North America
GM World Headquarters in Detroit
In North America, GM products focus primarily on its four core divisions – Chevrolet, Cadillac, Buick, and GMC. The White House characterized the GM restructuring as a shift toward a new leaner, greener GM, which will aim to break even with annual sales much lower than previously stated. President Obama declared that the restructuring "will mark the end of an old GM, and the beginning of a new GM; a new GM that can produce the high-quality, safe, and fuel-efficient cars of tomorrow; that can lead America towards an energy independent future; and that is once more a symbol of America 's success."
GM worldwide 2008 vehicle sales
(thousands)
Rank in GM Location Vehicle sales Market share (%)
1 United States
2,981 22.1%
2 China
1,095 12.0%
3 Brazil
549 19.5%
4 United Kingdom
384 15.4%
5 Canada
359 21.4%
6 Russia
338 11.1%
7 Germany
300 8.8%
8 Mexico
212 19.8%
9 Australia
133 13.1%
10 South Korea
117 9.7%
11 France
114 4.4%
12 Spain
107 7.8%
13 Argentina
95 15.5%
14 Venezuela
91 33.3%
15 Colombia
80 36.3%
16 India
66 3.3%
In the mid 2005, GM announced that its corporate chrome power emblem "Mark of Excellence" would begin appearing on all recently introduced and all-new 2006 model vehicles produced and sold in North America. However, in 2009 the "New GM" reversed this, saying that emphasis on its four core divisions would downplay the GM logo.
Asia
The company manufactures most of its China market vehicles locally through Shanghai GM, a joint venture with the Chinese company SAIC, which was created on March 25, 1997. The Shanghai GM plant was officially opened on December 15, 1998, when the first Chinese-built Buick came off the assembly line. The SAIC-GM-Wuling Automobile joint-venture is also successfully selling microvans under the Wuling marque (34 percent owned by GM).
The Buick brand is especially strong in