Don’t Call it a Comeback

I know you’re not supposed to call it a comeback, but I think General Motors just had one. Only two years after filing for bankruptcy and receiving aid from the federal government, it seems as though General Motors has reignited its product. G.M. is once again on the Forbes Fortune 500 Top Ten list. In 2011 it held the No. 8 spot, but jumped three spots to No. 5 this year. G.M. also showed record profits in 2011, bringing in $9.2 billion, a staggering increase of 49 percent from 2010. This year the auto company brought in $150.3 billion. They've also regained the title as global sales leader, bumping outToyota, which had to deal with sales drawbacks due to natural disasters in Japan. So what’s been the key to G.M.’s recent success? They've found one solution in the production of smaller cars. While some auto companies have turned to low-cost production facilities in different countries, G.M. is embracing robotics as well as a new and improved production line in Detroit to make the new Chevrolet Sonic. In March of this year, 40 percent of GM’s revenue came from vehicles with highway fuel economy ratings of more than 30 miles to the gallon. Even G.M.’s Chevy Volt, a plug-in hybrid, is proving successful as it has doubled its monthly sales from February to March. It’ll be interesting to see what happens with this company in the ensuing years, but it seems G.M. has taken leaps and bounds since its struggle was caught in the spotlight of national media starting in 2008.