Community Relations

GM, and just about every other car company lately, is mostly focused on the environment and creating "green" cars that are good to the planet. To begin with, GM is one of the biggest culprits of the gas-guzzling SUV's and trucks with models such as Hummers, Cadillac Escalades, and Chevy trucks. It would only make sense for GM's main focus to be on the environment and creating earth-friendly cars.

GM has their "Environmental Commitment" which is all about creating greener, more economically friendly vehicles. I think this is an important idea since GM just celebrated the 75th anniversary of the Suburban, the first SUV ever made. Even though they made have started the SUV fad, they are now doing their part to take a few steps backwards and improve Mother Earth.

Green Materials and Vehicle Recycling is one of their programs. They have begun to design new vehicles that are 85% recyclable, which can go a long way in helping our planet. They also have a an Educational program in place, they say "We think it’s important to pass on the lessons and knowledge we’ve learned from working on these issues to the communities where we live and work and to young students today who will be tomorrow’s leaders and problem solvers." This idea of educating children about the environment and sustainable energy is pretty great. As a future teacher myself, I know the importance of educating children about tomorrow's problems so that it is in the forefront of their minds and almost becomes habit for them. There are even activities and lesson plans on the website for teachers to utilize and build into their classroom.

This idea of education and sustainable energy and greener vehicles plays into GM's mission directly. GM lists seven different points in their mission statement: Reinvention, fuel economy and alternative fuels, safety, warranty and quality, technology, auto shows and special events, and education.

I think the educational program and the environmental responsibility are good points for the Public Relations of GM because it shows that GM not only cares about the people driving the cars and how they effect the environment, but also the new wave of future drivers and children who are able to apply their knowledge of global warming in order to support a company that is environmentally responsible such as GM.

I think other things that GM could be doing to help the environment would be to do something like for every x amount of cars sold, GM will plant x amount of trees in the communities surrounding their manufacturing plants.

There is so much information on the GM website about the environment and what they are doing to make the earth a little bit better. I think overall they are doing a really good job and I think that anyone who buys a GM would probably feel like they are doing their part in purchasing a "greener" car.