General Motors 2012 Annual Report Download - page 12

General Motors Company 2012 ANNUAL REPORT 9
11
2013 J.D. Power Vehicle
Dependability Study
GM
MODELS
RANKED TOP 3 IN THEIR SEGMENT
Our market discipline sets us up very well for an
aggressive wave of new product launches. During
the course of 2012 and 2013, 70 percent of our U.S.
nameplates will be redesigned or all new, including:
• A stunning new Chevrolet Corvette Stingray,
which was voted “Best in Show” at the 2013
North American International Auto Show in
Detroit by the editors of AutoWeek magazine.
• The Cadillac ATS luxury sedan, which was
named 2013 North American Car of the Year by
a distinguished panel of journalists – the first
time a Cadillac has won.
• The new Buick Verano and Encore, which are
entering new segments for GM, will continue the
revitalization of the brand. Buick has now delivered
three consecutive years of higher retail sales.
Our most important launch in 2013 will be our
completely redesigned Chevrolet Silverado and GMC
Sierra full-size pickups, which are cornerstones of our
sales, market share and profitability in North America.
Every element of these vehicles has been improved,
including durability, capability, fuel economy and
refinement. Both competitive-make drivers and our
13-million strong owner base will find our new trucks
very appealing.
With so many new products in our portfolio, we
expect a modest increase in U.S. market share in
2013, and an even brighter future. By 2014, we expect
to have one of the newest showrooms in the industry.
New products and plant investments are also driving
our business in South America. In 2012, GM South
America earned EBIT-adjusted of $271 million, an
almost $400 million improvement over 2011.
The long list of projects we have planned includes
a $450 million investment in our Rosario plant in
Argentina. In Brazil, they include a new engine plant
in Joinville, the expansion of our Gravatai assembly
plant, extensive upgrades to our Sao Cetano do Sul
plant and much more.
All of this work has been done to prepare for an
unprecedented wave of new Chevrolets, including
the new Cobalt, Cruze, S10, Sonic, Spin, Trailblazer
and the all-new Onix.
The Chevrolet Onix is an exemplar. It was envisioned
as a car for the growing middle class in emerging
markets, and early feedback from our dealers and
media suggests we have struck exactly the right
balance of affordability, functionality and design.
The Brazilian Automotive Media Association named
the Onix its “Car of the Year,” and it could account for
as much as 25 percent of Chevrolet sales in Brazil.
Chevrolet’s success in growth markets, including
Russia, where the brand has been the best-selling
non-domestic nameplate for six consecutive years,
helped lead to record global sales
in 2011 and 2012, and a striking
shift in the brand’s footprint. Ten
years ago, more than 70 percent
of Chevrolets were sold INSIDE
the United States.
Today, more than 60 percent of
Chevrolets are sold OUTSIDE the
United States and it now is the
world’s fastest-growing major
automotive brand.
BUILDING THE
MOST ROBUST
BUSINESS MODEL
Today’s GM leadership team
is attacking issues that once
seemed intractable, including
our pension obligations and
European losses. We have also
re-established GM as a leader
in automotive design and
technology with vehicles such as
the Chevrolet Volt, Opel Mokka,
Cadillac ATS and ELR, and more.
But we have more work to do to
further improve our results and
build the most robust business
model possible.
In last year’s letter, I described how our product
development team is working to reduce complexity
and better leverage our scale by reducing the number
of vehicle and powertrain architectures that underpin
our products.
MORE T H AN 60%
of Chevrolets are sold
outside the United States