GM Well On Its Way To World's Largest Carmaker

Bertel Schmitt
by Bertel Schmitt

GM’s net income in the 3rd quarter was $1.7 billion, down a bit from $2 billion in the same quarter of last year. What was up though was total global production. According to data published by GM, global production in the first 9 months rose to 6.95 million, up 7.8 percent from the same period in 2010 when 6.45 million were made. If GM maintains that pace in the 4th quarter, and there is no reason not to, GM should end the year with a global production well over 9 million.

This would establish GM solidly as the world’s largest automaker, well ahead of second-ranked Volkswagen. Those who predicted a totally different outcome will attend the annual crow-eating festivities.

Bertel Schmitt
Bertel Schmitt

Bertel Schmitt comes back to journalism after taking a 35 year break in advertising and marketing. He ran and owned advertising agencies in Duesseldorf, Germany, and New York City. Volkswagen A.G. was Bertel's most important corporate account. Schmitt's advertising and marketing career touched many corners of the industry with a special focus on automotive products and services. Since 2004, he lives in Japan and China with his wife <a href="http://www.tomokoandbertel.com"> Tomoko </a>. Bertel Schmitt is a founding board member of the <a href="http://www.offshoresuperseries.com"> Offshore Super Series </a>, an American offshore powerboat racing organization. He is co-owner of the racing team Typhoon.

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  • Zackman Zackman on Nov 09, 2011

    I'm hoping for the best on this one. Either this is just an illusion because GM's legacy costs and debt have been wiped clean or this is real. The profit margin is a concern, because their transaction prices don't seem to instill as much confidence as a few other automakers have a much better ratio, so in order to sell their cars, they must do so at a lower price than a similar model from another OEM. ...wait and see.

    • See 11 previous
    • Bd2 Bd2 on Nov 10, 2011

      @highdesertcat "Ford, Toyota and Honda would never have allowed the supply chain to simply collapse. Statements given at Congressional hearings need to be taken with a grain of salt, and it helps to learn the difference between conjecture and fact." - And it would be wise to take statements from Faux News or MSNBC w/ a grain of salt. Ford had enough trouble trying to keep itself afloat and Toyota and Honda also had their own issues in the global meltdown in auto sales. Plus, there are suppliers that supply GM and Ford or Chrysler and Ford and not Toyota or Honda. In addition, we are talking about losing all the jobs that come w/ supplying 30-35% of the US auto market. It would take Ford, Toyota, Honda, etc. a good amount of time to expand production in order to make up for the lost production; meanwhile this would mean hundreds of thousands of additional Americans out of work (higher paying jobs than the low pay service jobs) and a severe crimp on the supply of new autos (which would lead to higher prices).

  • Imag Imag on Nov 09, 2011

    Bertel, that one has to feel good. If that doesn't say you are one of the best in the biz, I don't know what does.

  • 84Cressida 84Cressida on Nov 09, 2011

    Don't care. GM is still run by the sleezy, ignorant morons as before (Lt. Dan Coke Can), so they'll likely lose it again anyway. They and VW can get into their own little contest to see who sucks more at #1.

  • Buickman Buickman on Nov 09, 2011

    when you count 50% interest as a 100% delivery it helps. when your competition suffers massive setbacks it helps. when you sell at distressed pricing levels it helps. and when you have a loyal base of hard working employees it helps, in spite of crummy management.

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