General Motors had a 23% share of the automobile industry with sales coming from eight divisions: Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, GMC, Hummer, Pontiac, Saab, and Saturn (Forbes, December 22, 2008). The data set GM Sales shows the sales for a sample of 200 General Motors vehicles. The division for the vehicle is provided for each sale.
a. Show the frequency distribution and the percent frequency distribution of sales by division for General Motors.
b. Show a bar chart of the percent frequency distribution.
c. Which General Motors division was the company leader in sales? What was the percentage of sales for this division? Was this General Motors' most important division? Explain.
d. Due to the ongoing recession, high gasoline prices, and the decline in automobile sales, General Motors was facing bankruptcy in 2009. A government "bail-out" loan and a restructuring of the company were anticipated. Expectations were that General Motors could not continue to operate all eight divisions. Based on the percentage of sales, which of the eight divisions looked to be the best candidates for General Motors to discontinue? Which divisions looked to be the least likely candidates for General Motors to discontinue?