Posted on 01/25/2011 7:05:06 AM PST by SeekAndFind
FLINT, Mich. – General Motors has a shot at being No. 1 again.
The resurgent automaker reported Monday that its worldwide sales last year came within 30,000 of beating Japanese rival Toyota, which took a big hit because of safety recalls.
GM is hiring, producing more and basking in a better reputation for quality. It expects to sell even more cars and trucks this year, putting it within reach of the title of biggest in the world — an honor it held for 76 years before losing it in 2008.
Regaining the global lead means a lot to workers on the assembly line in Flint, a town devastated by years of auto industry job losses. Just two years ago, they didn't know if their factory or even their company would survive.
Dana Rouse, a union official at the pickup truck factory here, called overtaking Toyota the Heisman Trophy of the auto business.
"We're going to take Toyota on, and the people in Flint are going to be a part of that," he said. "This is the birthplace of General Motors. We kind of take it a little more seriously than maybe some other towns."
GM executives say they are focused on keeping customers happy, not on the title. They remember the company's disastrous recent history, when it sold cars at a loss just to hold on to market share.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
We CAN be globally competitive!
Do we really believe this?
Good luck with that. As for me I refuse to purchase any vehicle assembled with UAW labor.
China sales.
GM sells more cars in China than in the U.S.
“Do we really believe this?”
Sounds like BS from the Marxist government
propaganda machine.
The last GM (Buick) that I bought was in the mid 70s.
I swore, never again.
From then on, I had Toyota and used Volvos.
Sorry, UAW, none of your crapcars for me.....EVAH!!
Mike
What a strange coincidence that this comes out just before The State of the Union Show.
I was thinking the same thing. GM isn't a company any longer. Its a Gov't entity and a political showpiece, with bureaucrats and politicians running the show. There must be temptation to spin, exaggerate or even lie on all numbers they put out.
Ain’t that just special? We have and will continue to buy Toyota for the rest of our lives. We love them.:)
So your wife works for the Government?? Buy the way since you brought a GM car, you are supporting Obama..
Needed something to counter today’s awful housing news — 8 cities just hit the lowest prices since the housing bust started.
And they sold 8.29 million vehicles ... only ONE MILLION FEWER than in 2007! ( http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_many_cars_and_trucks_does_general_motors_sell_each_year )
“What a strange coincidence that this comes out just before The State of the Union Show.”
The drive-by media was playing up hard yesterday news about corporations planning on hiring this year. The propaganda war is in full swing.
It would be great if the AP covered the whole story here. During the same time period Toyota revenues were 104 billions compared to 67 billion for GM. GM has been aggressively using rebates and 0% interest to sell cars. In addition government fleets now all by GM cars rather than an open bidding process. Anyway, AP got the headline they wanted and that seems to be all that matters.
AP reporting on government motors and quoting union members? How can you doubt it?
So you get the employee discount or did that program go away?
My father-in-law retired after 20+ years at GM; my mother-in-law called it Generous Motors. Before getting married, I’d always purchased foreign cars. Years of hearing about GM from him — he loved his job, and his union — convinced me to never buy a GM car. The government take-over was just icing on the cake.
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