General Motors Company, commonly abbreviated as GM, is an American multinational corporation headquartered in Detroit that designs, manufactures, markets, and distributes vehicles and vehicle parts, and sells financial services. With global headquarters in Detroit's Renaissance Center, GM manufactures cars and trucks in 35 countries. In 2008, 8.35 million GM cars and trucks were sold globally under various brands. GM reached the milestone of selling 10 million vehicles in 2016. Current auto brands are Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, GMC, Holden, and Wuling. Former GM automotive brands include Daewoo, McLaughlin, Oakland, Oldsmobile, Pontiac, Hummer, Saab, Saturn, as well as Vauxhall, and Opel, which were bought by Groupe PSA in 2017.
The company was founded by William C. Durant on September 16, 1908 as a holding company. The company was the largest automobile manufacturer from 1931 through 2007.
In addition to brands selling assembled vehicles, GM has also had various automotive-component and non-automotive brands, many of which it divested in the 1980s through 2000s. These have included Euclid and Terex (earthmoving/construction/mining equipment & vehicles); Electro-Motive Diesel (locomotive, marine, and industrial diesel engines); Detroit Diesel (automotive and industrial diesel engines); Allison (aircraft engines, transmissions, gas turbine engines); Frigidaire (appliances including refrigeration and air conditioning); New Departure (bearings); Delco Electronics and ACDelco (electrical and electronic components); GMAC (finance); General Aviation and North American Aviation (airplanes); GM Defense (military vehicles); and Electronic Data Systems (information technology).
General Motors produces vehicles in 37 countries under various brands that include: Chevrolet, Buick, GMC, Cadillac, Holden, HSV, Wuling, Baojun, Jie Fang, and Ravon.
The current company, General Motors Company ("new GM"), was formed in 2009 following the bankruptcy of General Motors Corporation ("old GM"), which became Motors Liquidation Company. The new company purchased the majority of the assets of the old GM, including the brand "General Motors".