General Motors, Lexus, Gmc And Cadillac As A Representation Of The Broader Categories Of Cars

There are many models of market structure in the field of economics. They include perfect competition on one end, monopoly on the other end, and competitive monopoly and oligopoly somewhere in the middle. In this paper, we will focus on the oligopoly structure because it is one of the strongest influences in the United States market. Although oligopolies can also be global, we will focus strictly on the United States here. We will define oligopoly, give key characteristics important to the oligopoly structure, explain why oligopolies form, then give an example of an oligopoly in today’s economy. Finally, we will discuss the benefits and costs in this type of market structure.

This company was created to challenge the Ford Motor company in the twentieth century. General Motors created automatic transmissions, practical air conditioning, and the very first version self start. These creations gave General Motors the edge over Ford and other car companies at the time. “In the early years, GM's marketers added style and color to cars, putting Henry Ford and his industry-leading Model T's on the defensive” (Woodyard 03).With knowledge and advancement General Motors performed well and gained from it. But in recent years General Motors started to cut corners and build things of a cheaper quality making mistakes. These mistakes and corner cutting created problems for General Motors. It eventually lead to General Motors filing for bankruptcy on June 1st in 2009. General Motors was eventually saved from their bankruptcy but the damage was done. The General Motors plant in Moraine Ohio was shut down causing a lot of people to lose their jobs. The mistakes General Motor made did not just hurt themselves but the people who relied on those jobs. There are people who are now homeless and are struggling. The knowledge General Motors had helped them reach their success but the creators lost sight of their morals. They took the easy route and failed hurting plenty of people destroying hundreds of families and people's

The goal of this consulting report is to analyze the strategy for General Motors. To start, a five forces analysis of the automobile industry was conducted. The five forces include the following factors: competition among rivals, threat of new entrants, supplier power, buyer power, threat of substitutes, and role of complements. Understanding the influence of each of these factors provides insight into the attractiveness of the automobile industry. Such an understanding is necessary for an effective critique of General Motors’ strategy for the future.

General Motors is faced with a dilemma. In the face of economic depression, competition from foreign players was driving down profits and the market’s preference was changing to efficient cars due to

it focused only four brands but was still global and utilizing 70% of its sales from outside of the United States. “Re-emerging at the new GM is the competitive spirit that, for decades, drove GM to leadership in styling, technology, engineering, marketing, and other key areas of the auto business. This spirit guides the new GM as it works to design, build, and sell the world’s best vehicles.”(History & Heritage-Rebirth,” 2014)

Even though GM has been given some advantages, it is experiencing problems in Europe and in South America (Kinicki & Williams, 2013). The home market is proving to be a challenge, also. Toyota and Honda are standing out as stiff competition. One plan to help achieve the profit goal for GM is to reduce auto platforms by

An oligopoly is the system this country needs. Since there are only a select few companies manufacturing a good there still is room for lower prices. But also there is inspiration for innovation. These companies consider their competitor’s actions when prices change and are required to follow to keep their share of the market. Automobile manufacturers are perfect examples of an oligopoly. The price for manufacturing is high, yet there is a specific standard and desire to innovate and come up with the best product on the market.

The automotive industry designs, develops, manufactures, markets and sells motor vehicles, and is one of the world’s most important economic divisions by profits. This analysis focuses on the industry, specifically, manufacturers of automobiles. There are five competitors in the StratSim environment: Firm A, B, C, D, and E. Industry sales in the most recent year were 4.3 million units, with expected growth in the next year. Within this industry, there are seven-vehicle classes: Economy, Family, Luxury, Sports, Minivan, Truck, and Utility. There are two new classes with potential – if properly marketed.

particular industry and which have little or no resale value; money spent on advertising / marketing / research which cannot be carried forward into another market or industry. When sunk costs are high, a market becomes less contestable. High sunk costs (including exit costs) act as a barrier to entry of new firms (they risk making huge losses if they decide to leave a market). A good example of substantial sunk costs occurred in 2001 when British Telecom announced it was scrapping its lossmaking joint venture with US telecoms firm AT&T. The closure was estimated to lead to the loss of 2,300 jobs - almost 40% of Concert's workforce. And, it will cost BT $2bn in impairment charges and restructuring costs, and AT&T $5.3bn. Profits and losses signal the existence of excess supply or demand (Mueller, 1986; Stigler, 1963).1 When firms are free to respond to these signals, they enter and exit markets until risk adjusted returns are equalized across markets. However, because of entry barriers, this normalization may not obtain, at least in the short run. For this reason, barriers to entry directly impact a firm’s current and future profitability. Moreover, the over-time effect of barriers to entry on profitability impacts the assumptions incorporated into forecasting and valuation models. In analysing firm profitability, it is

Each car company that is around today is worth a fortune. We have not seen any new entrant enter the car industry in quite a long time because it takes a lot to come to the table and compete with these multi-billion-dollar car companies. The threat of substitutes is moderate because there are a certain amount of competitors, but each company has many different product lines for its consumers to choose from. The use of public transportation is growing and the same goes for the train for everyday commute. The bargaining power of buyers is minimal because of the close margins in the industry as a whole. Saturn is able to allow its customers no bargaining power with their pricing policy because they will not let consumers go below the actually cost of the car. Finally, the bargaining power of suppliers to an automobile manufacture like General Motors will not have a lot of power to negotiate because of the amount of orders that General Motors is places every day. An example of this is let’s say General Motors is talking with a speaker company for speakers in their cars, and General Motors is not happy with what that speaker company is doing, General Motors can simply go to another speaker

All companies desire to dominate any given market without being outfought or outwitted by rivals. However, the implications of

General Motors has defined their organizational culture as "Design, Build and Sell the World's Best Vehicles". In the design portion of this definition, GM focuses on core brands in order to become a leader in research and development. In the build portion of this definition, GM strives to operate in an environmentally and socially responsible manner. In the sell portion of this definition, GM strives to maximize revenues, offer customers high residual value, and lower incentives. GM's mission statement reads, "General Motors is a multinational corporation engaged in socially responsible operations, worldwide. It is dedicated to provide products and services of such quality that our customers will receive superior value while our employees and business partners will share in our success and our stock-holders will receive a sustained superior return on their investment." This mission cannot be more ironic.

General Motors enjoys a major market share in global automotive industry. One of its major strengths is its strong branding and market position. General Motors can be considered as one of the pioneers of modern vehicles. As per data monitor, GM had a leading share in North America and South America and in Europe it held fifth position. Similarly, it holds second position in other major segments. GM bears a strong branding. A lot of prestigious brands are provided by General Motors such as Chevrolet, GMC, Buick, Cadillac and Opal. Like Toyota, GM also has various production facilities in 31 different countries. This strong global presence allows GM to have access global markets way easily as compared to manufacturers with centralized structures. Thus, GM relies less on exports, manufactures its brands locally and is also involved in

Creation, acceleration and emotion are the key components for any automobile industry to deliver its goods to the expected standards. General Motors, popularly known as GM has been a pioneer in the global autoindustry for more than 100 years. Developing from horseless carriages to the latest sports cars, innovations have always excelled at putting the world on wheels. In fact, there are a lot of exciting things to share about the company. GM’s corporation started in 1892 by R.E. Olds, with a solid financial foundation, which enabled him to produce great vehicles for customers and build a bright future for employees, partners and shareholders. GM slowly initiated its staff of experts in the factories which are located in different parts of the globe and acquired the brands like Chevrolet, Pointiac, GMC, Buick, Cadillac(General Motors Corporation, 2015). Leading the way is their tailored leadership team who set high standards for the company so that they can produce the best cars and trucks. This means that GM is committed to deliver vehicles with compelling designs, flawless quality and reliability, leading safety, fuel economy and commercial features. All are intended to create that special bond that can only happen between a driver and a vehicle. General Motors is a customer driven company and aims at earning customers

A second point of consideration relating to the intensity of rivalry within the industry was the level of industry demand. “Demand declines when customers are leaving the marketplace or each customer is buying less” (Hill &Jones, 2012, p. 62). This was the case in 2009 in many developed nations due to the recession, which was marked by job loss, credit problems, and high gas prices that increased the demand for fuel-efficient vehicles or left consumers unable to purchase vehicles altogether. At the same time, growth was expanding in China and some other developing nations, which opened the doors for automobile companies in these countries to expand at home and