General Motors 2010 Annual Report Download - page 4

2 General Motors Company 2010 Annual Report
DANIEL F. AKERSON
Chairman & Chief Executive Officer
Dear Fellow Stakeholders:
India and China (the BRIC countries) during the year, with
a particularly strong performance in China, where GM and
our partners delivered 2.4 million cars and trucks. Mean-
while, we continued the aggressive implementation of our
restructuring plan in Europe to position our business to
operate at a lower break-even level.
“Our plan is to steadily invest in
creating world-class vehicles, which
will continuously drive our cycle of
great design, high quality and
higher profitability.”
In the United States, GM saw robust sales across all of
our brands—Cadillac, Chevrolet, Buick and GMC—thanks
to an exciting lineup of vehicles that have captured the
imagination of customers and critics alike, epitomized
by the launch of the Chevrolet Volt—the groundbreaking
extended-range electric vehicle. GM vehicles won
numerous awards throughout the year, led by the Volt,
which ran the table with the North American Car of the
Year, Automobile Magazine’s Automobile of the Year,
Green Car of the Year, a Car and Driver 10 Best Award
and Motor Trend Car of the Year.
Continuing that progress, we kicked off 2011 with another
big win with the Chevrolet Silverado HD winning the top
honor as Motor Trend Truck of the Year. It was the first time
On November 18, 2010, the General Motors team, along
with our United Auto Workers partners, experienced
something special as we stood together on the balcony
of the storied New York Stock Exchange. As we rang the
opening bell to the unmistakable sound of a Chevy
Camaro engine at full throttle, we knew we were doing
much more than just starting a new trading day. We
were revving up Wall Street, and setting the pace for
our company—the new General Motors.
We truly are building a new GM, from the inside out.
Our vision is clear: to design, build and sell the world’s
best vehicles, and we have a new business model to bring
that vision to life. We have a lower cost structure, a
stronger balance sheet and a dramatically lower risk
profile. We have a new leadership team—a strong mix of
executive talent from outside the industry and automotive
veterans—and a passionate, rejuvenated workforce.
Entering the public equity market capped a year of historic
change. And yet, at that moment on the NYSE balcony,
for us and for our employees around the world, it was
crystal clear—our work was just beginning.
A STRONG FOUNDATION
GM made important operational and financial progress
in 2010, and set a strong foundation to build upon for
the future.
GM, with its joint venture partners, maintained its leading
market position in the key growth markets of Brazil, Russia,