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72-515: In the late 1920s, American automotive company General Motors (GM) launched four companion makes to supplement its existing lineup of five-passenger car brands , or makes . The companion makes were LaSalle , introduced for the 1927 model year to supplement Cadillac ; Marquette , introduced in 1929 for 1930 to supplement Buick ; Pontiac , introduced for 1926 to supplement Oakland ; and Viking , introduced for 1929 to supplement Oldsmobile . GM's fifth existing brand, Chevrolet , did not receive

144-462: A horse-drawn coachbuilder , where he had found success by quickly acquiring outside companies in order to produce various coaches at different price points. The three companies Durant initially purchased for General Motors were Oldsmobile , Oakland , and Cadillac , all of which he had bought more or less arbitrarily. That, combined with his having over-leveraged the fledgling company in making these acquisitions, saw Durant expelled from GM in 1910 at

216-457: A 110 in (2794 mm) wheelbase and 30× 3 + 1 ⁄ 2 -inch (76×8.8-cm) Houk detachable wire wheels , with three speeds and shaft drive. With complete electrical equipment, from Bijur starter to ignition (on a separate switch from starter) to headlights to Klaxet electric horn (with a button in the steering hub, rather than a bulb) to pushbutton door locks, it sold for US$ 775, equivalent to $ 23,574 in 2023 The 1916-17 Model D

288-514: A 15% stake in AeroVironment . In 1989, GM acquired half of Saab Automobile 's car operations for $ 600 million. In August 1990, Robert Stempel became CEO of the company, succeeding Roger Smith . GM cut output significantly and suffered losses that year due to the early 1990s recession . In 1990, GM debuted the General Motors EV1 (Impact) concept, a battery electric vehicle , at

360-514: A 62 bhp (46 kW) six-cylinder inline engine. The Viking, by contrast, had a monoblock 81 hp (60 kW) V8 engine. Its logo, a stylized "V", stood for both "Viking" and "V8". It resembled the LaSalle in appearance, had a 125 in (3,200 mm) wheelbase, and was available as a convertible, a close-coupled sedan , or standard sedan. It was initially priced at $ 1,595, but by the end of 1929 had become worth $ 1,695. During his 1930 visit to

432-521: A British producer of high-performance sports cars . In 1987, in conjunction with AeroVironment , GM built the Sunraycer , which won the inaugural World Solar Challenge and was a showcase of advanced technology. Much of the technology from Sunraycer found its way into the Impact prototype electric vehicle (also built by Aerovironment) and was the predecessor to the General Motors EV1 . In 1988, GM acquired

504-504: A breakthrough in heat treating still in use today as ASTM A255. GM established Detroit Diesel the next year. In 1939, the company founded Motors Insurance Corporation and entered the vehicle insurance market. The same year, GM introduced the Hydramatic , the first affordable and successful automatic transmission , for the 1940 Oldsmobile. During World War II , GM produced vast quantities of armaments, vehicles, and aircraft for

576-522: A companion make. With the exception of Viking, each of the companion makes were slotted below their "parent make" in GM's pricing hierarchy. GM had pioneered the idea of having a ladder of brands, arranged in order by price, to appeal to consumers with different incomes. This contributed to GM's rise to automotive dominance in the 1920s at the expense of Ford . By the late 1920s, GM felt that there were excessive gaps in this ladder. President Alfred P. Sloan devised

648-472: A continuation of its diversification plans, GMAC formed GMAC Mortgage and acquired Colonial Mortgage as well as the servicing arm of Norwest Mortgage in 1985. This acquisition included an $ 11 billion mortgage portfolio. The same year, GM acquired the Hughes Aircraft Company for $ 5 billion in cash and stock and merged it into Delco Electronics . The following year, GM acquired 59.7% of Lotus Cars ,

720-900: A controlling interest in North American Aviation and merged it with the General Aviation Manufacturing Corporation . The GM labor force participated in the formation of the United Auto Workers labor union in 1935, and in 1936 the UAW organized the Flint Sit-Down Strike , which initially idled two key plants in Flint, Michigan, and later spread to 6 other plants including those in Janesville, Wisconsin and Fort Wayne, Indiana . In Flint, police attempted to enter

792-571: A different fate; its popularity led to the discontinuation of Oakland after 1931. Pontiac was the only GM marque produced for a significant amount of time that was not an outside acquisition; it was discontinued in 2010 in the aftermath of the Great Recession . General Motors (GM) was founded in 1908 by William C. Durant as a holding company for Buick , which had been founded by David Dunbar Buick in 1903 and controlled by Durant since 1904. Durant intended for GM to replicate his business model as

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864-401: A large muffler. Having a 114 in (2,900 mm) wheelbase with its engine making 67 hp (50 kW), it was offered as a roadster, phaeton, one of two styles of coupe, or one of two styles of sedan. It possessed distinctive styling, with a portly shape that led to its sobriquet of "the pregnant Buick" and a herringbone radiator, to distinguish it from other GM makes. The beginning of

936-517: A namesake defense vehicles division which produces military vehicles for the United States government and military, the vehicle safety, security, and information services provider OnStar , the auto parts company ACDelco , a namesake financial lending service , and majority ownership in the self-driving cars enterprise Cruise LLC . The company originated as a holding company for Buick established on September 16, 1908, by William C. Durant ,

1008-529: A price hierarchy that positioned Chevrolet as the most entry-level line, Oldsmobile, Oakland, and Buick, as the mid-tier brands, and Cadillac as the flagship marque. However, the order of the marques' pricing was fluid, and by 1929 Oldsmobiles were cheaper than Buicks and Oaklands. The idea of pricing cars on a ladder – in concert with other innovations by GM at the time, including providing credit to prospective car buyers – was tremendously successful in expanding GM's market share during

1080-529: A program to develop a lightweight two-stroke diesel engine for possible usage in automobiles. Soon after, GM acquired Electro-Motive Company and the Winton Engine Co. , and in 1941, it expanded EMC's realm to locomotive engine manufacturing. In 1932, GM acquired Packard Electric (not to be confused with the Packard car company, which merged with Studebaker years later). The following year, GM acquired

1152-496: A sleek low-priced vehicle to be introduced by Cadillac in 1927 known as the LaSalle. Sloan was sufficiently impressed by the result that he made Earl head of a special design division of GM, established in June 1927. The LaSalle itself was introduced in March 1927 for the 1927 model year. By the 1929 model year it had a V8 engine with a newly-introduced synchromesh transmission . It came with

1224-422: A strategy by CEO Roger Smith to derive at least 10% of its annual worldwide revenue from non-automotive sources. GM also intended to have EDS handle its bookkeeping, help computerize factories, and integrate GM's computer systems. The transaction made Ross Perot the largest shareholder of GM; however, disagreements with Roger Smith led the company to buy all shares held by Ross Perot for $ 750 million in 1986. In

1296-472: A wheelbase of either 128 in (3,300 mm) or 134 in (3,400 mm); the former was available as a roadster and various forms of phaeton, while the latter was available in various forms of convertible, various forms of coupe, or various forms of sedan. Oldsmobile introduced the Viking in March 1929 for the 1929 model year. The Viking served as the upscale counterpart of Oldsmobile's F-29 model, which had

1368-672: A whole was described by automotive historian Bill Vance as a "short-lived experiment" in a retrospective of the Marquette. Vance unfavorably compared the program to Sloan's earlier paring down of GM's line after the Durant ouster. A report on the Viking referred to the program as "several 'in-between' cars introduced by General Motors while the Twenties still roared and the stock market hadn't crashed." General Motors General Motors Company ( GM )

1440-745: Is an American multinational automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit , Michigan, United States. The company is most known for owning and manufacturing four automobile brands: Chevrolet , Buick , GMC , and Cadillac . By total sales, it has continuously been the largest automaker in the United States, and was the largest in the world for 77 years before losing the top spot to Toyota in 2008. General Motors operates manufacturing plants in eight countries. In addition to its four core brands, GM also holds interests in Chinese brands Baojun and Wuling via SAIC-GM-Wuling Automobile . GM further owns

1512-606: The Fortune 500 and 50th on the Fortune Global 500 . In 2023, the company was ranked 70th in the Forbes Global 2000 . In 2021, GM announced its intent to end production of vehicles using internal combustion engines by 2035, as part of its plan to achieve carbon neutrality by 2040. By 1900, William C. Durant 's Durant-Dort Carriage Company of Flint, Michigan , had become the largest manufacturer of horse-drawn vehicles in

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1584-607: The 2-mode hybrid system in the Chevrolet Tahoe , GMC Yukon , Cadillac Escalade , and pickup trucks . Scripps-Booth The company was founded by artist and engineer James Scripps Booth (of the Scripps publishing family), who also built the Bi-Autogo . Although the company's first models were cyclecars , Scripps-Booth later produced a "luxurious light car" intended for the luxury market. Designed by William B. Stout ,

1656-813: The Allies of World War II . In 1940, GM's William S. Knudsen served as head of U.S. wartime production for President Franklin Roosevelt , and by 1942, all of GM's production was to support the war. GM's Vauxhall Motors manufactured the Churchill tank series for the Allies, instrumental in the North African campaign . However, its Opel division, based in Germany, supplied the Wehrmacht with vehicles. Politically, Sloan, as head of GM at

1728-515: The Cadillac V8-6-4 variable-cylinder engines. GM sold Frigidaire in 1979. Although Frigidaire had between $ 450 million and $ 500 million in annual revenues, it was losing money. Robert Lee of GM invented the neodymium magnet , which was fabricated by rapid solidification, in 1984. This magnet is commonly used in products like a computer hard disk. The same year, GM acquired Electronic Data Systems for $ 2.5 billion from Ross Perot as part of

1800-505: The General Motors Acceptance Corporation (GMAC), which provides financing to automotive customers, was formed. In 1920, du Pont orchestrated the removal of Durant once again and replaced him with Alfred P. Sloan . At a time when GM was competing heavily with Ford Motor Company , Sloan established annual model changes, making previous years' models "dated" and created a market for used cars . He also implemented

1872-464: The Great Depression made the Viking unprofitable for Oldsmobile, which had enough trouble selling its own models that were just under half the price, and it was discontinued at the end of 1930. Existing parts were assembled into the final Vikings for the 1931 model year. The Depression was similarly unkind to Marquette, which, having failed to resuscitate Buick's sales, was discontinued at the end of

1944-664: The LA Auto Show . It was the first car with zero emissions marketed in the US in over three decades. The Impact was produced as the EV1 for the 1996 model year and was available only via lease from certain dealers in California and Arizona. In 1999–2002, GM ceased production of the vehicles and started to not renew the leases, disappointing many people, allegedly because the program would not be profitable and would cannibalize its existing business. All of

2016-545: The Rapid Motor Vehicle Company of Pontiac, Michigan , and the Reliance Motor Car Company of Detroit, Michigan (predecessors of GMC ) in 1909. Durant, with the board's approval, also tried acquiring Ford Motor Company , but needed an additional $ 2 million. Durant over- leveraged GM in making acquisitions, and was removed by the board of directors in 1910 at the order of the bankers who backed

2088-724: The Yellow Cab Manufacturing Company the same year, and its president, John D. Hertz , joined the board of directors of GM; it acquired the remainder of the company in 1943. In 1926, the company introduced the Pontiac brand and established the General Motors Group Insurance Program to provide life insurance to its employees. The following year, after the success of the 1927 model of the Cadillac LaSalle designed by Harley Earl , Sloan created

2160-472: The corporate spin-off of Electronic Data Systems . In 1997, GM sold the military businesses of Hughes Aircraft Company to Raytheon Company for $ 9.5 billion in stock and the assumption of debt. In February 2000, Rick Wagoner was named CEO, succeeding Smith. The next month, GM gave 5.1% of its common stock, worth $ 2.4 billion, to acquire a 20% share of Fiat . In December 2000, GM announced that it would begin phasing out Oldsmobile . The brand

2232-532: The "Art and Color Section" of GM and named Earl as its first director. Earl was the first design executive to be appointed to leadership at a major American corporation. Earl created a system of automobile design that is still practiced today. At the age of 24, Bill Mitchell was recruited by Earl to the design team at GM, and he was later appointed as Chief Designer of Cadillac. After Earl retired in December 1958, Mitchell took over automotive design for GM. Also in 1926

General Motors companion make program - Misplaced Pages Continue

2304-530: The 1920s. The company surpassed Ford in market share in 1927, the same year that the Model T was discontinued in favor of the updated Model A . Sloan, who had replaced du Pont as GM president in 1923, decided to create various "companion makes" to fill the variety of gaps that had developed in the original pricing hierarchy. These companion makes, introduced within GM's existing divisions as opposed to being treated as independent marques, were intended to increase sales of

2376-417: The 1930 model year, after about 35,000 units were made and mere months after dealerships had been mailed signs to put up advertising their presence. Two factors working against the Marquette were its flathead engine, which irked fans of Buick's overhead valve philosophy, and its six-cylinder engine, which was incompatible with Buick's decision to offer only eight-cylinder cars for 1931. After its discontinuation,

2448-458: The 1930 model year. Unlike Buick, which was noted for its overhead valve engine , the Marquette had a flathead six-cylinder engine based on Oldsmobile's. A prominent selling point was its fine engineering and craftsmanship; its engineers remarked that one could drive it at 60 mph (97 km/h) without damaging the engine, and one was driven from Death Valley to Pikes Peak without any issues. Other standard features included an air cleaner and

2520-575: The EV1s were eventually returned to General Motors, and except for around 40 which were donated to museums with their electric powertrains deactivated, all were destroyed. The documentary film Who Killed the Electric Car? covered the EV1 story. In November 1992, John F. Smith Jr. became CEO of the company. In 1993, GM sold Lotus Cars to Bugatti . In 1996, in a return to its automotive basics, GM completed

2592-407: The GM board decided they had had enough. In November of that year Durant was forced out of GM for the last time, at which point the company was almost bankrupt. He was replaced as GM president by Pierre du Pont of DuPont . One of du Pont's main assistants was GM vice president Alfred P. Sloan . Sloan recognized that GM was ineffectively utilizing its various brands to fight against Ford, which at

2664-564: The Marquette's body design was used in Buicks. The production tools for the engine were exported to Germany and used by Opel , GM's European subsidiary, for their Blitz truck . LaSalle fared better; initially selling a quarter of the Cadillac division's output, it narrowly outsold the Cadillac brand in 1929 and its sales contributed to the survival of the division during the Depression. Nevertheless, as

2736-509: The Model C went on sale in 1915. James Booth next developed a sporting version called Vitesse using the Alanson P. Brush designed Ferro V8 , to compete with Mercer and Stutz . The roadster idea was vetoed by company directors and the engine was used in the four-seater Model D instead About one-third of Model C production had been shipped to Europe and Scripps-Booth smaller luxury cars were popular in export markets. Reliability issues with

2808-587: The Sterling engine in early cars caused the engine to be changed to a Chevrolet 490 in the Model G. James Booth believed the company should build their own engines and when company directors declined to do this, Booth resigned. In 1916, Scripps-Booth Company consolidated with the Sterling Motor Company to become the publicly traded Scripps-Booth Corporation . By the end of 1917, Scripps-Booth had been purchased by Chevrolet whose founder William C. Durant

2880-580: The United States to attempt a land speed record in the Silver Bullet , British racer Kaye Don used a Viking for casual driving and to test the terrain of his record attempt. A retrospective noted it as a "fine car" that "doubtless...would have survived" but for the Great Depression. After Buick sales had declined in the previous several years and following the successes of Pontiac and LaSalle, Buick introduced Marquette to showrooms on June 1, 1929, for

2952-665: The United States. Durant was averse to automobiles, but fellow Flint businessman James H. Whiting , owner of Flint Wagon Works , sold him the Buick Motor Company in 1904. Durant formed the General Motors Company in 1908 as a holding company , borrowing a naming convention from General Electric . GM's first acquisition was Buick , which Durant already owned, then Olds Motor Works on November 12, 1908. Under Durant, GM went on to acquire Cadillac , Elmore , Welch , Cartercar , Oakland (the predecessor of Pontiac ),

General Motors companion make program - Misplaced Pages Continue

3024-489: The behest of its creditors, who were reeling from the Panic of 1910–1911 . Durant created Chevrolet shortly thereafter; he ultimately used the new company to regain control of GM in 1918. Finding himself president of GM once more, Durant fell back into old patterns; by 1920 he had grown the number of GM divisions from five to seven. GM stock, meanwhile, had fallen precipitously during Durant's second stint as president, and by 1920

3096-546: The brand name in 1922. The factory was converted to build Buicks . Approximately 60,000 Scripps-Booths had been produced. The Vintage Chevrolet Club of America accepts the following Scripps-Booth models: For 1914, Scripps-Booth offered a three-passenger torpedo roadster , powered by a 103 in (1702 cc) ( 2 + 7 ⁄ 8 ×4-inch, 3 + 1 ⁄ 2 ×102 mm) 18 hp (13 kW) water-cooled four-cylinder of valve-in-head design with Zenith carburetor and Atwater-Kent automatic spark advance. It featured

3168-542: The car was available in such body styles as a roadster , phaeton , coupe , convertible , two- or four-door sedan , or landaulet . In early 1926, Lawrence P. Fisher, the general manager of the Cadillac division, visited a Los Angeles Cadillac dealership run by Don Lee that also made custom cars for Hollywood actors and producers. The director of the custom car operation, Harley Earl , would turn boxy factory automobiles into sleek low-riding roadsters, something that thrilled Fisher. Fisher hired Earl in spring 1926 to design

3240-448: The companion makes in order to fill those gaps. The companion makes were also intended to increase the sales of their respective divisions by selling cars that cost less to produce. The program is generally considered a failure. Sales of Vikings and Marquettes were low during the Great Depression and the brands were discontinued by 1931. LaSalle lasted longer, weathering the Depression until it too ceased production after 1940. Pontiac had

3312-448: The company acquired Fisher Body , its supplier of automobile bodies. GM acquired Allison Engine Company and began developing a 1,000 horsepower liquid-cooled aircraft engine in 1929. The same year, GM acquired 80% of Opel , which at that time had a 37.5% market share in Europe, for $ 26 million. It acquired the remaining 20% in 1931. In the late-1920s, Charles Kettering embarked on

3384-432: The company in 1915 after a disagreement with Durant. GM was reincorporated in Detroit in 1916 as General Motors Corporation and became a public company via an initial public offering . By 1917, Chevrolet had become successful enough that Durant, with the backing of Samuel McLaughlin and Pierre S. du Pont , reacquired a controlling interest in GM. The same year, GM acquired Samson Tractor . Chevrolet Motor Company

3456-698: The diesel-hybrid market, the Opel Astra diesel engine hybrid concept vehicle was rolled out in January 2005. Later that year, GM sold its Electro-Motive Diesel locomotive division to private equity firms Berkshire Partners and Greenbriar Equity Group. GM paid $ 2 billion to sever its ties with Fiat in 2005, severing ties with the company due to an increasingly contentious dispute. GM began adding its " Mark of Excellence " emblem on all new vehicles produced and sold in North America in mid-2005. However, after

3528-404: The economy improved throughout the 1930s , LaSalle's niche dried up as the gap between Buick and Cadillac narrowed. In its final model year of 1940, LaSalles comprised about 65 percent of Cadillac's total output, but it was replaced in 1941 by the  Cadillac Series 61 . The LaSalle name has been occasionally floated for revival; a 1955 concept car was titled the "LaSalle II", and

3600-482: The first hydrogen fuel cell car ever produced. Though fuel cells have existed since the early 1800s, General Motors was the first to use a fuel cell, supplied by Union Carbide , to power the wheels of a vehicle with a budget of "millions of dollars". In the 1960s, GM was an early proponent of V6 engines , but quickly lost interest as the popularity of muscle cars increased. GM demonstrated gas turbine vehicles powered by kerosene , an area of interest throughout

3672-497: The gasoline was harmful to various biological organisms including humans. Evidence shows that corporate executives understood the health implications of tetraethyllead from the beginning. As an engineer for GM, Midgley also developed chlorofluorocarbons , which have now been banned due to their contribution to climate change . Under the encouragement of GM President Alfred P. Sloan Jr., GM acquired Vauxhall Motors for $ 2.5 million in 1925. The company also acquired an interest in

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3744-637: The industry, but abandoned the alternative engine configuration due to the 1973 oil crisis . In partnership with Boeing , GM's Delco Defense Electronics Division designed the Lunar Roving Vehicle , which traversed the surface of the Moon, in 1971. The following year, GM produced the first rear wheel anti-lock braking system for two models: the Toronado and Eldorado. In 1973, the Oldsmobile Toronado

3816-591: The largest seller of horse-drawn vehicles at the time. The first half of the 20th century saw the company grow into an automotive behemoth through acquisitions; going into the second half, the company pursued innovation and new offerings to consumers as well as collaborations with NASA to develop the earliest electric vehicles . The current entity was established in 2009 after the General Motors Chapter 11 reorganization . As of 2024 , General Motors ranks 25th by total revenue out of all American companies on

3888-572: The loans to keep GM in business. The action of the bankers was partially influenced by the Panic of 1910–1911 that followed the earlier enforcement of the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890 . In 1911, Charles F. Kettering of Dayton Engineering Laboratories Company (DELCO) and Henry M. Leland invented and patented the first electric starter in America. In November 1911, Durant co-founded Chevrolet with race car driver Louis Chevrolet , who left

3960-466: The name reappeared in 1963 and 1975 as proposals for what eventually became the Buick Riviera and Cadillac Seville , respectively. Earl, having gotten his start with the 1927 LaSalle, was later acclaimed as the "dean of design" of automobiles. Pontiac had the opposite destiny. Selling more than 75,000 units in 1926, Pontiac saw a rise to 140,000 units in 1927 and more than 200,000 in 1928. Oakland

4032-541: The parent division while costing less to produce. Oakland introduced Pontiac at the 1926 New York Auto Show as a low-priced model for the 1926 model year, followed by a sales meeting at the Commodore Hotel . The name dated to 1893 as a coachbuilding business that had been the predecessor of Oakland's automotive ventures, and was an homage to both its factory in Pontiac, Michigan , and the Native American chief of

4104-482: The plant to arrest strikers, leading to violence; in other cities, the plants were shuttered peacefully. The strike was resolved on February 11, 1937, when GM recognized the UAW as the exclusive bargaining representative for its workers and gave workers a 5% raise and permission to speak in the lunchroom. Walter E. Jominy and A.L. Boegehold of GM invented the Jominy end-quench test for hardenability of carbon steel in 1937,

4176-528: The pricing strategy used by car companies today. The pricing strategy had Chevrolet , Pontiac , Oldsmobile , Buick , and Cadillac priced from least expensive to most, respectively. In 1921, Thomas Midgley Jr. , an engineer for GM, discovered tetraethyllead (leaded gasoline) as an antiknock agent, and GM patented the compound because ethanol could not be patented. This led to the development of higher compression engines resulting in more power and efficiency. The public later realized that lead contained in

4248-487: The reorganization in 2009, the company no longer added the logo, saying that emphasis on its four core divisions would downplay the GM logo. In 2005, Edward T. Welburn was promoted to the newly created position of vice president, GM Global Design, making him the first African American to lead a global automotive design organization and the highest-ranking African American in the US motor industry at that time. On July 1, 2016, he retired from General Motors after 44 years. He

4320-473: The same customers, ultimately cannibalizing sales for GM as a whole. While du Pont believed that direct competition with the Model T would be GM's best opportunity to gain market share, Sloan instead decided to pursue Durant's idea, albeit without crediting Durant, of a "car for every purse and purpose". Sloan discontinued Scripps-Booth and sold the Sheridan brand, then reorganized the remaining five marques into

4392-507: The same name . Touted as "the Chief of the Sixes" for its six-cylinder inline engine , it was designed from scratch by Ben H. Anibal, who had previously been Cadillac's chief engineer, to the order of Oakland's general manager Al R. Glancy. By the 1929 model year , its flathead engine was able to make 60 brake horsepower (bhp) (45 kW). The chassis had a wheelbase of 110 inches (2,800 mm), and

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4464-439: The time commanded more than half of the automobile market. Of all the GM vehicles available at the time, none were a competitive alternative to the immensely popular Ford Model T ; the GM marques themselves also lacked a coherent framework that would make it easy for buyers of entry-level models to upgrade to a more premium car within the GM fold. Instead of complementing each other, different GM brands found themselves competing for

4536-499: The time, was an ardent opponent of the New Deal , which bolstered labor unions and public transport . Sloan admired and supported Adolf Hitler . Nazi armaments chief Albert Speer allegedly said in 1977 that Hitler "would never have considered invading Poland" without synthetic fuel technology provided by General Motors. GM was compensated $ 32 million by the U.S. government because its German factories were bombed by U.S. forces during

4608-510: The war. Effective January 28, 1953, Charles Erwin Wilson , then GM president, was named by Dwight D. Eisenhower as United States Secretary of Defense . In December 1953, GM acquired Euclid Trucks , a manufacturer of heavy equipment for earthmoving , including dump trucks , loaders and wheel tractor-scrapers , which later spawned the Terex brand. Alfred P. Sloan retired as chairman and

4680-416: Was also the founding president of Sterling Motor Company. Billy Durant regained control of General Motors and Scripps-Booth became a division of GM with A. H. Sarver as president. The Scripps-Booth cars were now built with Oakland chassis and Northway engines. With the departure of Durant from GM in 1921, Alfred P. Sloan could not find a use for Scripps-Booth in the GM line-up and discontinued

4752-478: Was consolidated into GM on May 2, 1918, and the same year GM acquired United Motors , a parts supplier founded by Durant and headed by Alfred P. Sloan for $ 45 million, and the McLaughlin Motor Car Company , founded by R. S. McLaughlin , became General Motors of Canada Limited. In 1919, GM acquired Guardian Frigerator Company , part-owned by Durant, which was renamed Frigidaire . Also in 1919,

4824-601: Was discontinued in 1931, a victim of the Depression; its final model, which had been based on the Viking V8, became the Pontiac V8 for 1932. Pontiac earned the distinction of being the only GM make that was not an outside acquisition that survived for a significant amount of time. The marque remained in production until 2010, when it was discontinued in the aftermath of the Great Recession as part of GM's reorganization from recession-caused bankruptcy . The companion make program as

4896-560: Was eventually discontinued in 2004, seven years after it had become the first American car brand to turn 100. In May 2004, GM delivered the first full-sized pickup truck hybrid vehicles , the 1/2-ton Chevrolet Silverado / GMC Sierra trucks. These mild hybrids did not use electrical energy for propulsion, like GM's later designs. Later, the company debuted another hybrid technology, co-developed with DaimlerChrysler and BMW , in diesel-electric hybrid powertrain manufactured by Allison Transmission for transit buses. Continuing to target

4968-514: Was powered by an overhead valve V8 engine designed by Alanson Brush. Before marrying the main character in John O'Hara 's 1934 novel Appointment in Samarra , a youthful Caroline Walker drives a Scripps-Booth Model C Roadster. The car's unusual seating arrangement, in which "the driver sat a foot or so forward of the other seat, which made kissing an awkward act", is especially noted. Groucho Marx owned

5040-557: Was replaced by Michael Simcoe . In 2006, GM introduced a bright yellow fuel cap on its vehicles to remind drivers that cars can operate using E85 ethanol fuel . They also introduced another hybrid vehicle that year, the Saturn Vue Green Line . In 2008, General Motors committed to engineering half of its manufacturing plants to be landfill-free by recycling or reusing waste in the manufacturing process. Continuing their environmental-conscious development, GM started to offer

5112-585: Was succeeded by Albert Bradley in April 1956. In 1962, GM introduced the first ever turbocharged production car in the world in the Oldsmobile Cutlass Turbo-Jetfire. Two years later, the company introduced its " Mark of Excellence " logo and trademark at the 1964 New York World's Fair . The company used the mark as their main corporate identifier until 2021. GM released the Electrovan in 1966,

5184-547: Was the first retail car sold with a passenger airbag . Thomas Murphy became CEO of the company, succeeding Richard C. Gerstenberg in November 1974. GM installed its first catalytic converters in its 1975 models. From 1978 to 1985, GM pushed the benefits of diesel engines and cylinder deactivation technologies. However, it had disastrous results due to poor durability in the Oldsmobile diesels and drivability issues in

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