General Motors started as a carriage maker's bet: in 1908 William C. Durant, who already ran Buick, set up a holding company to bring car brands together.
- Country
-
United States - Active
- Since 1908
- Founded by
- William C. Durant
- Website
- Official website ↗
A carriage maker builds a holding company
Before there were motors, there were road carts. William C. Durant got into the vehicle business in Flint, Michigan, by buying a small horse cart company in 1886, and the firm he ran with Josiah Dallas Dort became the Durant-Dort Carriage Company. People called him the King of Carriage Makers.
Cars came next. In 1904 Durant took over the struggling Buick Motor Company, and GM Heritage says that by 1908 Buick was building more cars than Ford and Cadillac combined. Durant wanted more. He proposed a holding company called General Motors that would include Buick and Oldsmobile, and it was incorporated on 16 September 1908.
Then he went shopping. In roughly 16 months GM picked up 22 companies, among them Cadillac in 1909, Oakland (later Pontiac), McLaughlin in Canada and the truck maker that became GMC. It was too much, too fast. From September 1910 bankers held the reins.
Lost, won back, lost again
Durant did not sit still. In 1911 he co-founded Chevrolet, and in 1916 he walked into a GM board meeting and announced that Chevrolet held a controlling interest. He was elected president again. That same year the company was reincorporated as General Motors Corporation, and in 1918 Chevrolet itself joined GM.
The second reign was short. After the post-war boom collapsed, Durant lost his investment and was forced out in 1920. Alfred P. Sloan Jr. later took charge, as president from 1923 and chairman from 1937.
Two letters, one underline
For a company that owns some of the most famous badges in the world, GM’s own mark is remarkably plain. The capital letters GM have been the heart of the corporate logo since 1938. In 1964 they settled into the version most people still picture: a blue square framing a white, underlined GM. Over the following decades it only had its shading and shade of blue adjusted. No official explanation of the 1964 design or the name of its designer appears in the sources we checked.
The m that looks like a plug
On 8 January 2021, just ahead of that year’s virtual CES, GM showed a new logo. The capitals became a lowercase gm. The sharp square became a rounded one, drawn as an outline. And the underline now sits under the m alone.
GM explained every part. The rounded edges and lowercase letters were meant to feel more modern and inclusive. The underline links the new mark to the previous GM logos and also represents Ultium, the company’s electric vehicle battery platform. Look at the empty space inside the m and you’ll find, in GM’s words, a nod to the shape of an electrical plug.
Chief marketing officer Deborah Wahl called it the fifth time GM had changed its logo, and probably the most progressive thing the company had done since 1964. The logo was created by GM’s own designers and was built for a digital-first world, launching alongside the “Everybody In” campaign for electric cars. GM said it would reach vehicles gradually, in small details such as window glass.
Clean-sky blue
Blue stayed. What changed was the mood. The navy of the 1964 square gave way to a gradient of vibrant blue tones that, according to GM, evokes the clean skies of a zero-emissions future and the energy of the Ultium platform. The logo also comes in a flat blue and in black.
From the Y-Job to the supertruck
Most GM cars never wore a GM badge on the nose. They wore the badge of their brand. Still, a few of them changed the industry.
Landmark GM cars, decade by decade
- 1908: Buick. The founding brand of GM. That year, according to GM Heritage, it out-produced Ford and Cadillac combined.
- 1938: Buick Y-Job. Built by the design studio led by Harley Earl, it is widely described as the first concept car.
- 1953: Chevrolet Corvette. First shown as a Motorama show car, then built in Flint from June 1953.
- 1990: Impact concept. The preview of the EV1, which GM calls the first modern mass-produced, purpose-built electric vehicle from a major automaker. GM also says the EV1 was the first car to use a heat pump for climate control.
- 2020: GMC HUMMER EV. Unveiled as the electric return of the HUMMER name and built at GM’s Factory ZERO. GM calls it the world’s first all-electric supertruck.
GM’s family has shrunk and grown over the years. Today its brands are Chevrolet, Buick, GMC and Cadillac, and the old Hummer name lives on as a GMC model. In Australia, Holden joined GM in 1931 and was retired by GM decades later. In Europe, Opel and Vauxhall were GM brands until they were sold to PSA in 2017. GM’s oldest Detroit rival is, of course, Ford. For more on how marks like these are made, see how car logos are designed.
Frequently asked questions
What does the GM logo mean?
The letters stand for General Motors. In the 2021 logo, according to GM, the underline under the m links to earlier GM logos and represents the Ultium battery platform, the negative space in the m nods to an electrical plug, and the blue gradient evokes the clean skies of a zero-emissions future.
Who founded General Motors, and when?
William C. Durant, who already ran Buick. General Motors was incorporated on 16 September 1908 as a holding company that would include Buick and Oldsmobile.
When did GM change its logo to lowercase?
In January 2021. It replaced the blue square with a white, underlined capital GM that had been in use, with small refreshes, since 1964.
Is the GM logo on GM cars?
Mostly not on the grille. GM’s cars carry their brand badges, such as Chevrolet or Cadillac. The 2021 GM logo was designed mainly for digital use, and GM said it would appear in small details such as window glass as vehicles were updated.
Road carts to the plug-shaped m: the GM register
- Founded
- 1908
- Founder
- William C. Durant
- Country
- United States
- Headquarters
- Detroit, USA
- Current emblem
- A lowercase gm with an underlined m inside a rounded square, in a gradient of blue, introduced in 2021
- Known for
- Chevrolet, Buick, GMC and Cadillac, and the blue square GM badge
- Website
- Official website ↗
