GM becomes world's top selling automaker in 2011 (Back on top after three years!)

[onehandle]

(Reuters) - General Motors Co reclaimed its title as the world's top selling automaker for the first time since 2007, after sales of more than 9 million vehicles globally in 2011.

GM's return to the top slot comes more than two years after its taxpayer-funded bankruptcy restructuring that allowed the Detroit-based automaker to cut its spiraling legacy costs.

GM vaulted to the top spot last year for the first time since 2007. In 2008, GM's global sales fell 11 percent, allowing Toyota Motor Co to overtake GM for the first time.

In 2011, Toyota's sales were hurt by severe production cuts following an earthquake, tsunami and nuclear crisis in Japan as well as severe flooding in Thailand.

http://news.yahoo.com/gm-emerges-worlds-top-selling-automaker-2011-230732416.html

FYI, Business Genius Mitt Romney said... Let Them Die.

[muntrv]

1. But...but....the Govt Motors bailout

was a failure. ClusterFox says so.

[liberal N proud]

2. And with fewer models, a leaner, meaner machine

[Kahuna]

3. That is awesome news!!

[Born Free]

15. Chevy Cruze was top seller in it's class for a few months.

I read the American made Chevy Cruze was the number one seller in it's class for a couple months in 2011. Toyota got back to the number 1 spot by lowering prices. GM tried a different strategy, they decided rather than give big discounts it was better to to keep the prices the same and reduce production if need be. The end result was the Cruze was a good money maker for GM. This strategy may not be best for consumers looking to get big discounts, but it does make it better for current Chevy Cruze owners that are concerned about resale value as well as making more profit for GM.

Last Oct 1, we had our 2011 Cruze one year and so far has worked good. We did get a few minor recall notices that needed to be checked but no problems so far. The only thing we did not like was On Star, we believed it was not worth the prices they were charging.

[FredisDead]

4. How many jobs did

GM outsource to Mexico and China to get back on top?

http://www.economicpopulist.org/content/gm-offshore-outsourcing-us-jobs

New GM CEO Criticizes Obama, Brags About Voting Republican
http://jalopnik.com/5633126/new-gm-ceo-criticizes-obama-brags-about-voting-republican

General Motors' new CEO Dan Akerson told GM employees today that the automaker will go into "attack mentality" and made a small attack of his own against the Obama administration's economic policies, noting "I vote Republican."

The comments came during a town hall meeting at GM headquarters in Detroit today, where Akerson and departing CEO Ed Whitacre had a symbolic hand-off. During the discussion, our source says Akerson talked about his education at the London School of Economics, and took a swipe at the Obama administration, saying Washington types could stand some of the training in economics and philosophy that he enjoyed.

[stockholmer]

6. +100 Thanks for cutting through the simple-minded hype. Toyota was crushed by the earthquake,plus...

To break even on GM, the remaining US government owned shares that had to be sold at $53 (and so many on here said that was no problem), as of today, GM is trading under $25. The only way GM will see $53 a share is when the US dollar is so hyper-inflated that is will take 10 or 20 of them to buy a loaf of bread.

GM also took billions of that bailout money to build factories over-seas, NOT in the US. GM had accrued $70 billion in losses in the two years before the bailout and debt 24 times its market capitalization. By contrast, Ford had eliminated money-losing brands and mortgaged all its assets raising funds to weather the economic downturn. By bailing out GM, the administration rewarded its recklessness and penalized Ford’s prudence.

The US continuing erosion/transition from superpower to failed domestic economy is killing GM domestically. Only 1/3 or so of Ford's sales are in the USA, versus GM, which relied up until the recent past for 60%+ of its total sales coming from within the American market.

Look at GM's US core marques: Chevrolet, Cadillac, Buick, and GMC. All but Chevy are based on (compared to the rest of the world) petrol-guzzlers. GM is a day late and a dollar short. Most of their foreign acquisitions ended in tears, (they fucked over our car maker, Saab, here in Sweden, blocking a deal to buy the whole company by a Chinese firm from Spycker, even though GM had dumped Saab ownership to that Dutch firm several years before) and just from 2005 to 2009, GM lost over $100 billion dollars. It is a joke that they claim profit for 2010, as this is simply due to huge tax breaks ($45 billion over 10 years that was part of the bailout) and accounting practices that 20 years ago would have been illegal.

Current GM CEO CEO Daniel Akerson was a Managing Director of The Carlyle Group, 'nuff said there. This cruel joke is a pox on both parties. When those tax breaks, interest, and other hidden bankster/broker charges and fees are factored in, the bailout cost was over $100 billion. The US citizens, at the end of the day, are going to take a $50+ billion dollar loss on just the GM portion of this bloated pig of a stock/firm bailout when ALL costs are figured in. Not to mention the structural damage to the concept of legitimate bankruptcy.


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GM stock chart

http://www.google.com/finance?client=ob&q=NYSE:GM#

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The Real Cost of the Auto Bailouts The government's unnecessary disruption of the bankruptcy laws will do long-term damage to the economy.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303745304576361663907855834.html

[Kurmudgeon]

7. Don't forget, Toyota had their own little problem with uncontrolled acceleration in their vehicles.

I'm sure that made more than a few people rethink the hype.

[pipoman]

10. Actually..

they had a problem with hyped up campaign of false allegations designed to unseat them as the worlds largest auto maker.

[Kurmudgeon]

12. Actually they got fined by the US government and there is a victim count. Not hype, truth.

[cbrer]

8. Let me see if I got this right

We paid for them to build overseas factories. We will still lose 50+ billion. Chevy Volts are catching fire. The reason GM outsold Toyota is because Toyota's production was severely curtailed, by natural disaster.

Boy the bonuses should be huge...

[blue_onyx]

11. More of this?

GM does not sell any vehicles in the US that are made in China.

Seriously, Toyota loyalists like you just can't stand to see positive GM news, can you? Thankfully, Obama is wiser than most people on DU.

[hughee99]

20. Also, the "spiraling legacy costs" they mention

is their grossly underfunded pension plan. The taxpayers will eventually get stuck with that bill as well.

[Tx4obama]

5. Here's an additional article/link to article at Reuters

Here: http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/01/20/us-gm-idUSTRE80I2EY20120120

[DCBob]

9. "Let Detroit Go Bankrupt" by Mitt Romney

"IF General Motors, Ford and Chrysler get the bailout that their chief executives asked for yesterday, you can kiss the American automotive industry goodbye. It won’t go overnight, but its demise will be virtually guaranteed."

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/19/opinion/19romney.html

What an idiot.

[tabasco]

13. I wish they would come out with a 3-door Cruze hatchback.

If not, my next car will be a Yaris hatchback.

[blue_onyx]

14. GM recently came out with....

the Chevy Sonic which is available as a three door hatchback. It's about the same price and size as the Yaris. The Sonic is the ONLY subcompact made is the US, btw.

[JNelson6563]

17. Yes and I like it!

Was checking it out at the Chevy site yesterday, I really like it! I am pleased with where GM (and really all of the Big Three) are going with design these days. I'm very happy to see them doing well, adding jobs, increasing market share. I hear in state level news often of jobs they are adding within MI and know this will snowball into a wider recovery.

Thanks for your post!

Julie

[blue_onyx]

19. Me too

The US automakers are making great vehicles. I'll probably be looking at the Cruze sometimes in the near future.

I just wish Gov. Granholm was still in office. It drives me insane to see Snyder trying to take credit for MI's recovering economy. Of course the media won't call him out for taking credit for other people's work. It's Granholm and Obama who are responsible for the improvement in the economy. Snyder has done nothing to create jobs.

[tabasco]

21. Thanks for the info!

I'll check it out.

[JNelson6563]

16. They are still adding jobs in Michigan

as is Chrysler. Many of them are going to Detroit which is so awesome as our fair city has been brutalized for some time now.

Go Detroit!!

Julie

[Populist_Prole]

18. Yyyeeaaahhh!

Not like the good old days, but when you're speeding downhill, even slowing down is good news. Reversing the trend is almost too much to ask, and yet it happened. ( much to the dismay of who wished the UAW would perish after GM dies )