Although Automotive News isn’t being exactly accurate. No non-Chinese automaker is majority owner of any car factory in China. They count Cadillacs sold as GMs, even though the factory that makes them is only 49% owned by GM, because Cadillacs elsewhere are sold by a division that is 100% owned by GM. But Wulings are only sold in China, so they don’t count them.

To be fair, you should throw out all of China. But then Toyota beats GM by a whole bunch, since GM is much stronger than Toyota in China.

Links to Businessweek articles from 2005 about Peter DeLorenzo blasting the D2.801 as well as getting consulting jobs from them:
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/05_30/b3944112.htm
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/05_30/b3944115.htm

http://www.autonews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080124/ANA02/309714026/1078

From the article:

“It was widely reported this week that the two automakers finished in a dead heat for the No. 1 spot. Here is why: GM includes in its total 516,435 vehicles of the Wuling brand in China.

But GM owns only 34 percent of the Chinese company that produces Wuling vehicles, SAIC-GM-Wuling Automobile Co.

Automotive News follows industry practice by including sales of only majority-owned subsidiaries in an automaker’s global total.”

Let it be known that I’m not cheering GM’s demise or Toyota’s rise. Just the facts, ma’am.

I’m not seeing any reason to expect a major change in the trend.

Autoblog will be disappointed.

GM just sold off it’s medium duty truck division to Navistar. That division sold around 48,000 trucks last year. I wonder if GM will continue counting those as “GM” sales in the future?

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=aDrqdfv_0th0&refer=news

GM FanBoy Peter De Lorenzo over at autoextremist.com continues to sing from the GM has turned the corner hymnal on his site. Lucky for him he doesn’t allow readers to add their own comments :). De Lorenzo even went so far as to say: “The GM divisional structure is still an impediment, because whenever they want to do a proper launch – like they did for the Malibu - another division suffers.” Wow, calling the Malibu launch proper flies in the face of reason. Big advertising campaign, few vehicle to sell. Hardly a proper launch.

The facts that tell us GM is the world leader for 2007 also paint a not-so-rosy financial picture which will affect their numbers in the years to come. The 77 year grasp is slipping away faster every year.

Toyota only counts Toyota

Wrong. Toyota counts ALL vehicles produced worldwide by Toyoda Motor Corp

I’ve heard questions about whether GM is properly accounting for vehicle sales in its Chinese joint ventures, but the Toyota number is all-inclusive.

Oh, and you forgot Hummer and the aforementioned JVs.

Toyota only counts Toyota

GM counts GMC, Pontiac, Chevrolet, Buick, Cadillac, Saturn, Saab, Holden, Vauxhall, and Opel.

Arguing that GM is the world’s largest carmaker is like arguing that the Titanic was the world’s safest ocean liner as it was sinking! What a ridiculous comparison.

And, with apologies to those who want to keep their rosy glasses on with GM, a Malibu, a CTS and a Corvette do not a renaissance make. The rest of the product line consists of the same old yawners. And while it is encouraging that a few GM products are competitive, only the Corvette is a class leader within a very small class. No one in the world uses GM quality or engineering as a benchmark, and that’s the very leadership to which they should aspire if they want to be the world’s largest carmaker.

That GM are even trying to get Chevy acceptance in Europe only serves to underline their complete failure to understand brands.