General Motors Corporation (Canada)

An Overview

This paper reviews the global environmental performance of General Motors Corporation (GM), as publicly reported. GM has a global presence in automotive manufacturing and other non-automotive business interests. GM’s products and facilities play a contributing role in the ecological footprint due to its global market presence.

GM’s environmental reporting is based on the CERES (Coalition for Environmentally Responsible Economies) principles. CERES is a coalition of environmental, investor and advocacy groups, which have a mutual interest in a sustainable future. Environmental performance elements reviewed are public accountability, plant performance, product performance and stakeholder relationships.

GM’s global performance can be summarized as being above expectations in the areas of public accountability, plant performance, and stakeholder relationships. Alternatively, GM is considered to be below expectations with its product's average fuel economy performance in North America. While the model-by-model performance has improved, the overall fleet has not improved since 1994 due to a market shift from passenger cars to less fuel-efficient SUV’s and personal use trucks. Unlike competitors Toyota and Honda, GM does not have a small fuel-efficient hybrid passenger car. These hybrid products provide the ability to improve the average fuel economy rating for a manufacturer.