General motors is a multinational company that is constantly enhancing its world presence. While the USA is the largest GM market, its products are also extensively marketed in the United Kingdom, Canada, China and Russia. In 2013, China and the United Kingdom demonstrated the year-by-year sales increase of 11%. China makes up 14.3% of the GM market share, as compared to 9.1% of Russia (General Motors, n.p.). In recent years, the company has focused on emerging markets, such as Brazil and India. In 2013, the market share of Brazil amounted to 17.3%. For India, it was 2.7%; however, it has been estimated that India can become the third largest market of General Motors by 2018, given its rates of car ownership growth and overall economic development (GuruFocus, n.p.). The company is also presented in Australia, Oceania and Africa. Over the last decade, one of the fastest-growing markets of General Motors has been the Middle East where sales grew sixfold from 1999 to 2008 (Pfanner, n.p.).

While rapidly expanding its world presence, General Motors applies the diversification strategy to enable its customers choose from a wide range of brands, rather than to rely on one or few brands, which is a strategy used by many other auto manufacturers. The company markets Chevrolets primarily to entry-level buyers in Central and Eastern Europe, while its Opels and Vauxhalls are targeted on middle-income buyers in Western Europe and Asia. The company also has a lot to offer to high-income customers. Thus, its Hummers are popular with wealthy customers throughout the world, Cadillacs appeal to well-off Russians and GMC trucks are particularly well-marketed in the Middle East (Pfanner, n.p.). Despite this broad range of products, the company’s profit is mostly generated with Cadillac and Chevrolet so the company is planning to further develop these “global brands”.

Another strategy that General Motors applies to win its customers in diverse cultural contexts is customization of the products to suit their needs. The company has had a huge success with Chinese customers remaining the sales leader in auto industry in this country for the sixth consecutive year. This striking success can be explained with the adaptive strategy that the company applies in China, as all the models are tailored specifically to suit the Chinese customers. Particularly, Buicks that were sold in China in the 1990s were designed with roomy seating space to appeal to car owners that used to sit in the second row rather than drive the cars on their own (Miller, n.p.). Also, General Motors cooperated with partners to design China-relevant electric cars as fuel efficiency is one of the major concerns for Chinese customers. At present, the company continues to heavily invest in Chinese manufacturing and dealership as it expects further growth of the Chinese middle class.

In 2013, the company launched Cadillac in thes market and plans to add one new model every year (General Motors, n.p.). In India, the company tapped the market with a wide range of compact cars that are the favorites of local consumers. At present, the company is going to restructure its operations in India and to launch 40 new models in India and other emerging markets to benefit from their expected growth (GuruFocus, n.p.). The company is putting stakes on Chevrolet and plans to expand the range of its models in India in the nearest future.

General Motors is rapidly expanding its world presence, with its main target being emerging economies. The major strategy that helped the company to gain global success is diversification of its products in terms of size, design and affordability. Also, in each market, the company makes relevant alterations in the design and accounts for the cultural values and tastes of the consumers.