ) fell by 15%, in 1957, US import of cars exceeded their exports, imported cars accounted for 8% of sales in the USA, while GM's market share in 1959 year decreased to 42%. In the 1960s, the situation of companies was compounded by riots in the impoverished suburbs of Detroit. GM reacted to the difficulties by expanding the scope of activities: the corporation began to engage in household appliances, insurance, locomotives, electronics, bearings, banking and financial services. Due to this, the return on investment at GM in the late 1960s increased from 16.5% to 25.8% (the industry average is 13%) ^[8] .

In 1974, the price of oil rose sharply due to the imposition of an embargo on imports from OPEC countries , and a law was passed in the United States that introduced severe restrictions on air pollution, which hit GM in total, as did Ford and Chrysler. In the 1980s, GM's revenue was steadily declining, but at the same time more than $ 60 billion was spent on updating the lineup of cars, as well as on modernizing factories. In 1984, Electronic Data Systems (communications and data storage) was purchased, and in 1986, Hughes Aircraft (aircraft). In 1990, GM acquired a 50 percent stake from the Swedish automaker Saab Automobile AB , and then the Saturn Corporation subsidiary for the production of small cars was created in Tennessee. For three years (1990-1992) the net loss of the corporation amounted to $ 30 billion, the share of the US market fell to 35% ^[8] .

In 1992, GM led Jack Smith, who was entrusted with the revival of the corporation. Already in the same year, the headcount in the central office was reduced from 13,500 to 2,300, by 1996, 24 plants had been closed and 65,000 employees laid off, parts manufacturing units were sold. These measures, as well as the depreciation of the dollar (which made imported goods more expensive), made it possible to obtain a net profit of $ 2.47 billion in 1993 with a turnover of $ 138.22 billion, and in 1995 net profit amounted to $ 6.88 billion with a record revenue of 163.86 billion dollars. However, market share continued to decline, to 31% in 1995 and below 30% in 1999. The corporation tried to compensate for the reduction in the share of the domestic market by expanding its presence in the Asian and European markets: in 1999, a 20 percent stake was purchased in Fuji Heavy Industries , manufacturers of Subaru automobiles; in 2000, also 20% in Fiat Auto SpA and full control over Saab ; in 2002, part of the South Korean Daewoo Motor Company was purchased ^[8] .

Beginning of the 21st Century: Bankruptcy and Revival

At the end of the first decade of the 21st century, GM's financial condition worsened dramatically. On June 1, 2009, the company began bankruptcy proceedings (Section 11 of the United States Federal Bankruptcy Law) - a lawsuit was filed with the Southern Federal District Court of New York . Under the terms of bankruptcy, the US government provided the company with about $ 30 billion, and in return received 60% of the concern, the Canadian government - 12% of the shares for $ 9.5 billion, the - 17.5% of the shares. The remaining 10.5% of the shares were divided among themselves by the largest creditors of the concern. US President Barack Obama said that the state does not plan to control GM always and get rid of a controlling stake as soon as the financial situation of the concern improves ^[9] . As a result, on July 10, 2009 ^[10] a new independent company General Motors Company was created. The old GM (General Motors Corporation) was renamed the Motors Liquidation Company .

It was assumed that after the bankruptcy the concern will be divided into two companies, the first of which will include the most unprofitable units, and the second - the most profitable Chevrolet and Cadillac . In particular, in 2009 GM planned to sell a loss-making Opel , and one of the bidders was a consortium of Magna International and Russian Sberbank . However, in early November, GM decided to keep Opel for itself, citing the emerging industry exit from the crisis and the reluctance to leave the small car market ^[11] .

At the end of 2010, GM held a public offering of shares, which became one of the largest in history. During the placement, the US and Canadian governments, which became major shareholders in bankruptcy in 2009, sold their shares for a total of $ 23.1 billion ^[12] .

In 2017, GM still sold Opel and Vauxhall to Groupe PSA . In November 2018, GM announced the closure of three unprofitable plants in North America that Tesla intends to acquire.

The main shareholders of the company as of May 2011 are the US Department of the Treasury (35.5%), the (OPRAP) (10.3%), Canada Gen Investments (9%) ^[12] .

As of January 27, 2016, 1.5 billion shares were issued, the company had 447 registered shareholders ^[2] .

• Mary Barra - Chairman of the Board of Directors since 2016 and Chief Executive Officer ( CEO ) since 2014; In the company since 1980.
• Daniel Ammann has been President since 2014. ^[13]

General Motors has four divisions:

• North America (GM North America) - the development, manufacture and sale of automobiles of Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet and GMC brands in North America. In 2015, wholesale sales in this region amounted to 3,558 million vehicles, which is 60.5% of all the company's wholesale cars. 3.612 million GM cars were sold to final consumers in North America, of which 3.082 million were in the United States, the country's market share is 17.3%, and the region’s market as a whole - 16.8%; According to company estimates, it is a leader in this region. The revenue of this unit in 2015 amounted to $ 106.6 billion.
• Europe (GM Europe) - in 2015, 1.1 million GM cars were sold in Europe. The company’s presence is most significant in the UK (312 thousand cars, market share 10.2%), Germany (244 thousand and 6.9% respectively), Russia (68 thousand and 4.2%). Ranks seventh in the region. The revenue of this unit in 2015 amounted to $ 18.7 billion.
• International Operations (GM International Operations) - includes activities in the Asia-Pacific region, the Middle East and Africa. Here, in 2015, the company sold 4.525 million vehicles (market share 10.3%, second place), of which 3.73 million in China (market share 14.9%, first place according to the company's own estimates). Main brands: Buick, Chevrolet and Cadillac, as well as local Baojun and Wuling. This is the largest region in terms of retail sales to end consumers, however, almost all cars are produced at joint ventures with Chinese companies and they are not taken into account in the volume of wholesale sales. Actually, General Motors in this region produced and sold in bulk 588 thousand cars, or 10% of the total volume of wholesale sales. The revenue of this unit in 2015 amounted to $ 12.6 billion.
• South America (GM South America) - 645 thousand cars were sold in South America, of which 388 thousand were in Brazil (in this country the market share was 15.1%, in the whole region - 15.4%); According to company estimates, it is a leader in this region. The revenue of this unit in 2015 amounted to $ 7.8 billion ^[2] .

Through a subsidiary of GM Financial, financial services are provided: lending to dealers and end customers, insurance; Of the $ 152 billion in revenue of General Motors in 2015, GM Financial accounted for $ 6.4 billion ^[2] .

Car Brands

General Motors currently owns car brands: Buick , Cadillac , Chevrolet , GMC , and Holden . Previously also produced: Oldsmobile , Pontiac , Hummer , Saturn , Asüna , Acadian , Alpheon , Geo .

GM works closely with a number of companies, sharing markets and jointly developing cars and engines. Among such companies are Fiat Auto SpA of Italy (brands Fiat , Alfa Romeo , Lancia , Ferrari , Maserati ), Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd. ( Subaru ), Isuzu Motors Ltd. (development for GM commercial vehicles and diesel engines, brand Isuzu ), Suzuki Motor Corp. of Japan ( Suzuki ).

In addition, GM held the largest stake in GM Daewoo Auto & Technology Co. of South Korea (trademark of Daewoo ), which was discontinued in early 2011.

General Motors in Russia

GM interests in Russia are represented by the authorized organization General Motors Daewoo Auto & Technology CIS LLC, registered address: 123317, Moscow, st. Testovskaya, d.10 ^[12] .

As of May 2011, the company had 154 Chevrolet car dealers in Russia, most of them were also selling Opel cars, and 28 were selling Cadillac. In Russia in 2010, GM took second place in car sales, selling 159,376 cars of all its makes ^[12] .

ElAZ-GM

In 1995, GM made an attempt to organize the assembly of cars in Russia. ^[16] For this, a joint venture with the Tatarstan government “ElAZ-GM” is being created. On the territory of the Yelabuga Automobile Plant, areas are rented and a large-site assembly of Opel Vectra and Chevrolet Blazer is organized. However, the production worked only until 2000. Among the reasons for the failure were the failure to provide the promised benefits and insignificant investments.

GM-AvtoVAZ

The second attempt was a joint venture with AvtoVAZ on an equal (50%) basis. The company receives the rights to the Chevrolet Niva model and in 2002-2003 builds workshops in Tolyatti for painting bodies and assembling cars with a design capacity of 95 thousand cars per year. ^[17] The project was successful and still exists, releasing one Chevrolet Niva model.

In the second half of the 2010s, the construction of the second site of the plant was started on the territory of the Special Economic Zone of Tolyatti , where there were already workshops for stamping and welding of bodies. The updated Chevrolet Niva, despite the unavailability of the second stage, ^{[18] has been} put into production since the beginning of 2019.

GM Shushary

Since September 2006, the company began assembling Chevrolet Captiva from coarse-grained sets in the leased workshop of the Arsenal plant , located in the Finland Station district of St. Petersburg. Since September 2007, a large-site assembly of the Opel Antara SUV has been deployed here, and since February 2008, the assembly began - Opel Astra at the second production site in Shushary. In 2006, 273 units were collected at Arsenal. Chevrolet Captiva, in 2007 - 5631 units. Captiva and 48 units. Antara. For 9 months of 2008, 30,575 cars of the Captiva, Antara and Astra models were assembled. Since February 2009, assembly at the Arsenal plant has been discontinued.

The construction of the plant in Shushary (a suburb of St. Petersburg ) began on June 13, 2006. На первом этапе объём инвестиций в проект составил 115 млн долл. Монтаж оборудования начался в январе 2008 года, пробный пуск производства состоялся в сентябре, а официальное открытие предприятия — 7 ноября 2008 года. Завод рассчитан на сборку 70 тыс. машин в год.

В 2011 году завод собрал 60 тысяч машин. ^[19] По состоянию на 2012 год завод выпускал модели Chevrolet Captiva , Chevrolet Cruze , Opel Antara , Opel Astra . Уровень российской локализации производства на 2012 год составлял 12 %, к 2015 отдельные модели достигли локализации 25 %. ^{[20] [21]}

В 2015 году General Motors закрыло производство автомобилей в Санкт-Петербурге, а также полностью отказалась от продаж автомобилей Opel в России. ^{[22] [23]} Причиной провала проекта называется низкая локализация завода (~25 %), которая не позволила удержать приемлемые цены на конечную продукцию в условиях резкого удешевления рубля . ^[24]

Сборка на чужих мощностях

Корпорация General Motors сотрудничает с калининградским ЗАО « Автотор », где выпускаются автомобили компании под брендами Chevrolet и Cadillac . В ноябре 2008 года General Motors запустила на заводе «Автотор» производство полного CKD -цикла модели Chevrolet Lacetti . Строительство и оснащение дополнительных цехов по сварке и окраске обошлось сторонам примерно в 80 млн евро. Переход на полный цикл сборки Lacetti в Калининграде потребовал дополнительно нанять 1450 сотрудников. Общая сумма инвестиций GM в «Автотор» превысила $350 млн.

Машины премиум-класса (Cadillac Escalade и Chevrolet Tahoe) для российского рынка General Motors намеревается собирать в Белоруссии , на заводе «Юнисон» ^[25] .

Отзывы и последствия

• 7 февраля 2014 года GM объявил об отзыве 800 тыс. автомобилей Chevrolet Cobalt и Pontiac G5 в связи с неисправностью замка зажигания. В сообщении говорится, что неисправность зажигания может привести к выключению двигателя автомобиля, при этом в случае аварии подушки безопасности не сработают ^[26] .
• 24 февраля 2014 года GM объявил об отзыве ещё 600 тыс. автомобилей Chevrolet HHR, Pontiac Solstice, Saturn Ion и Saturn Sky, произведенных в 2008—2011 гг., в связи с вышеуказанной неисправностью замка зажигания ^[26] .
• 28 марта 2014 года GM объявил об отзыве 824 тыс. автомобилей в США. Общее число автомобилей, отозванных в связи с неисправностью замка зажигания, достигло 2,6 млн по всему миру. Компания подчеркнула, что данный дефект привёл к гибели 13 человек ^[26] .
• 10 апреля 2014 года GM объявил, что найден ещё один дефект в замке зажигания. Данный дефект может привести к выключению двигателя автомобиля, что ведёт к отказу гидроусилителя рулевого управления и тормозной системы . Данная неисправность будет устранена во всех 2,6 млн отозванных автомобилях ^[26] .
• 15 мая 2014 года GM объявил об отзыве 3 млн автомобилей, выпущенных в основном до 2009 года, в связи с возможным возгоранием электропроводки ^[26] .
• 20 мая 2014 года GM отозвал ещё 2,4 млн автомобилей, в том числе последние модели Buick Enclave, Chevrolet Traverse и GMC Acadia, в связи с проблемами ремней безопасности и трансмиссии ^[26] .
• 21 мая 2014 года GM отозвал 218 тыс. автомобилей Chevrolet Aveo из-за опасности перегрева и возгорания ^[26] .
• 23 мая 2014 года японский производитель Suzuki отозвал 184 тыс. автомобилей, выпущенных GM в Южной Корее, и проданных Suzuki в США ^[26] .
• 17 сентября 2015 года GM дал согласие на выплату штрафа в 900 млн долларов за сокрытие дефекта, приведшего к гибели 124 человек. Компания также подписала соглашение об отсрочке судебного преследования минюстом США. Это позволило компании и её сотрудникам избежать судебных разбирательств, и стало точкой в правительственном расследовании ^[27] .

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