General Motors Company

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Recommended: Introduction Of General Motors

What kind of vehicle do you drive? Would it happen to be a Chevrolet? A Buick? How about a Cadillac? Or a GMC? All of these brands plus more are made by General Motors Company, or better known as GM. GM is the 2nd largest car manufacture in the world (General Motors Company, 2011). They have provided millions, if not more, vehicles to the world. Thanks to GM, many of the popular vehicle brands that are available, they have produced. You can understand how vital GM has been to the automotive world when you find out that “it was the world’s largest car maker from 1931 to 2008, when it was surpassed by Toyota” (Costantini).

The history of GM dates back to 1908. At this time or to be more specific on September 16, GM was founded in Flint, Michigan, by William C Durant (General Motors Company, 2011). The company started as Durant-Dot Carriage Company which started in 1886 and by 1900 was producing over 100,000 carriages a year (Flint). In the late 1920’s GM’s sales passed Ford Motor Company due to the fact that they were paying special attention to consumer demands “Car buyers no longer wanted the cheapest and most basic model; they wanted style, power, and prestige, which GM offered them” (100 Years of GM – A Brief History of General Motors). Whereas Ford was concentrated on reducing the cost of vehicles. In addition, GM was offering payment plans and Ford was not, Henry was opposed to credit on moral principles (100 Years of GM – A Brief History of General Motors). In the 1950s, GM continued to dominate the automotive industry. They had 46 percent of the American auto market, Ford and Chrysler had 44 percent, and all of the other automotive companies combined had 10 percent. In the 1960’s, GM’s percentage had increased to 51, more t...

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...rch 9, 2011, from http://www.motorera.com/100-years-of-GM.htm

Costantini, F. (2011, February 24). General Motors. In The New York Times. Retrieved March 10, 2011, from http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/business/companies/general_motors_corporation/index.html

Elliott, H. (2009, April 27). America's Fastest-Dying Car Brands. Retrieved March 9, 2011, from Forbes.com: http://www.forbes.com/2009/04/27/dying-car-brands-lifestyle-vehicles-pontiac.html

Flint (n.d.). In Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved March 9, 2011, from http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/210279/Flint?anchor=ref282801

General Motors Company. (2011). About GM. Retrieved March 9, 2011, from General Motors: http://www.gm.com/corporate/about/

General Motors Company. (2011). Explore GM History. Retrieved March 9, 2011, from General Motors: http://www.gm.com/corporate/about/history/historyPopUp.jsp?0

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