General Motors Corporation 2006 Annual Report From turnaround to transformation Contents 3 Letter to Stockholders 44 Management’s Discussion and Analysis 76 Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements 4 Financial Highlights 67 Disclosure Controls and Procedures 125 Selected Financial Data 10 Design Transformation 68 Management’s Report on Internal Control 126 Board of Directors and Committees 22 Global Transformation over Financial Reporting 128 Senior Leadership Group 28 Technology Transformation 70 Report of Independent Registered Inside Back Cover 36 People Transformation Public Accounting Firm General Information 42 At a Glance 72 Consolidated Financial Statements Front cover: 2007 Opel Astra TwinTop There’s a major turnaround under way at GM. We made broad and signifi cant progress in 2006. We accomplished more than people expected, and in many cases, we even surpassed our goals, on or ahead of schedule. We’re not fi nished. There’s much more to do. But our growing confi dence and excitement is rooted in the fact that we’re not just fi xing problems. We’re transforming GM for fundamental, sustainable, long-term success. General Motors Corporation 1 A full-scale production clay model of the 2009 Chevrolet Camaro starts to take shape at GM’s Warren, Michigan, Design Center, Rear Wheel Drive Performance Studio. Bob Lutz Rick Wagoner Fritz Henderson Vice Chairman, Chairman and Vice Chairman and Global Product Development Chief Executive Offi cer Chief Financial Offi cer 2 General Motors Corporation Dear Stockholders: Our company is in a crucial period in its nearly 100-year history. goals of steady growth, solid profi tability and positive cash I’m pleased to report that, in 2006, the entire GM team rose up generation. And yet, we improved further and faster in 2006 to meet the collective challenges we face, and we stand today than many people thought possible. in a much better position than we did 12 months ago. Our focus We fi rmly believe that GM is headed in the right direction, now is to accelerate our momentum and truly transform our with growing momentum – and that raises a critical point. company for a second century of success. Returning GM to profi tability is obviously very important, and we’re working intently to achieve that goal. But our objective Consider the progress we made in 2006: is not just to change GM’s bottom line from red to black. Our • Excluding special items, adjusted net income improved fundamental goal is to transform General Motors for the long by $5.4 billion to a profi t of $2.2 billion, or $3.88 per share haul, to structure it for sustained profi tability and growth, fully diluted, on record revenue of $207 billion. Including to set us up to be successful for years to come in the ever- restructuring and other charges, GM had a net loss in more-global auto business. 2006 of $2 billion, which was an $8.4 billion improvement To achieve this goal, we have a very straightforward versus 2005. strategy: great cars and trucks that build strong brands, • GM’s automotive business posted consistently improved supported by industry-leading technology. Students of GM results, including record global revenue, in all four quarters. and the industry know this is not a new strategy. It’s the one Excluding special items, net income from automotive that made GM number one more than 75 years ago; now, it’s operations improved by more than $5.7 billion, totaling re-making GM all over again, all over the world. $422 million on an adjusted basis (reported net loss of $3.2 billion, an improvement of $6.9 billion). North American Turnaround • GM North America posted a $5-billion earnings improve- In 2006, we aggressively implemented the turnaround plan for ment in 2006, with an adjusted net loss of $779 million North America that we began in 2005. (reported net loss of $4.6 billion). In the fourth quarter of We cut $9 billion in structural costs on a running rate basis 2006, GMNA recorded its fourth consecutive quarter of by the end of 2006 – $2 billion above the target I discussed in more than $1 billion improvement in adjusted earnings. my letter to you last year, and $4 billion above our initial target. • And GM’s share price made a signifi cant recovery, leading We realized $6.8 billion of these savings in our 2006 fi nancials, the Dow Jones Industrial Average with a 60 percent and plan to realize the full $9 billion in 2007. increase in value for 2006. Major actions included reducing our salaried and hourly Does this mean GM’s turnaround is complete? Not at all. workforce, revising U.S. salaried and hourly retiree health care Rest assured, nobody at GM is declaring victory. We all benefi ts, restructuring our U.S. salaried employee pension plan, know there’s a lot more work to do to achieve our business decreasing our executive and board of directors’ compensation, General Motors Corporation 3 Financial Highlights (Dollars in millions, except per share amounts) Years ended December 31, 2006 2005 2004 (As restated) (As restated) Total net sales and revenues $207,349 $194,655 $195,351 Worldwide production (units in thousands) 9,181 9,051 9,098 Income (loss) before cumulative effect of a change in accounting principle $÷«(1,978) $«(10,308) $÷÷2,701 Cumulative effect of a change in accounting principle – (109) – Net income (loss) $÷«(1,978) $«(10,417) $÷÷2,701 Net profi t margin before cumulative effect of a change in accounting principle (1.0) % (5.3) % 1.4% Income adjusted to exclude special items(1) Income (loss) $÷««2,199 $÷«(3,205) $÷÷3,526 Diluted earnings (loss) per share $÷÷÷3.88 $÷÷«(5.67) $÷÷÷6.22 Diluted earnings (loss) per share Before cumulative effect of a change in accounting principle $÷«÷(3.50) $÷«(18.23) $÷÷÷4.76 Net income $÷÷«(3.50) $÷«(18.42) $÷÷÷4.76 Book value per share of common stock $÷«÷(9.62) $÷«(25.91) $÷««49.34 Number of common shares outstanding as of December 31 (in millions) 566 566 565 (1) A reconciliation of adjusted amounts in these Financial Highlights and in the Chairman’s Letter to Stockholders to amounts determined in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States may be found at www.gm.com/company/investor_information/, Earnings Releases, Financial Highlights. Net Sales and Revenues Income (Loss)* Net Profi t Margin* Earnings (Loss) per Share* billions billions percent dollars (1.0)% 1.4% (5.3)% $(18.23) $(3.50) $4.76 $207.3 $194.7 $195.4 $(10.3) $2.7 $(2.0) 06 05 04 06 05 04 06 05 04 06 05 04 4 General Motors Corporation * Before cumulative effect of a change in accounting principle and aggressively pursuing structural-cost reductions throughout GM is well positioned to take full advantage of this global the company. growth. Overall, we sold more than 9 million cars and trucks On the revenue side of our plan, we fundamentally in 2006 for the second year in a row, and only the third time in changed the way we market and sell our cars and trucks in GM history. Of those sales, a record 55 percent were outside the U.S. and Canada. We cut sticker prices, reduced incentives, the U.S., a percentage that’s likely to continue growing as we re-focused our marketing efforts to emphasize the strength drive aggressively to increase our sales in emerging markets and value of our products and brands, and reduced low-profi t like China, Brazil, Russia and India. daily rental fl eet sales, which improved residual values for In our Asia Pacifi c region, we continue to see very strong our vehicles. growth in sales and continued solid profi tability. GM was once In a very concrete demonstration of our confi dence in again the number one automaker in the fast-growing China the quality and reliability of our products, and the people who market, led by our Buick division, which has tremendous build them, we introduced the best warranty coverage of any heritage and brand equity in the country. China’s industry sales full-line manufacturer in the U.S. and Canada – a fully transfer- exceeded 7 million units last year for the fi rst time, making it able, fi ve year/100,000-mile limited powertrain warranty on the second-largest national market in the world. Industry sales every car and light-duty truck in our 2007 model year lineup. We there are projected to exceed 8 million units this year. then extended that coverage in the U.S. this year to qualifying In Europe, growth was stronger than anticipated in 2006, GM Certifi ed used vehicles. with our sales up to a record 2 million units, leading to our Most importantly, we successfully launched a number of fi rst full year of adjusted profi tability (reported net loss of great new cars and trucks, such as our all-new fullsize sport $225 million) since 1999. Sales were boosted by the all-new utility vehicles, the Chevy Tahoe, GMC Yukon and Cadillac Opel/Vauxhall Corsa and the continued rapid expansion of Escalade; our all-new midsize crossovers, the Saturn Outlook the Chevrolet brand. and GMC Acadia; and both the car and truck of the year at the In our Latin America, Africa and Middle East region, we 2007 North American International Auto Show, the Saturn Aura sold more than one million GM vehicles last year for the fi rst and Chevy Silverado. time. Overall, sales increased 17 percent as we expanded our Chevrolet lineup and made signifi cant progress turning around Global Growth our important business in Brazil.