General Motors Financial Analysis

     In 1903 the Ford Motor Company was incorporated after two unsuccessful attempts. Henry Ford was the vice-president and the chief engineer. The company started out only making a few cars a day at the Ford factory, with two or three men working on a car at a time and having to use parts made to order from other companies.2

Henry Ford had a mass-production that became standard with Ford. The “Big three” auto companies, General Motors and Chrysler, began in the 1920’s. After the automobile

General Motors (?GM? or ?the company?) has a rich history longer than a century starting with its corporate organization in 1908. Following its organization, GM acquired its first brand, Old Motor Works, which was followed in 1909 by the purchase of Cadillac for $5.5 million. Two years later, GM organized both General Motors Truck to handle sales of GM?s Rapid and Reliance products and General Motors Export Company to handle export sales out of the US. In 1918, GM purchased Chevrolet Motors. In 1926, GM entered Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Egypt, Uruguay and Argentina through the General Motors Export Company. General Motors Truck became the modern GMC in 1943 when GM acquired the assets of Yellow Truck & Coach. In 1945, GM finally established all of its historical core brands (Buick, Chevrolet, Cadillac, GMC, Oldsmobile, and Pontiac) when the Buick-Oldsmobile-Pontiac Assembly Division, which would be renamed the General Motors Assembly Division in 1965, was formed.

Each company must prepare financial statements to provide a comprehensive picture about its past performance and situation for the owners, the managers, the state and other stakeholders as well. In the case of enormous, international public limited companies like Ford and Microsoft these statements and data are public, so anybody can reach them through the internet. Moreover, we can also compute a lot of financial ratios based on these data. If we want to get an authentic frame about the firms, we have to know what these statement and ratios mean. In addition, it’s difficult for the companies that they want to give other picture about their financial status to

For my project I have chosen a Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC) – an international automobile manufacturer. In addition, Toyota provides retail and wholesale financing, retail leasing and certain other financial services primarily to its dealers and their customers related to vehicles manufactured by Toyota. The major portions of Toyota 's operations on a worldwide basis are derived from the Automotive and Financial Services business segments. The Company also has an All Other segment, which includes its non-automotive business activities. The most significant of Toyota 's other operations are its information technology (IT)-related businesses and pre-fabricated housing.

I have researched the company’s financial reports. There will be a financial analysis of the company comparing its present to past two years’ performance and to the performance of its major competitors.

General Motors Corporation (General Motors or GM) was incorporated on August 11, 2009. Also known as GM, the company designs, builds and sells cars, trucks and automobiles parts globally and headquartered in Detroit, Michigan. The company also provides automotive financing services through General Motors Financial Company, Inc. (GM Financial).

When analyzing the DuPont model, we determined that GIS has a higher profit margin, low asset turnover ratio, and low financial leverage versus the industry average, leading GIS not to perform with the same efficiency as the Industry Composite. GIS’s return on equity (ROE) was 28.25% in 2011, dipped to 24.41% in 2012, and then rose to 27.80% in 2013. GIS three-year average ROE of 26.82% is below the industry three-year median of 30.78%. This is largely attributable to a decrease on Equity due to the acquisitions that began on 2011. GIS asset turnover ratio remained steady for the past three years with a median of 0.79; however, competitors achieved a higher asset turnover ratio, of 1.07. The three-year average equity multiplier of 3.21 shows that their financial leverage is slightly lower compared to the industry median of 3.33, which indicates that the company relies less on debt rather than equity to finance its assets.

From ready-to-eat cereal to convenient meals to wholesome snacks, General Mills is one of the biggest food products manufacturers and competes in growing food categories that are on-trend with consumer tastes around the world. The company markets many well-known brands, such as Haagen Daazs, Yoplait, Betty Crocker, Totinos, and Cheerios, among others. Main rivals include Kellogg, Kraft, Conagra Foods, and Sara Lee. General Mills sells its products in three segments: U.S. retail (63% of net sales), International (25% of net sales), and Bakeries and Foodservices (12% of net sales). In addition, General Mills sells cereals and ice cream through its Cereal Partners Worldwide and Haagen Daazs Japan

General Motors was founded by William Durant on September 16, 1908. At its inception, GM owned only the Buick Motor Company, but acquired Oldsmobile, Cadillac and Pontiac within ten years of its formation. Demand for automobiles heightened between 1910-1929, allowing General Motors to set the standard for production, design and marketing innovation. GM diversified their selection and opened more than a dozen new plants outside of the United States. In 1927, the head of GM's design studio, Harley Earl, designed the LaSalle which marked the beginning of true automotive design as it was far less boxy than the Ford Model T. "In 1940, former GM President William Knudesen was chosen by President Roosevelt as Chairman

General Motors was once a back bone of American economy. It was one of those organizations who were the driving force of American automotive industry single handedly. But like any other enterprise, it has its strengths and weaknesses. Global presence with an impeccable distribution system which ensures a highest reach out couple with strong research and development gives it a competitive edge over its rivals however it has also borne its share of trouble mainly caused by recession. But now that market is picking up again, GM is also showing steady growth.

In 1996 the United Auto Workers struck at 2 GM plants in Ohio over the company's

One of the world’s largest automakers, GMC has it’s roots traced back to 1908. Also known as GM, this company is a United States-based automaker with its headquarters in Detroit, Michigan. After the General Motors Company was founded, it soon became known as one of the largest car manufacturers in the world. In 1909, the Grabowsky Rapid Motor Vehicle Company (GMC) joined with GM. The trade name GMC Trucks was first exhibited in 1912 at the New York Auto Show and registered with the U.S. Patent Office eight months later. The

In 2009 Toyota Motors (TM) posted a net loss of $4.6 billion ("Market watch," 2014). From 2009 to 2011 Toyota encountered a number of factors contributing to their economic downturn. It began with recalling millions of vehicles, for quality related problems, followed by natural disasters hitting northeastern Japan. These disasters wiped out Toyota’s production capabilities (Tabuchi & Vlasic, 2014). While these events were occurring, the cloud of the 2008 global financial crisis was still being felt. This crisis weakened demand in the automotive industry. This weakened demand increased the competitive landscape for all automotive manufactures. This drove down automotive prices and effectively contribution margins (i.e. sold less

At that time General Motors only owned Buick, in 1909 Durant bought more and more brands such as Cadillac or Pontiac.