GM after 70 years of being no.1: bowing down to Toyota?

By: Noah Scott

Toyota Motors have been very open about their plan of grabbing
the number one spot from General Motors this year. And sadly,
with the present turn of events for General Motors it is not
impossible for it to lose its post to Toyota.

According to analysts for this year, Toyota Motors will succeed
in overtaking General Motors and will become the new largest
carmaker in the world. Looking back in the year 1931 when GM
became the world's numero uno, threats of toppling it down seems
to be impossibility.

General Motors has been the world's number one automaker for the
past 70 years and if ever Toyota really do surpass GM that would
have an intense psychological effect on the entirety of the US
industry which is sadly to say the last manufacturing sector
where Americans still lead.

One of the reasons cited for General Motors sudden plunged is
its failure to adapt its production methods to meet the changing
consumer tastes. General Motors have failed to realize that it
would not always have the same edge that it has like in the year
1955 when four out of five cars in the world were US made and
half of them were products of GM. This probably was one of the
reasons why GM is in its dismal state right now since it has
become too confident of its standing in the auto industry and
failed to see the imminent danger that would challenge its
position.

The edge of Toyota over General Motors is the fact that the
Japanese automaker was concentrating on changing its production
system to become more efficient and leaner. The complacency on
the part of GM was countered by Toyota with relentless pursuit
for excellence which resulted to the changing fortunes of the
two companies. Although, it is wrong also to construe that GM
products are deteriorating in quality but the main point is that
the automaker has been very lax lately which has given the
Japanese automaker the chance to grab most its market share.

Until the time comes that Toyota be officially proclaimed as the
new number 1 automaker in the world, General Motors will
continue to lead as the world's largest carmaker in terms of
vehicles produced and auto parts manufactured and that includes
products like GM grille guards. The only question now
is for how long?

About the author:
Noah Scott is a 30 year old native of New Jersey, writer, and
car fan - having grown up with both parents being auto
enthusiasts. He works for an automotive consultancy firm and
regularly contributes articles to car magazines.