1897 -Olds Motor Vehicle Company, Inc., the oldest unit of General Motors Corporation, is organized by Ransom E. Olds with capital of $50,000 and the first Oldsmobile is produced. 1902 -Cadillac Automobile Company is organized in Detroit by Henry M. Leland. 1903 -Buick Motor Company, founded by David Dunbar Buick, is incorporated on May 19, 1903. 1904 -William Crapo, Durant of Durant-Dort Carriage Company, Flint, Michigan, takes control of Buick Motor Company on November 1, 1904. 1906 -Buick builds its first production four-cylinder car, a 1907 Model D.
1908 -Oldsmobile becomes the second company to join General Motors when Olds Motor Works is sold to GM on Nov. 12, 1908. 1909 -General Motors purchases Cadillac for $5.5 million on July 29, 1909. 1911 -General Motors Truck Company (later known as GMC) is organized on July 22, 1911
-Chevrolet Motor Company of Michigan is incorporated in November of 1911. 1912 -Cadillac adopts the electric self-starter as standard equipment. 1914 -Cadillac is the first manufacturer in the U.S. to produce a V-type, water-cooled, eight-cylinder engine.
1918 -General Motors buys the operating assets of Chevrolet Motor Company in May. 1926 -The first Pontiac car is introduced by Oakland. The "Chief of the Sixes," a 6-cylinder car, is launched at the 1926 New York Auto Show.
1930 -The 1930 Cadillac "V-16" is the industry's first production car to offer sixteen- cylinder engine and immediately sets a new standard for power, performance, and luxury.
1945 -The Buick-Oldsmobile-Pontiac Assembly Division is organized. It later becomes General Motors Assembly Division in 1965. 1953 -The Chevrolet Corvette is introduced. It is the first volume production sports car and the first production car with a plastic body to be produced in quantity.
1957 -The Bonneville model, with Pontiac's first fuel injection engine, is introduced.
1963 -Chevrolet introduces its midsize Malibu as a 1964 model.
1989 -GM purchases 50 percent of Saab Automobile AB of Sweden to develop, manufacture and market Saab passenger cars worldwide. 1990 -The first Saturn car rolls off the line at Spring Hill, Tennessee on July 30.
In 2001, GM set industry sales records in the United States - its largest market - for total trucks and for sport utility vehicles. GM sold more than 1 million SUVs - a first for any automaker. GM also sold more full-size pickup trucks than any other manufacturer since 1978.
GM operates one of the world's largest and most successful financial services companies, GMAC, which offers automotive, mortgage and business financing and insurance services to customers worldwide.
Founded in 1908, GM today has manufacturing operations in more than 30 countries and its vehicles are sold in about 200 countries. In 2001, GM sold more than 8.5 million cars and trucks - more than any other automaker and 15.1 percent of the global vehicle market.