Steady growth overseas was unable to rescue General Motors, once the biggest corporation in the world, from spiraling losses in the United States when the credit crunch hit in 2008.
It emerged from a government-financed bankruptcy in July 2009 as a leaner and more focused company after shedding brands, dealers, workers and plants.
With costs down and better cars in its showrooms it was soon back in the black and launched plans for an initial public stock offering on Wednesday.
GM did not disclose the number of shares that will be offered or the price range in the IPO filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, but the market expects it to raise between $12 and $16 billion.
An IPO will allow the US Treasury to begin offloading the 61 per cent stake it holds in GM after last year’s $50 billion bailout of the car maker.
Founded in 1908, GM sold more vehicles than any other automaker from 1931 until 2008, when it was overtaken by Japan’s Toyota.
The largest of the Detroit Three automakers, GM saw its US market share fall from a peak of 54 per cent in 1954 to just 19.6 per cent in 2009.
Nonetheless it sold a whopping 7.5 million vehicles in 2009 despite a collapse in global auto sales amid a credit crunch and widening economic downturn and uncertainty over its future.
Global sales were up 17 per cent to 3.5 million vehicles in the first half of 2010, even as market share slipped 0.3 points to 11.4 per cent. More importantly, GM posted a $2.6 billion profit for the period.
GM’s decline wiped out tens of billions of dollars in market capitalisation and bondholders swapped $27 billion in debt for a 10 per cent stake in the new company.
The US government got a 61 per cent stake in exchange for a $50 billion bailout and Canadian governments got a 12 per cent stake for $9.5 billion in aid.
A retiree health care trust will receive a 17.5 per cent stake in the new GM and $6.5 billion dollars in preferred stock in exchange for forgiving much of a $20 billion obligation. GM’s workforce has taken huge hits over the years.
Global employment levels reached more than 850,000 in 1978, of which more than 600,000 were in the United States, making GM the nation’s largest private employer.
By 2005 it had already shrunk to 335,000 people and a steady stream of mass lay-offs brought it down to 208,000 worldwide as of June 30.
GM’s unionised workforce has taken the most dramatic hit. GM employed 440,000 hourly workers in the United States in 1981.
By 2000, that had dropped to 133,000 and the automaker currently employs just 53,000 blue collar workers in the United States.
Once studied in business schools for the success of its brands, which operated as separate divisions aimed to satisfy different segments of the market, GM shed several iconic marks, including Sweden’s Saab, Hummer, Pontiac and Saturn.