It's not easy being the biggest. The Yankees, with their deep pockets and plethora of championships, are probably the most loved and hated team in baseball, and perhaps in all of sports. And though the Patriots win with a team attitude and small egos, I know that people are getting a bit tired of their story. Plus, every team that goes against the champion brings its best effort to try to beat the best. What? This isn't a sports column? Sorry. Anyway, my point is that when you're on top, everybody's gunning for your position. General Motors
GM reported its February sales results yesterday and, well, they weren't good, falling 12% from last year. Sales were abysmal across the board, as truck sales fell 8.5% to 179,390, while car sales dropped 17% to 129,985.
Every GM brand reported a decrease in sales compared with last year. Oh, sorry. Under "Other-Isuzu," which consists of commercial Isuzu vehicles distributed by GM, I see a gain of 2.3%. Somehow, however, I don't think those 961 vehicles had much of an impact on the overall results.
Just likeFord
The move I really like, though, was its shuffling of executives on its engineering and design team. GM hopes the moves will improve sales by getting new and appealing designs created and putting them in showrooms faster. Hopefully, the moves will provide the desired results, but if nothing else, it's an admission that things need to change, and this shows a willingness to do so.
Expect some continued rough roads for now, but GM isn't giving up its top spot without a fight. The company has reported success with its new designs, including the Pontiac G6 and Chevy Equinox, among others. GM plans to introduce 17 products this year, so it should see some improvements. It's good to see that GM may finally be realizing that to stay on top, it needs to be flexible and aggressive. However, I'd rather wait and see how the latest moves look to play out before jumping in.
Fool contributor Mike Cianciolo welcomes feedback and doesn't own any of the companies in this article.