The Daimler-Chrysler Merger: a New World Order?

General Motors (GM), who once dominated the automobile industry, has now plummeted, almost to the point of extinction. Throughout the 1940’s to the 1970’s General Motors (GM) had dominated the automobile industry. By the 1980’s, GM was suddenly facing a shift in the economy and consumer demands.

In the hyper competitive world of today’s mega corporations controlled by the sway of the stock market, giant old industrial era companies rule over the automobile market in the United States as well as large parts of the global automobile market. Companies such as General Motors, Chrysler, and Ford were at the center of it until the economic crisis now known as the Great Recession of the late 2000s. The whole market was declining in sales with General Motors and Chrysler taking the biggest hits while Ford only suffered decline comparable to foreign automakers’, Honda and Toyota, levels due to restructuring in prior years. However, the tipping point was edging closer to bankruptcy with General Motors and Chrysler that ultimately

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 is believed that at the root of any business strategic merger is to expand. This expansion could be in the form of a larger operations leveraging resources, enhanced opportunities or too simply unite with another business to reduce expenses. Ford and Volvo explored the option of teaming up in hop of lowering manufacturing cost.

After Chrysler’s government bailout, there were many changes implemented in order to save the company and one of them being technology. By harnessing technology to improve performance, the company focused its efforts on developing and producing new vehicles that are safe, fuel efficient and reliable. There is much focus on moving towards development of environmental vehicles to reduce pollution and the use of gasoline and concentrate on energy (electric or hybrid) vehicles instead. The company’s success will rely much on how it embraces and moves along with technology.

The Chevy which is a colloquial term for Chevrolet is a division of general motors (GM) that are American manufacturers of vehicles. The Chevrolet motor car company was founded by Louis Chevrolet and William Durant. Mr. Durant used this car and acquired a stake that controlled General Motors after which there was a reverse merger. The Chevy vehicles are distributed in most markets globally carrying the maxim ‘A car for every purse.’ The essay below stipulates strategies that the Chevy upholds in the different markets in which their motor vehicles are sold (McDonald, 2002).

Cooper’s President, Gene Miller’s ideology was to not restrict operations to the production of engines only. This was reflected in the business decisions when Cooper began to diversify and widen its product ranges. Cooper’s acquisition strategies were well planned and they were not left to the professional managers on the grounds that they could do justice to any product categories or manufacturing processes. Great importance was given on understanding the culture and customs of the areas in which Cooper operated and diversification only took place when the prospects looked profitable. There was a limit to diversification and special attention was paid to the timing of acquisitions. Most of the companies that Cooper aimed at acquiring were market leaders who maintained records of high quality manufacturing. Cooper’s journey was not about acquisitions and additions only. After a business had served its useful purpose, it was divested because clinging to the past would only reduce chances of future success. Between 1970 and 1988, Cooper divested 33 businesses.

The Ford Motor Company and General Motors have greatly influenced and shaped the global automobiles industry over the 20th Century. While there are other big car-makers both in the United States and elsewhere in the globe, the two companies have been the commonest and significant players across the entire sector. This research focuses on an argument of how competition between both companies has benefited them.

The automotive industry has drastically transformed since World War II. In the early 20th century America had many booming car companies with an array of beautiful designs. Early 20th century automobiles were a thing of art, each brand having their own unique signature design. The article by Thomas Lifson, titled Oligopoly and the fall of the American automobile industry describes this event that unfolded in America’s auto industry. The article highlights how oligopolies in the automotive sector made for competitive prices, however, what consumers gained in bargain they lost in the art that went into a unique design.

Detailed examination of the impact Jack Welch has had as CEO over the past twenty years reveals a leadership style that is the driving force behind a

Chapter 7: Merger and Acquisition Strategy --- The Acquisition and Restructuring of Kia Motors by Hyundai Motors (written by Seungwha Chung and Sunju Park)

Jack Welch’s vision of what GE was possible of gave the company a vision for twenty years while he was the CEO and chairman. He states, “leaders make sure people not only see the vision, they live and breathe it.” (Winning, pg 67) He not only allowed for employees to stretch, but demanded it. In teaching workers to stretch Welch knew that workers “may fail. In fact, they probably will fail. But stretching, and stretching the business, is going to improve performance results.” (Jack Welch on Leadership, pg 105) He also states that “only by setting the performance bar high did it become possible to discover people’s capabilities.” Jack Welch’s emphasis on candor and breaking the bureaucracy of modern business separated him from his contemporaries. He excited others of the possibility of being the biggest and best company in the world and rewarding his best employees that shared the values of GE. According to FORTUNE Editorial Director Geoffrey Colvin In "The Ultimate Manager, Welch leads the annals of management history not for anticipating the new world's changes ahead, but for acting on them: "His great achievement is that having seen it, he faced up to the huge, painful changes it demanded, and made them faster and more emphatically than anyone else in business. He led managers into this new world, which we still inhabit, and just as important, he showed business

As it relates to the competitive structure, or the number and size distribution of companies within an industry, the automobile industry is considered a consolidated industry, where a small number of large companies dominate and are able to set prices. Traditionally, in America, these companies were called “The Big Three,” Chrysler, Ford, and GM, but Toyota, was also a major rival during the recession. “In consolidated industries, companies are interdependent, because one company’s competitive actions or moves (with regard to price, quality, and so on) directly affect the market share of its rivals, and thus their profitability” (Hill & Jones, 2012, p. 62). The relative power of consolidation on the automobile industry was high.

In 1993, merger talks finally broke down between Renault and Volvo. A merger between the two companies had seemed the inevitable consequence of a number of years of collaboration and the plans seemed well set.

GM enters into the Russian market immediately after the Ford entered. But it has decided to go with Joint