GM is 100 years old

“I hope GM really celebrates it. They’ve had an enormous impact on the industry and they’ve had some amazing talents there … who did some groundbreaking work,” said Bill Ford, Chairman of Ford, on the occasion of 100 years of GM.

Congratulations to one of the most revered car manufacturers! Started exactly a hundred years ago by William (Billy) Durant, GM was the top car manufacturer in the world, before being challenged by Toyota during the early 2000s. In fact, during 1950s, GM accounted for more than half of the vehicles sold in the US with Chevrolet being the top selling brand supported by Oldsmobile, Pontiac and Buick.

The entry of Japanese car makers in the US marked trouble for all the US car makers and GM was no exception. Though GM endured the oil crisis in 1973, the shift in consumers preference toward small cars (manufactured largely by the Japanese companies), dented its sales. 1980s saw GM bounce back as people began preferring SUVs as the oil prices stabilized, but by the beginning of 1990s GM’s market share slipped to 35% in the US.

Since the late 1990s, GM has been crippled by huge pension fund problems, lack of innovation and tough competition from foreign car makers. Of late, the situation has got worse and a number of analysts predict that bankruptcy filing is in the offing. Further, there seems to be no respite in the near future due to slowdown in the US economy, rising gasoline prices and increasing raw material costs. Though these factors hold good for all auto manufacturers, GM, along with Ford and Chrysler, are victims of the huge pension and healthcare contracts they have with their workers.

Hope the centenary celebrations bring in new spirits and change fortunes of the sagging car maker, which has delivered some world class cars.