Ford's business plan was to offer customers the best value; however, they had a limited selection of products. Sloan and GM provided their customers with automobiles that had many customizable options. For example, GM offered different colors whereas Ford only offered black. GM became known for all the extra features and comforts available in their products. GM also invested substantially in engineering. Cadillac, Pontiac, Buick, Chevrolet, and Oldsmobile received a new look and style every year (Halliday, 2009). This contributed to the loss of customers for Ford since their products did not receive updates and new styles were not introduced on an annual basis. This enabled GM to gain market share from the Ford customers. GM was also the first automobile manufacturer to offer customers the ability to purchase a new car on credit. This attracted even more customers from the competition.
Then, the Great Depression put a stop to all of GM’s expansion plans and the company stock price took a sharp decline. By the early 1930’s GM regained financial stability and purchased the Yellow Coach bus company, along with the Electro-Motive Corporation, which manufactured Diesel – Electric motors for rail industry (Halliday, 2009). By the 1950’s GM produced diesel powered trains that were used to haul passengers and freight on the American railway system. All of the company’s success paid off in 1955 when GM became the first company to earn more than a billion dollars in one year (Berg).
GM dominated the auto industry from 1955 through 1979 when it employed over 618,000 employees. Then in 1980, GM lost $750 million as sales of cars and trucks fell 26 percent (Press, 2009). This was followed by a list of new business plans to regain their financial success. These plans included the birth of Saturn, which was a product developed in reaction to the threat of the Japanese automakers. GM also acquired Hughes Aircraft Company within the same year (Press). Although Saturn was developed in 1985, it took five years until its official launch in 1990. This was another bad year for GM as auto sales dropped and the company faced a charge of $2.1 billion for the closing of four manufacturing facilities. Profits also fell to $102 Million and cut 21,000 jobs within the same year (Press).
Then, GM posted an industry record loss of $4.45 billion for the year of 1991. This prompted GM to close 21 manufacturing facilities and
