7 Companies Who Destroyed Their Competitors


GM vs. Toyota

General Motors aka GM has actually experienced two major hurdles in the race to become the top automaker in the world. GM had been the dominant leader in U.S., since 1930s, and was dominant in the global market as well, for almost of the latter half of the 20th century. But it started to lose its grip from the top most position, because of the global recession. Toyota officially became the world’s topmost automaker by the end of 2008, beating out GM. GM’s global market share continued to decline globally as well as in U.S.

Due to limited sales and financial troubles from the recession, the manufacturer (GM) filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in June 2009. Within two years it regained its top position. GM made profit very quickly as its new IPO was successful. With Japan earthquake hitting its rival Toyota hard, GM again became the world’s largest automaker in August 2009. In the first half of 2011, GM sold 4.5 million units whereas Its Japanese rival, Toyota sold only 3.7 million.