An Evaluation of General Motors Domestic Brand Positioning Strategy During the 1980's

Author

Thomas F. O'Brien, Fontbonne College

Year of Award

1994

Degree

Master of Business Administration (MBA)

College

College of Business & Professional Studies

Degree Program

Business Administration

Department

Business Administration

Keywords

automobile, car, marketing, consumers, manufacturing

Abstract

The automotive market place is a complex and a global industry with some of the worlds largest companies competing for market share and profits. The automotive market place within the United States experienced drastic alterations during the 1980s. The alterations greatly effected the General Motors Corporation, in particular, during this time period. The General Motors Corporation for a number of years was one of the largest companies worldwide in terms of the company's stock market valuation as compared to other companies. The company was ranked as the fourth largest company in 1972, the fifth largest in 1982, and the company was not among the first twenty companies in stock market valuation in 1992. The market share percentages of all General Motors automobiles registered in the United States also experienced a decline and parallels the stock market valuation decline for the same time period. The company primarily failed to address or develop a strategy to effectively market the automotive divisions products to a wide range of potential consumers. The identity of the individual brands experienced a sense of lack of clarity as each particular automotive division attempted to capture the other divisions potential customer base. The marketing errors were further compounded by General Motors due to the fact that the company was manufacturing extremely similar automobiles for all of the divisions to attempt to sell and market.

Document Type

Restricted Thesis

Recommended Citation

O'Brien, Thomas F., "An Evaluation of General Motors Domestic Brand Positioning Strategy During the 1980's" (1994). All Theses, Dissertations, and Capstone Projects. 227.
https://griffinshare.fontbonne.edu/all-etds/227