Case Details

General Motors and the Electric Car Revolution: Boom or Bust?

Main Category : Strategy

Sub Category : General Management, Disruption

Case Description
By February 2019, General Motors Company (GM) had evolved into one of the three dominant North American automobile manufacturers, selling over 10 million vehicles annually. However, GM's global market share had been declining over the previous 10-15 years due to intense competition in the small and mid-sized car segment from new entrants with a cost structure unlike global competitors and a product marketing strategy more focused on price than quality products. This development forced GM to rely heavily on sales of its pickup trucks and sport utility vehicles to increase gross margins that had been consistently below industry averages.

At this point, the industry was also shifting toward a new automotive platform and related business model dominated by autonomous and electric vehicles. GM had to find a way to transform its current business and profit model to meet the needs and trends of an emerging electric and autonomous vehicle industry.

Learning Outcomes
1. Analyze GM's business model relative to the newly evolving business model associated with the electric car industry
2. Understand what a disruptive business model is, and discuss whether the mass adoption of electric autonomous vehicles would disrupt the auto industry through the fundamental change to the industry's profit model
3. Discuss how incumbents like GM can change their business model in recation to disruptive ones.
4. Discuss the difficult qustion of what GM should do to survive the changes in the industry.

Duration : Up to 120 Mins

Min Participants : 10
Max Participants : 24

Keywords : Ivey, GM, Disruption, Autonomous Vehicles