Review

"At a time when GM and the domestic auto industry are in acute crisis, this book makes sense of what has happened--and what should happen next. Bill Holstein is an extremely knowledgeable and perceptive journalist, and his book is a must-read for anyone who cares about the future of the American auto industry." - Alex Taylor, Fortune magazine

Product Description

In November, GM CEO Rick Wagoner appeared before Congress to ask for $25 billion to bail out the struggling Big Three automakers. To critics like Thomas Freidman and Mitt Romney, it was a sign that the American auto industry should be led out to pasture; if the Japanese are better at making cars, they said, then we should let them do it. To defenders, the loss of the country's largest manufacturing sector would be an incomprehensible disaster. Nearly every day, the debate rages on the op-ed pages. Billions of dollars and millions of jobs hang in the balance.

In Why GM Matters, William Holstein goes deep inside GM to show what's really happening at the country's most iconic corporation. Where critics say that GM has sat on its hands while the market changed, Holstein demonstrates that GM has already radically retooled its entire operation, from manufacturing and cost structure to design. Where pundits say we'd be better off without GM, he shows how inextricably linked GM and the nation's economy still are: The country's largest private buyer of IT, the world's largest buyer of steel, the holder of pensions for 780,000 Americans, GM accounts for a full 1 percent of our country's GDP. A dollar spent on GM has profoundly different consequences from a dollar spent on Toyota.

Following a diverse cast of characters--from Rick Wagoner, the controversial CEO, to design director Bob Boniface, to Linda Flowers, a team leader on the line in Kansas City--Holstein examines the state of GM's health and builds a persuasive argument that GM is essential to our nation's well-being and, with the right economic climate, ready to compete with Toyota as one of the biggest global automakers.

這是一本值得認真研讀的書。

不僅是汽車行業企業傢，所有誌存高遠的企業傢，乃至經濟學傢、管理學傢、社會學傢、政治傢……以及其他有識之士都值得認真讀這本書。

通用汽車公司，美國一傢聞名全球的百年汽車巨頭。1953年它的總裁查爾斯?威爾遜曾在美國國會發齣著名的豪言壯語：“在過去的幾十年裏，通用汽車公司已經成為美國商業的核心支柱，公司的經營狀況可以影響整個美國的經濟形勢……我一直認為那些對國傢有利的事情必然對通用有利，反之亦然。”

美國一直自詡為坐在四個輪子上的國傢，1962年通用汽車在美國市場占有率曾高達50.7%。美國與通用可謂二二而一。從全球講，直到2008年被豐田超越之前，過去75年通用公司一直是全球最大的汽車生産商。然而，這個龐然大物在2009年6月1日上午8時正式宣布申請破産保護，成為美國製造業史上最大的一宗破産保護案，震動瞭美國，也震撼瞭全世界。人們不能不驚訝地問：誰搞垮瞭通用！威廉?荷斯坦對通用汽車公司進行瞭近10年的調查研究，訪談瞭近百位從總裁到工人的通用人，寫瞭這本著作：《誰搞垮瞭通用》！

《誰搞垮瞭通用》引導我更多地去閱讀一些關於通用汽車公司曆史的和當前狀況的文獻。我越讀越深深地感到，通用汽車公司的破産，其意義已遠遠超越通用公司乃至企業界本身，我們必須從人類社會發展的視野和深度來理解和探究這一難得的案例。

通用汽車公司是怎麼垮的？直接的原因當然是虧損巨大。2005年通用纍計虧損額高達865億美元，而2007年財報顯示，該公司虧損額達387億美元，創下公司成立100年來最大年度虧損額。此後虧損也沒有得到明顯改善，以至2009年4月23日首席財務官宣布，6月1日到期的10億美元債務將無法償還。與此同時，通用汽車在金融和資本市場的信用直綫下降，2001年4月，通用汽車每股股價仍是94.63美元，而到2009年5月29日股價創曆史最低，收報僅75美分，申請破産保護已是唯一的選擇瞭。

那麼，為何如此虧損？答案是通用汽車市場銷售額銳減，市場占有率越來越低。

這樣顯赫的名牌汽車為什麼賣不齣去？答案是産品質量差（油耗高、故障多）而價格高，喪失瞭與日本豐田以及其他汽車公司的市場競爭力。

難道通用汽車技術差？通用汽車一直擁有（至今仍是如此）世界一流的技術。在破産前十年中，總裁們一直在努力開發“世界第一”的新産品，而且事實上他們也達成瞭目標。例如研發瞭舉世無雙的GMS生産體係、Onstar車載係統等先進技術，開發瞭新Camaro和配有電動推進係統的雪弗蘭Volt等具有先進競爭力的車型……為什麼通用汽車不能賣得更便宜些？因為生産成本高。於是，幾個原因很自然地浮現水麵瞭：積重難返的落後管理方式，領導對市場判斷的遲鈍和失誤，缺乏管理創新和技術創新，生産效率低下以及勞資關係緊張等等。 In November, GM CEO Rick Wagoner appeared before Congress to ask for $25 billion to bail out the struggling Big Three automakers. To critics like Thomas Freidman and Mitt Romney, it was a sign that the American auto industry should be led out to pasture; if the Japanese are better at making cars, they said, then we should let them do it. To defenders, the loss of the country's largest manufacturing sector would be an incomprehensible disaster. Nearly every day, the debate rages on the op-ed pages. Billions of dollars and millions of jobs hang in the balance. In Why GM Matters, William Holstein goes deep inside GM to show what's really happening at the country's most iconic corporation. Where critics say that GM has sat on its hands while the market changed, Holstein demonstrates that GM has already radically retooled its entire operation, from manufacturing and cost structure to design. Where pundits say we'd be better off without GM, he shows how inextricably linked GM and the nation's economy still are: The country's largest private buyer of IT, the world's largest buyer of steel, the holder of pensions for 780,000 Americans, GM accounts for a full 1 percent of our country's GDP. A dollar spent on GM has profoundly different consequences from a dollar spent on Toyota. Following a diverse cast of characters--from Rick Wagoner, the controversial CEO, to design director Bob Boniface, to Linda Flowers, a team leader on the line in Kansas City--Holstein examines the state of GM's health and builds a persuasive argument that GM is essential to our nation's well-being and, with the right economic climate, ready to compete with Toyota as one of the biggest global automakers.