In a bold move to boost profitability, General Motors unloaded its European business earlier this month. Now, the automaker says it isn’t finished downsizing.
“There’s a little bit more work that we’re doing in the international markets,” GM CEO Mary Barra told reporters on a conference call, reports Automotive News. “Our overall philosophy is that every country, every market segment has to earn its cost of capital.”
The automaker plans to reduce investments in certain international markets as well as cars for North America, according to a GM chart obtained by the media. After making some difficult cutbacks, GM will be able to focus on its strongest areas, which include the Cadillac brand, the Chinese market, and SUVs and pickups.
GM has already scaled down or eliminated its operations in Australia, India, Indonesia, Russia, and Thailand. The automaker could make further cuts in these countries or other regions that aren’t performing well. Despite its plan to consider the money-making potential of each market, GM will save its unprofitable South American operations because the franchise value in that market is considered high.
On our shores, GM will likely make cutbacks to its lineup of passenger cars. As consumers are demanding more and more SUVs, cars accounted for just 25.3 percent of GM’s sales in the U.S. during the first two months of the year, down from 38.3 percent in 2013. Meanwhile, GM had almost double the desired amount of new-car inventory on its lots as of the beginning of this month.
GM could continue to get rid of its slow-selling cars, like it did by axing the Chevrolet SS. As a less extreme option, the automaker may simply decide to update many of its products less frequently.
Source: Automotive News (Subscription required)
The post Report: GM to Continue Downsizing After Opel Deal appeared first on Motor Trend.
from Motor Trend http://ift.tt/2nxjCMb
Aucun commentaire:
Enregistrer un commentaire