00:00General Motors lost $39 billion in one year, then bet everything on SUVs.
00:052008. GM is collapsing. Stock crashes 90%. Bankruptcy is 48 hours away.
00:11The U.S. government steps in. $50 billion bailout to save 250,000 jobs.
00:17Conditions are brutal. Close 14 factories. Kill half your brands.
00:21Pontiac. Gone. Saturn. Dead. Hummer. Discontinued.
00:24GM is bleeding, losing $6,000 on every car sold.
00:28Analysts are brutal. GM is finished. Too slow, too old, too American.
00:33The new CEO arrives. Mary Barra. First woman to run a car company.
00:37The board expects miracles. She studies the numbers.
00:40One category is printing money. SUVs and trucks. Silverado. Tahoe. Suburban.
00:46Each one generates $15,000 profit per vehicle. But everyone tells her to go electric.
00:51Build sedans. Compete with Tesla. SUVs are dying.
00:55Mary makes a shocking call. We're doubling down on trucks. And building bigger SUVs.
01:00The strategy sounds insane. Gas prices are rising. Environmentalists are furious.
01:05Competitors mock the decision. GM learned nothing.
01:08Toyota dominates sedans. Tesla owns electric. Ford is everywhere.
01:12But Mary sees something else. American families are getting bigger. Suburbs are expanding.
01:17People want space. Luxury. Power. She greenlighted three massive SUVs.
01:22Escalade. Yukon. Suburban. Each one longer than 18 feet.
01:26Starting price? $80,000. Fully loaded? $120,000.
01:30Engineers go crazy with features. Massage seats? 38 speakers.
01:34Hands-free driving. A 6.2-liter V8 engine.
01:37These aren't cars. They're living rooms on wheels.
01:402015. The new Escalade launches.
01:43Reviews are stunning. Rappers buy them. Athletes buy them.
01:46CEOs buy them. Suburbs fill with them.
01:49GM can't build them fast enough.
01:51Profit per Escalade? $25,000.
01:54Every single one.
01:552020. SUVs and trucks are 80% of GM revenue.
02:00The Impala? Dead.
02:01GM only builds what makes money.
02:03And it's working.
02:042021. GM reports $10 billion profit.
02:08The stock hits all-time highs.
02:10The turnaround is complete.
02:11From $39 billion loss to $10 billion profit.
02:15In 12 years.
02:16All because they stopped chasing trends.
02:18And built what customers actually wanted.
02:20Sometimes the boring bet is the billion-dollar move.
02:23Follow for more innovation's history.
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