The name, William C. Durant is attached not only with General Motors but also with companies like Buick and Chevrolet. The automobile industry has seen the growth of many large companies from scratch. And, General Motors Company is famous all over the world for the production of upscale cars, trucks, and most heavy commercial vehicles. William C. Durant co-founded General Motors with Frederic L. Smith. He is also the founder of Chevrolet and Frigidaire. In his career life, he created a series of automobile lines which now has become some of the largest business conglomerates. He also took control of the company Buick Motor which eventually came under General Motors.
William founded the company in 1911, but its history trails back to 1902.
About the founder
William was a very successful businessman. He was born in Boston to William Clark Durant and Rebecca Folger Crapo. He belonged to a very wealthy family but he didn’t complete his schooling. He started working at his grandfather’s lumberyard from a very young age. William started his carrier as a cigar salesman and eventually moved to sell carriages.
In 1886, William co-founded Flint Road Car Company with Josiah Dallas Dort. Within four years, the valuation of the company became $2 million. During the 1900s, a huge revolution started over horseless gasoline-powered carriages. William saw it as an opportunity to open a new automobile company that could change the entire future of this industry.
For the starters, he bought Buick and another small company with large debts. Durant already had money from Durant-Dort Carriage Company and his profit escalated after he bought Buick. So, this games him a strong base for founding General Motors. Durant dreamt about building a company that would produce independent marques and holds subsidiaries.
In the 1920s, Durant showed interest in buying stocks with the advice of one of his friends. He wanted to play the Wall Street market but the idea backfired and he went bankrupt by 1936. William also went through many family turmoils and the mysterious disappearance of his wife. He died at the age of 85 in New York City.
Early History of General Motors Company
The history of General Motors started when the founding of the Rapid Motor Vehicle Company took place in 1902. After William founded GM he gradually took Rapid Motor under its control as well. In 1908, William also acquired Reliance Motor Car Company which helped in expanding GM. In 1909, General Motors Holding acquired Cartercar Company which William bought going against everyone’s decision. He also planned on buying Ford but the board members dismissed the decision.
He founded General Motors Truck Company in 1911. So, this new division along with Rapid and Reliance merged into one and started its production at Rapid Motor Plant 1 in Michigan. When the company started growing it had three main production units at Michigan, California, and Missouri respectively.
During World War II
GM’s truck division proved to be of immense benefit during the war. The trucks were so efficient that a 2-ton GMC truck drove from New York to San Francisco in 5 days and 30 minutes. The demand rose and GMC had to produce 600,000 trucks for the military.
Growth and Acquisitions
In 1925, GM acquired Yellow Coach, a Chicago-based bus and taxicab manufacturer. GM changed its name to Yellow Truck & Coach Manufacturing Company. The company also announced that all manufacturing will now take place under YT & CMC. This company remained as an affiliated subsidiary of GM until GM bought the remaining parts of the company in 1943. The company was then renamed as GMC Truck and Coach Division.
By this time, GM was successfully manufacturing vehicles in two plants. The bus production of GM came to an end in 1987. The reason why GM took leave from bus manufacturing was the rising competition between 1970 and 1980. GMC hopped into the next century after changing its branding name to GM from GMC.
GM raised a toast to 100 years of its founding celebration by releasing a book called The First 100 Years. By 2009, General Motors stopped the production of medium-duty commercial trucks. The company currently makes SUVs, vans, light-duty trucks, and pickup trucks. Some of the GM models that are still producing in the market are Sierra, Canyon, Savana, Yukon, Acadia, Terrain, etc.
Annasha Dey is an NIT student, who apart from studying engineering is also a content writer. She has a great interest in photography, writing, reading novels, and travelling as well. She is a foodie who loves socializing and hanging out with her friends. She is also a trained Kathak dancer and a big fashion enthusiast. Dey also loves watching TV series, which includes F.R.I.E.N.D.S. and Big Bang Theory. To be a better writer she prefers to read more