GM's downward spiral: A timeline

The Detroit automaker's whopping $15.5 billion quarterly loss Friday wasn't a record, but it's the latest chapter in a steady slide that began more than 20 years ago.

1984

In the face of faster-to-market competitors gaining momentum, Chairman Roger Smith creates three centralized organizations - Buick-Oldsmobile-Cadillac, Chevrolet-Pontiac-Canada, and Truck & Bus - to manage large cars, small cars and light trucks, respectively. The two car organizations end up with responsibility for cars of all sizes, but they share almost no processes, and the new separate entities require huge increases in personnel. Quality suffers, and GM's market share drops to 37% in 1987 from 43% in 1985. By May 2008 it will slip to 19%.
NEXT: Midsized misfires