GM+Bust

Why The Boom?

In the early 1900's the Durant-Dort Carriage Company was the leading producer of carriages in the country. William C. Durant was a very wealthy man, and also a smart investor. He knew that horse drawn carriages were old news, and that automobiles were the future. William C. Durant bought Buick first, and slowly kept adding more and more brands to his company. All of the companies he was buying eventually became General Motors. General Motors is made up of 13 different brands of cars globally.

Describe the Boom?

Mr. Durant had so much money and was a good business man that he kept buying new companies for GM, until it ultimately became the largest and most successful automobile company in the world. At GM's peak in 1985 811,000 employees in the U.S. alone. Still today there are 324,000 people employed by GM. GM produces an average of 8.35 million cars and trucks per year. All these jobs were employing pretty much the whole city of Flint and the surrounding area's. Flint's entire economy revolved around GM. If GM was struggling, then so was Flint, and if GM was thriving, Flint was as well.

Where?

Flint Michigan

How?

Mr. Durant was smart and saw the future was cars and not carriages anymore, so he bought one company(Buick) first and eventually many more until GM was the largest and most successful auto company in the world. With all of these brands being moved to one company, and in one city, this brought thousand's of jobs for the people of Flint, Michigan and the surrounding area's.

Who? William C. Durant

Why the Bust?

Throughout the years the economy has been going into recessions, each one taking its toll on GM. The most recent one being after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. GM recovered fairly well from that crash, but shortly after that, GM put all of their focus on their trucks and SUV's. During that time period gas prices jumped over 50%, and Americans didn't want poor mpg trucks and SUV's anymore. The main focus for consumers was now "best in class" fuel economy. With GM being behind on fuel smart cars, they struggled very much from 2006-2010.

Where?

Flint, Michigan and any other place where there was a GM owned/operated company, plant, or dealership.

Who?

How?

What is Left?

What Could Have Been Done Differently?

What Lessons did we Learn?