General Motors Co. (GM) is a multinational company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan. The company designs, manufactures and markets vehicles and vehicle parts, and has been a leader in total worldwide vehicle sales for decades. Today, GM produces vehicles in 30 countries, under 10 different brands, including Chevrolet, Buick, GMC and Cadillac. It remains one of the largest automakers in the world when it comes to vehicles unit sales and depends on a wide range of suppliers in its manufacturing process.
Main suppliers
General Motors owns a number of joint ventures in emerging countriessuch as SAIC General Motors in Shanghai, China, Ghandhara Industries in Pakistanand General Motors India. Structurally, GM is grouped into five activities segments: GM Financial, GM Cruise, GM International and GM North America.
Key points to remember
- GM is one of the largest automakers, producing vehicles in 30 countries under 10 brands.
- Given its international presence and large production of vehicles, GM has established relationships with many suppliers around the world.
- After filing for bankruptcy, General Motors returned to the market with an IPO in 2010, and shares trade under the ticker symbol GM.
- The company invests in electric vehicles and self-driving car technologies.
Given its international reach and diverse business segments, GM has developed a long list of suppliers worldwide. For example, NGK Spark Plug Co. supplies GM vehicles with spark plugs. The Mold Masters Co., also based in Michigan, molds and supplies GM with plastics for vehicle dashboards, consoles and trim. The Bose Corp. specializes in all types of audio equipment and supplies GM with primary parts for its vehicle audio systems.
Mitsubishi Electric Co. is another major supplier to GM, supplying vehicles with products for charging and starting, engine management, transmission control and electric power steering systems.
In fact, the automaker has a long list of more than 70 suppliers and a number are essential to the production of GM vehicles. Some of them include SL Corp., Lakeside Plastics, Johnson Controls, Grand Traverse Plastics, Dynamic Manufacturing Co., Compuware, Sundram Fasteners Limited and Van-Rob Corp.
CEO Timeline
In 2009, GM went through a company reorganization backed by the government after a Chapter 11 file submission bankruptcy. In the same year, the company ceased production of several brands, abandoning Hummer, Saturn and Pontiac. After easing its brand’s production load and with government-backed restructuring, GM made it one of the world’s top five initial public offerings in 2010 to raise the necessary capital. The stock trades under the ticker symbol GM.
In an attempt to cash in on the push for alternative fuel cars, GM launched the first all-electric vehicle of the modern era, offering the first zero-emissions concept car marketed in the United States. In 2008, the company pledged to make about half of its manufacturing plants completely landfill-free. The company recycles or otherwise reuses all production waste from its manufacturing process.
In 2017, GM acquired Strobe, a developer of distance-tracking sensors, to help develop technology for future self-driving cars. It also unveiled the Chevy Bolt, an autonomous self-driving vehicle, in 2017. In 2018, General Motors announced that Honda was investing $2.75 billion in GM’s self-driving car unit.