General Motors Co. has become the world’s largest automaker by unit sales yet again. Last year, the company delivered 9.03 million vehicles across the globe. This is a big achievement for the company that faced bankruptcy two years ago.
There was around 7.6 per cent rise in sales, in comparison to the 8.39 million units sold in 2010. Additionally, it outdid the 8.16 million unit sales of Volkswagen AG by 11 per cent. The annual sales figure of Toyota Motor Corp. has not been revealed yet and as per the figures of three quarters, which is 5.77 million units, it fell short by 8.8 per cent. Tata’s sales have been affected due to the natural disasters that destroyed the production units in Japan and Thailand.
Dan Akerson GM CEO said that he gives more importance to the profit margins over units sold. He said that "I like profitability more than I do market share. I don't think we've set the goal to be the largest manufacturer in the world. I think the lead is going to trade off."
Dennis Virag, President, Automotive Consulting Group, communicated in a telephonic interview that sales leadership is a motivating factors and gives a boost to the company. He said that "it's bragging rights. Hopefully, that will have some impact on their share price."
In the New York Stock Exchange trading, there was 31 cents or 1.26 per cent rise in the shares of the company, closing at $24.82. A third of the company is still owned by the US government that will have to sell it at $53 a share for break even. The future seems better for the company which is seeing a growth, evident from the revenue earned over the past two years. In 2010, the company earned $6.17 billion and in 2011 (first nine months), GM earned $8.47 billion.
