General Motors Company, or GM, as it is called, is one of the top automotive manufacturers in the world. The company was founded in 1908 in Detroit city, by William C. Durant.
Today GM operates in 37 countries and its core brand of vehicles includes the Cadillac, Buick, GMC, and Chevrolet. The company also has a stake in many foreign automotive brands.
General Motor Company’s success has spanned two world wars, the great depression, and many other world-changing events. The key to their success can be seen from their mission and vision statements which makes them worth dissecting.
General Motors Mission Statement and Analysis
General Motors’s mission statement is: “To earn customers for life by building brands that inspire passion and loyalty through not only breakthrough technologies but also by serving and improving the communities in which we live and work around the world.”
The first half of General Motors’ mission statement clearly shows that the company is passionate about building and selling cars. Interestingly nowhere in the mission statement do they refer to the term vehicle or cars. That’s interesting because GM is known as a vehicle manufacturer but there is a reason why there is no mention of their core business.
The meat of the mission statement is “To earn customers for life by building brands that inspire passion and loyalty through not only breakthrough technologies but also by serving and improving the communities.” It is evident that General Motors is focused on building brands that inspire people, and that in turn means that those people are loyal, which does not necessarily mean focusing on technology. But the goal is to contribute to society via their business, which is mainly taken care of via the General Motors Foundation.
Remember we pointed out that the mission statement does not mention vehicles, and that’s because GM’s mission isn’t to build vehicles but brands and communities. So, in a way, regardless of what form the company takes on in the coming years, their focus will remain true to its mission statement.
General Motors Vision Statement
General Motors’s vision statement is: “To create a future of zero crashes, zero emissions, and zero congestion, and we have committed ourselves to leading the way toward this future.”
GM’s vision statement, unlike its mission statement, alludes to it being a vehicle manufacturer that takes responsibility for building a safer, better future. “…zero crashes, zero emissions, and zero congestion” to us, it feels as though the company is alluding to its ongoing R&D to build better and safer vehicles. However, the company is investing heavily in green technology, which has next to no emissions.
GM is also working with numerous partners on self-driving cars, which should theoretically reduce congestion. However, by having this vision statement, the company clearly sees itself as the car manufacturer of the future.
General Motors Core Values
General Motors’s core values are: “Innovation, responsibility, teamwork, and continuous improvement.”
General Motors has some of the strongest core values. However, the most impressive of which is “continuous improvement.” It is rare for a company the size of General Motors to have this as its core values, but doing so ensures that the company will continue to be competitive by continually working on improving upon each model or brand.
Teamwork and Innovation are what drives any business. General Motors has an excellent working culture that fosters innovation and encourages teamwork, which stays true to the company’s core values. It also ensures that the company can continue to rank amongst the top 10 in the automotive industry.
