Title: The balance between product diversification and component commonisation at General Motors

Authors: Michiru Uyama

Addresses: College of Commerce, Nihon University, 5-2-1 Kinuta, Setagaya-ku, Tokyo 157-8570, Japan

Abstract: This study explores General Motors' (GM) product diversification and component commonisation from the 1997 to 2020 model years, focusing on their balance. We define product diversity as specification count, component commonality as specifications per platform, product change frequency as minor changes, and component continuity as platform application years. GM pursued diversification and commonisation, notably in the large sport utility vehicle (SUV)-pickup truck (PU) segment. This aligns with prior research highlighting the dual emphasis on differentiation and cost leadership. To offer diverse products from a single platform, GM established a wide margin for the large SUV-PU platform. However, its platform application years are not longer than those of other platforms, suggesting that GM's modularisation inadequately adapted to temporal changes. Furthermore, stagnant overall sales in the late 2010s drove the significant commonisation of the large SUV-PU platform, reflecting a resource-based enhancement to promote it.

Keywords: product diversification; component commonisation; General Motors; GM; vehicle platform margin; number of specifications; large SUV-PU; dwarf monocoque vehicles; ladder-frame vehicles; model change.

DOI: 10.1504/IJATM.2025.152346

International Journal of Automotive Technology and Management, 2025 Vol.25 No.4, pp.399 - 423

Received: 04 Jun 2025
Accepted: 23 Oct 2025
Published online: 16 Mar 2026 *

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