and R.I.P. Oldsmobile 2004. Olds Motor Works first exported their automobiles in 1902!
The General Motors Empire includes or has included
the following marques including associates:
Acadian
AWD Bedford Bedford-Buick Beaumont Bedford Truck Buick Cadillac Cartercar Chevrolet Chevrolet
Truck Daewoo Elmore Envoy Epic Ewing FIAT Flxible Geo
General Motors Cab General Motors Truck GM [EV-1] G.M.C. Grabowsky
Hertz Rent-a-Car Hindustan Holden Hummer Isuzu La Salle Little Lotus Maple Leaf
McLaughlin McLaughlin-Buick Marquette [first] Marquette [1929-30] Maruti Monroe Nissan [vans] Northway Oakland Oldsmobile
Opel Pontiac Rainier Randolph Rapid Truck Reliance Truck Renault [vans] Saab
Samson Samson Tractors Samson Trucks Saturn
Scripps-Booth Sheridan Suzuki Vauxhall Viking Volvo Truck [Canada] Welch
Whiting Yellow Bus & Coach Yellow Cab Yellow Truck
ORIGINS:
William C. Durant had doubts about relying on a single manufacturer with a single line, and decided that a consortium of automobile makers would be able to support one another, and if parts suppliers were acquired, then the consortium would be self-supporting: this seems to have worked well for Henry Ford's company which manufactured its own steel thus enabling them to carry on assembly when other rival companies had to lay-off workers because of shortages, strikes, etc. Thus, Durant went on a buying spree.
Durant attended a meeting of The Big Four, with Benjamin Briscoe of Maxwell-Briscoe who called the meeting, Henry Ford, and Ransom Olds, now the head of REO Motor Car Company. The idea collapsed, but Durant proceeded nevertheless and formed the General Motors Company in New Jersey on 16 September 1908 with an exchange of Buick and General Motors stock, after Durant had obtained an option to buy 75% of Olds Motor Works stock [which he then exercised] and six weeks after General Motors was formed, Durant exchanged his Olds stock for General Motors stock. In 1910, the entire Buick organisation, which included the Jackson, Church and Wilcox Company in Saginaw, Michigan, became part of the General Motors Company of Michigan and the Jackson, Church and Wilcox Company became known as the Jacox Company instead. General Motors Company was incorporated on September 16 1908 in Hudson County, New Jersey, U.S.A.
The Chevrolet Motor Company incorporation papers were signed on November 2 1911, with the place of business listed as Detroit, and papers were filed and recorded with the Secretary of State of Michigan the next day in Lansing, Michigan so November 3, 1911 became the incorporation date.
GENERAL MOTORS CORPORATION was incorporated in Delaware on October 13, 1916, with an increased capital of $100 million. Chevrolet joined General Motors Corporation in May 1918: Chevrolet Motor Company sold its assets to General Motors Corporation for about $32 million worth of G.M. stock and also sold its Scripps-Booth stock to G.M. for the balance in G.M. stock.
GENERAL MOTORS EXPORT COMPANY was founded on June 19 1911 in the State of Michigan with a capital of $10,000 under the bankers in control of General Motors Company at the time, with the President Thomas Neal, January 26 1911 to November 19 1912 becoming President of the Export Company as well, until he resigned as General Motors Company President.
GENERAL MOTORS OF CANADA Limited was incorporated in the Province of Ontario on November 8 1918.
LINKS:
http://clubs.hemmings.com/chevytalk/
1912-28 VINTAGE CHEVROLETS - Ken’s own website for much more information
on Chevrolet four-cylinder cars, light delivery chassis and trucks, 1912 to
1928, and Scripps-Booth:
CHEVY TALK - THE #1 CHEVROLET SITE FOR ADVICE, CHAT, FORUMS
http://chevy.tocmp.com/ - KEITH HARDY'S WEBSITE
MORTEC - AN EXTENSIVE LIBRARY OF CHEVROLET V-8 SMALL-BLOCK AND BIG-BLOCK CASTING NUMBERS 1958 TO PRESENT
Legal Notice: Chevrolet and the Chevrolet Emblem are registered trademarks of
the General Motors Corporation. Chevy and Bowtie, Buick, Cadillac, Daewoo,
FIAT, Geo, GMC, Holden, Lotus, Oldsmobile, Pontiac, Opel, Saab, Saturn, Suzuki,
Vauxhall are all world-wide registered trademarks of the General Motors
Corporation and subsidiaries and all other trademarks listed are the registered
trademarks of their respective owners.
THE CONTRIBUTORS TO THIS SITE HAVE NO AFFINITY OR
RELATIONSHIP WITH GENERAL MOTORS CORPORATION OR ANY OF ITS SUBSIDIARIES.
ALL COPYRIGHT, TRADE MARKS AND OTHER INTELLECTUAL
PROPERTY RIGHTS OF THE RESPECTIVE OWNERS ARE RESPECTED.
Revised August 2006
David Hayward and Ken Kaufmann Automotive Historians and Authors