Essay Archive - General Motors - Financial Ratio Analysis
General Motors - Financial Ratio Analysis
I. General Motors History Highlights
In its early years the automobile industry consisted of hundreds of firms, each
producing a few models. William Durant, who bought and reorganized a failing
Buick Motors in 1904, determined that if several automobile makers would unite,
it would increase the protection for the group. He formed the General Motors
Company in Flint, Michigan, in 1908.
Durant had bought 17 companies (including Oldsmobile, Cadillac, and Pontiac) by
1910, the year a bankers' syndicate forced him to step down. In a 1915 stock
swap, he regained control throu....
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