GMC

GMC

Type	Division of GM
Founded	1901
Founder(s)	Max Grabowsky
Headquarters	Detroit, Michigan, United States
Industry	Automobile
Products	Trucks
Parent	General Motors Company
Website	gmc.com

GMC (General Motors Truck Company) is a brand name used on trucks, vans, and SUVs marketed in North America and the Middle East by General Motors Company. In January 2007, GMC was GM's 2nd largest-selling light vehicle division after Chevrolet, ahead of Pontiac.

History

GMC Truck, from a 1919 advertisement

In 1901, Max Grabowsky established a company called the "Rapid Motor Vehicle Company", which developed some of the earliest commercial trucks ever designed. The trucks utilized one-cylinder engines. In 1909, the company was purchased by General Motors to form the basis for the General Motors Truck Company, from which GMC Truck was derived.

Another independent manufacturer purchased by GM that same year was Reliance Motor Car Company. Rapid & Reliance were merged in 1911, and in 1912 the marque "GMC Truck" was first shown at the New York International Auto Show. Some 22,000 trucks were produced that year, though GMC's contribution to that total was a mere 372 units.

In 1916, a GMC Truck crossed the country from Seattle to New York City in thirty days, and in 1926, a 2-ton GMC truck was driven from New York to San Francisco in 5 days and 30 minutes. During the Second World War, GMC Truck produced 600,000 trucks for use by the U.S. military.

In 1925, GM purchased the controlling interest in Yellow Coach, a bus manufacturer based in Chicago, Illinois which was founded by John D. Hertz. After purchasing the remaining portion in 1943, GM renamed it GM Truck and Coach Division, and it manufactured transit and inter-urban buses in Canada and the United States until the 1980s. GM faced increased competition in the late 1970s and 1980s and stopped producing buses soon after. In 1987, GMC later sold their bus models to Transportation Manufacturing Corporation (also under Motor Coach Industries in Canada) and later NovaBus.

In 2002, GMC released a book entitled, GMC: The First 100 Years, that explained the company's complete history.

GMC currently manufactures SUVs, pickup trucks, vans, light-duty trucks, and medium-duty trucks. In the past, GMC also produced fire trucks, ambulances, heavy-duty trucks, military vehicles, motorhomes, and transit buses.

Similarities to Chevrolets

Although GMC and Chevrolet trucks are mostly identical, their differences have varied throughout the years. While Chevrolet is sold solely at Chevrolet dealers, GMC are made available to franchisees of Buick, Pontiac, Cadillac. GMC have slight trims differences from Chevrolets (i.e. grille, emblems, and other minor aesthetics). Between 1962 and 1972, most GMC vehicles were equipped with quad-headlights, while their Chevrolet counterparts were equipped with dual-headlights. Starting in 1973, with GM’s introduction of the new "rounded line" series trucks, GMC and Chevrolet trucks became even more similar, ending production of GMC’s quad-headlight models, and setting the standard for the Chevrolet/GMC line of trucks for over thirty years. During this period, the sister models of the two companies (Silverado/Sierra, Blazer/Jimmy, Tahoe/Yukon, etc) shared everything except trims and price. GM has recently begun a divergence in design between the two lines with the 2007 model Silverados and Sierras, which have slight differences in the shapes of their body panels and overall looks.

Today, for the most part, GMC offers the same trucks available under the Chevrolet brand. A Sprint, for example, was a rebadged Chevrolet El Camino, the Sierra is a rebadged Chevrolet Silverado, etc. Alongside sister brand Cadillac, all three share the Suburban/Tahoe SUV platform due to Cadillac's upscale Escalade and Escalade ESV brands, with GMC's Yukon Denali being more close to the Escalades.

In the United States GMC is usually sold by dealers in combination with Buick or Pontiac, typically at lower volumes than the equivalent Chevrolet trucks. GMC's trucks, vans, and SUVs offer more options and standard features than Chevrolet, while Chevrolet is often offered as an entry-level car. In Canada, GMC is sold by Pontiac-Buick-GMC dealerships, usually at volumes equivalent or greater than the comparable Chevrolet trucks.

In 2007, GMC introduced the Acadia, a crossover SUV, which is the company's first unibody vehicle.

In 2009, GMC will introduce the all-new Terrain, a mid-size crossover SUV based on GM's Theta platform which will slot below the Acadia as GMC's smallest crossover. Its predecessor, the GMT-360 based Envoy, was discontinued with the closure of GM's Moraine, Ohio plant on December 23, 2008.

Future of the GMC brand

On April 16, 2009, reports began spreading that GM was exploring the possibility of eliminating the GMC brand as a way to restructure its bankruptcy plan. The speculation was based on rumored reports from automotive websites and business publications after a story involving a study that might point to indications that the brand could be eliminated altogether along with sister brand Buick found its way onto the press despite a GM statement that it was just a rumor. There are some who believe that GMC could survive the ax, since GM has stated in earlier stories that it wants to keep the GMC brand in the GM automotive family.

On April 24, 2009, people familiar with the decision at General Motors said that the company would be dropping the Pontiac brand while preserving the GMC truck line, as well as the Chevrolet, Cadillac and Buick brands.

In December 2007, GM announced its intention to sell GM's medium-duty truck business, whose products include the Chevrolet Kodiak and GMC Topkick, to Navistar International. In August 2008, both GM and Navistar announced that their memorandum of understanding for the purchase had expired and was not renewed . After four years of working with multiple potential buyers, including an anticipated five-year deal with Isuzu Motors announced late in January 2009 to take over the production line in Flint, Michigan, General Motors decided to wind-down its medium-duty truck operations. Production of the Chevy Kodiak and GMC Topkick medium duty trucks in Flint ceased on July 31, 2009.

GMC models

Light-dutyTrucks

Model	Introduced	Discontinued	Notes
C and K Series	1960	1988	half–, three-quarter– and one-ton trucks, with Sierra, Sierra Grande, High Sierra, and Sierra Classic trim lines
Sprint	1971	1977
Caballero	1978	1987
S-15	1982	1990
Sierra	1988	current
Sierra 3500	1988	current
Syclone	1991
Sonoma	1991	2004
Sonoma GT	1992	1992
Topkick Pickup	1997	1997
Canyon	2004	current

Medium-duty Trucks

Model	Introduced	Discontinued	Notes
P-Chassis	1950s?	current	Value Vans
L-Series	1960	c.1984	Steel Tilt Cab
TopKick	1980	1996
C-Series	1980	2009
Forward	1980s	2010
W-Series	late 1980s	2010
T-Series	1994	2010
TopKick	2003	2009

Heavy-duty Trucks

Model	Introduced	Discontinued	Notes
DLR/F/“Crackerbox”	1959	1968
B-Series	1960s	1960s
HM 9500	1965	1976
Astro 95	1968	1988
JH 9500	1971	1978
General	1977	1988
Brigadier	1978	1988

Buses

Model	Introduced	Discontinued	Notes
P-series	1940s	1980	“Parlor” (highway) coaches
“Old Look”	1940	1969	transit
“New Look”	1959	1986	transit
RTS	1977	1987	transit
Classic	1982	1987	transit
B-series	1966	2003	school bus
S-series			school bus

Vans

Model	Introduced	Discontinued	Notes
Gaucho
Gypsy
Handi-Bus	1964	1970
Handi-Van	1964	1970
MagnaVan
Rally	1970	1996
Rally Wagon
Vandura	1970	1996
Safari	1985	2005
Savana	1996	current

SUVs

Model	Introduced	Discontinued	Notes
Suburban	1937	1999	Similar to Yukon XL
Jimmy	1969	2005
Tracker	1989	1991	Canada only
Typhoon	1992	1993
Yukon	1992	current
Envoy	1998	2000
Yukon XL	2000	current
Envoy	2002	2009
Acadia	2007	current
Terrain	2010	current

Motorhomes

Model	Introduced	Discontinued	Notes
GMC motorhome	1973	1978

Military Vehicles

Model	Introduced	Discontinued	Notes
CCKW	1943	1945?
DUKW	1943	1945?

Gallery

A 1966 GMC C-3000 or C-3500 converted for railroad service in Pennsylvania.

New York City Omnibus 2969 is an “Old Look” TDH-5101 built in 1949.

A 1968-vintage Suburban-type New Look bus.

A 1948 PD-3751 bus built for Greyhound Lines.

See also

• List of automobile manufacturers
• Orion Bus Industries
• Gillig Corporation
• Millennium Transit Services LLC
• Motor Coach Industries
• Neoplan USA
• New Flyer Industries
• North American Bus Industries
• Nova Bus
• Prevost Car

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

GMC vehicles

• GMC Homepage