How could one company – General Motors – meet disaster on one continent and achieve explosive growth on another at the very same time? While General Motors was hurtling towards bankruptcy in 2009, GM’s subsidiary in China was setting new sales and profit records. This book reveals how extraordinary people, remarkable decisions and surprising breaks made triumph in China possible for General Motors. It also shows just how vulnerable that winning track record remains. No small part of GM’s success in China springs from its management of shifting business and political relationships. In China, the government makes the rules for – and competes in – the auto industry. GM’s business partner, the City of Shanghai, is both an ally and a competitor. How does such an unnatural relationship work on a day-to-day basis? Where will it go on the future? General Motors also engages in constant battles with other global and Chinese car makers for the hearts of demanding Chinese consumers. Dunne gives us rare glimpses into the mindsets and behavior of this new moneyed set, the worlds newest class of wealthy consumers. China is already the number one car market in the world. During the next ten years, China will export millions of cars and trucks globally, including to the United States. American Wheels, Chinese Roads gives readers fascinating illustrations of what to expect when Chinese cars, companies, and business people arrive on our shores.
Book Details:
- Author: Michael J. Dunne
- ISBN: 9780470828618
- Year Published: 2011
- Pages: 227
- BISAC: BUS041000, BUSINESS & ECONOMICS/Management
About the Book and Topic:
How could one company – General Motors – meet disaster on one continent and achieve explosive growth on another at the very same time? While General Motors was hurtling towards bankruptcy in 2009, GM’s subsidiary in China was setting new sales and profit records. This book reveals how extraordinary people, remarkable decisions and surprising breaks made triumph in China possible for General Motors. It also shows just how vulnerable that winning track record remains. No small part of GM’s success in China springs from its management of shifting business and political relationships. In China, the government makes the rules for – and competes in – the auto industry. GM’s business partner, the City of Shanghai, is both an ally and a competitor. How does such an unnatural relationship work on a day-to-day basis? Where will it go on the future? General Motors also engages in constant battles with other global and Chinese car makers for the hearts of demanding Chinese consumers. Dunne gives us rare glimpses into the mindsets and behavior of this new moneyed set, the worlds newest class of wealthy consumers. China is already the number one car market in the world. During the next ten years, China will export millions of cars and trucks globally, including to the United States. American Wheels, Chinese Roads gives readers fascinating illustrations of what to expect when Chinese cars, companies, and business people arrive on our shores.
While GM has been on its knees in America, the company is soaring very high in China. This is the inside story of how GM built a winning team in China. The vital ingredients are a new competitive culture, a strong Chinese partner and a willingness — even a determination — to do thing differently than how things were done in GM in Detroit. But it has not always been a smooth ride.
Huge and increasing importance of Chinas car market: Chinas car market is now the biggest in the world. Important/iconic US company: GM is an iconic American company. The story of how China has become so import to China tells us not only about GM but about the modern business world. Unparalleled insight into Chinas car industry: Dunne is an expert in this field with few equals.
About the Author
Michael J. Dunne is president of Dunne & Company Ltd., a Hong Kong-based investment advisory firm specializing in Asia’s car markets. Three weeks after earning an MBA from the University of Michigan in the summer of 1990, Michael boarded a flight to Asia. He soon founded Automotive Resources Asia (ARA), a car consultancy. ARA expanded operations in China and Southeast Asia over the next decade and, in 2006, was acquired by J.D. Power and Associates. Michaels opinions have been published in the Wall Street Journal and he was featured in an acclaimed National Geographic documentary on China’s car culture. A native of Detroit, Michael speaks Chinese and Thai. He worked in Beijing and Shanghai during the 1990s and 2000s and currently divides his time between China and Jakarta, Indonesia where he lives with his wife, Merlien and their three children.