GM’s new chairman Edward E. Whitacre Jr said that one of his major goals is to make certain that the No.1 US car company stays N0.1. GM will find it very hard to measure up.

In an exclusive  interview with The Wall Street Journal, Whitacre said being No.1 is “the position we should strive for… (as) an American company that employs hundreds of thousands of people…We just want to be No. 1.”

And, if wishes were horse, all the beggars would ride. GM is losing ground to the competition at an alarming rate. In July it sold 187,582 vehicles, down 20% from the same period a year ago. Toyota (TM) sold 174,872, down 11% and Ford (F) sold 158,354 up 2%. The spread between the top three manufacturers has become remarkably small.

GM has several hurdles to clear to keep its top spot. The first is that it will almost certainly lose share as it phases out or sells its Pontiac, Saturn, and Hummer brands. The number of nameplates that the company will offer will fall well below Toyota.

GM has also lost ground in product development due to the company’s tremendous restructuring, layoffs, and bankruptcy. Ford now has the youngest fleet among the American car firms and it means to press that advantage by launching even more new vehicles over the next year.

It is entirely possible that GM could fall into the No.3 spot in domestic cars sales as early as 2010, and Whitacre will end up looking foolish.

Douglas A. McIntyre

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