GM Looks to Streamline Operations
GM streamlines operations, announcing the company’s intentions to build 90 percent of their automobiles on just 14 basic platforms. That is half of the platforms they use now. General Motors also indicated a desire to cut the number of engine varieties they offer in half, which will really help GM streamline operations and remain the largest automaker in the world. Enter your ZIP code below to start comparing GM car insurance quotes for free.
Free Car Insurance Comparison
Secured with SHA-256 Encryption
|
Written by
D. Gilson, PhD
|
|
Reviewed by
Jeffrey Johnson
|
UPDATED: Jan 19, 2021
It’s all about you. We want to help you make the right coverage choices.
Advertiser Disclosure: We strive to help you make confident car insurance decisions. Comparison shopping should be easy. We are not affiliated with any one car insurance company and cannot guarantee quotes from any single provider.
Our insurance industry partnerships don’t influence our content. Our opinions are our own. To compare quotes from many different companies please enter your ZIP code on this page to use the free quote tool. The more quotes you compare, the more chances to save.
Editorial Guidelines: We are a free online resource for anyone interested in learning more about car insurance. Our goal is to be an objective, third-party resource for everything car insurance related. We update our site regularly, and all content is reviewed by car insurance experts.
General Motors, which passed Ford Motor Company in sales in the 1920s on its way to becoming the largest automaker in the world, has had rough times in the past few years. First they lost their position as the world’s largest automaker to Toyota Motor Corporation, and it ultimately resulted in succumbing to bankruptcy and being forced into receivership by the United States federal government.
The rise and fall of General Motors featured mistakes that are considered typical in huge conglomerates. The company got so large that corporate communications became difficult; they embarked on purchases of a questionable nature, buying companies like Electronic Data Systems, Hughes Aircraft, and even foreign automakers like Saab; manufacturing operations around the world were a complete disaster, with few shared components and domestic products for multiple markets that were all essentially different with few shared components; and at the same time, in the U.S. domestic market, the slew of brands each had their own products, but they were poorly differentiated, and it was easy to tell that despite the nameplates on the cars that they were all essentially the exact same car.
As they rise again, with their emergence from bankruptcy and their quick regaining of the crown as the world’s largest automaker, it appears GM plans on doing business differently in the future. They have announced that they intend on building 90 percent of their automobiles on just 14 basic platforms. That’s half of the platforms they use now. GM has also indicated a desire to half the number of engine varieties they utilize currently.
These platforms and engines will also be global in nature. Currently only about a third of their vehicles sold across the world share common platforms. That’s an improvement from their pre-bankruptcy days, but they’ve got a long way to go to get to the manufacturing efficiency that automakers like Ford, Toyota, Honda and Volkswagen mastered years ago. The 2013 Malibu represents the first true “global car” for General Motors that will essentially be the same, no matter where it is sold.
GM still has other issues that will challenge the company for years to come. Pensions are underfunded by almost $11 billion, and getting their global manufacturing streamlined will take almost a decade. Meanwhile, they’ll have to keep pumping out quality automobiles that the public wants to buy.