General Motors

General Motors (GM) is an American multinational automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan. Founded on September 16, 1908, in Flint, Michigan by William C. Durant, the company grew rapidly through a strategy of acquiring competing automakers before relocating its administrative heart to Detroit, where it has remained ever since. The company is most known for owning and manufacturing four automobile brands: Chevrolet, Buick, GMC, and Cadillac, each a separate division of GM. Over more than a century, General Motors has shaped Detroit's economy, its built environment, and its global identity as the Motor City.

Founding and Early Expansion

On September 16, 1908, Durant paid $2,000 to incorporate General Motors in the state of New Jersey. Durant's strategy from the outset was aggressive consolidation. To build consumer confidence and eliminate competition, Durant wanted to consolidate the largest and most reliable auto manufacturers into one large company. By 1911, Durant had acquired Cadillac, Oldsmobile, Oakland (later Pontiac), and several dozen other companies, as well as supplier firms and an electric company.

Durant, with the board's approval, also tried acquiring Ford Motor Company in 1909, for $8 million, but the banks refused to lend him the initial $2 million down payment. His ambition proved costly. In 1910, Durant lost control of the company to a banker's trust as a result of the $15 million debt incurred through its acquisitions. Durant left the firm and established the Chevrolet Motor Company in 1911, but after a stock buy-back campaign, he returned to lead GM in 1916, bringing Chevrolet into the fold.

GM was reincorporated in Detroit in 1916 as General Motors Corporation and became a public company via an initial public offering. In 1911, GM became the first automobile company to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange, providing the needed capital for expansion. The war years also proved transformative: during World War I, GM produced war materiel, and 90 percent of GM's truck production between 1917 and 1919 was for the war. Also in 1919, the General Motors Acceptance Corporation (GMAC), which provides financing to automotive customers, was formed.

Durant's leadership ended in 1920 after another bank buyout. In the 1920s, GM underwent more business restructuring headed by Alfred P. Sloan, including moving its headquarters from Flint, Michigan to the newly built GM Building in Detroit. Sloan balanced individual and centralized management, and under his control GM surpassed Ford in sales by the late 1920s.

GM's Detroit Headquarters: A Century of Moves

General Motors' physical presence in Detroit is itself a story of ambition, crisis, and renewal. In 1919, General Motors founder William C. Durant began construction of a permanent company headquarters on West Grand Boulevard between Cass and Second Avenues. The building was constructed of steel, limestone, granite, and marble between 1919 and 1923 for General Motors, designed by noted Detroit architect Albert Kahn.

When it opened in 1923, it was the second largest office building in the world in capacity. Designed in a neo-classical architectural style rising fifteen stories, it is 220 feet tall. The building was originally named after Durant, but following a power struggle at General Motors in 1921, it was renamed the General Motors Building. A "D" above the entrance and elsewhere on the building is evidence of the earlier name.

It functioned as General Motors' world headquarters from 1923 through 2000, when the headquarters moved to the Renaissance Center on the Detroit River. In 1996, GM purchased the Renaissance Center, where it moved its headquarters, while the General Motors Building was transferred to New Center Development, which oversaw the structure's renovation. Renamed Cadillac Place in honor of Detroit's founder, Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac, today it houses State of Michigan offices. The building was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1978.

Most recently, GM made its most dramatic headquarters move in decades. On April 15, 2024, GM announced that it would relocate its global headquarters from the Renaissance Center to the nearby Hudson's Detroit development in 2025. As of January 12, 2026, they have begun official occupancy of the site. Now, in the company's fourth transition, GM's newest world headquarters sits at Hudson's Detroit, the company's return to Woodward Avenue. The new space draws architectural inspiration from the company's broader Detroit roots: details of the building were drawn from inspiration by architect Eero Saarinen, who designed the Global Tech Center in Warren, Michigan.

The 2009 Bankruptcy and Federal Bailout

By the mid-2000s, General Motors faced mounting financial strain driven by falling market share, rising legacy costs, and shifting consumer preferences. General Motors alone lost almost $40 billion in 2007 and another $31 billion in 2008. On June 1, 2009, the company declared bankruptcy and received assistance from the federal government, emerging from bankruptcy in under 40 days as General Motors Company.

As part of the restructuring, the U.S. government agreed to provide the company up to $30.1 billion more. In exchange, the U.S. received a 60.8 percent stake in the company when it emerged from bankruptcy protection about a month later. The final direct cost to the Treasury of the GM bailout was $11–12 billion ($10.5 billion for General Motors and $1.5 billion for former GM financing GMAC, now known as Ally).

The economic stakes for Detroit and the broader region were enormous. A study by the Center for Automotive Research found that the GM bailout saved 1.2 million jobs and preserved $34.9 billion in tax revenue. GM went through bankruptcy protection in 2009 and was cleansed of most of its huge debt, while stockholders lost their investments. Since leaving bankruptcy, GM was profitable for 15 straight quarters, racking up almost $20 billion in net income on strong new products and rising sales in North America and China.

On December 9, 2013, the U.S. government got out of the auto business, selling its remaining shares of GM stock. One day later, GM became the first automaker to appoint a female CEO.

Leadership Under Mary Barra

Mary Teresa Barra has been the chair and chief executive officer (CEO) of General Motors since January 15, 2014. She is the first female CEO of a "Big Three" automaker. Growing up in suburban Detroit, Barra was immersed in the automotive industry from an early age. Her father worked as a skilled die maker for GM for 39 years, and the new vehicles he would occasionally bring home helped spark her early interest in engineering and the company. Barra began her career with GM in 1980 at age 18.

As CEO, Barra has pushed GM toward electric, autonomous, and Internet-enabled vehicles designed to enhance navigation, safety, and diagnostics. At the same time, she has focused on improving vehicle quality and revitalizing storied nameplates. In 2021, under Barra's leadership, GM became the first major U.S. automaker to set a goal of becoming carbon neutral by 2040. She spearheaded the company's pledge to phase out production of vehicles using internal-combustion engines and transition to an all-electric lineup by 2035.

Barra has remained committed to the electric vehicle transition even amid political and market headwinds. GM CEO Mary Barra said that electric vehicles are still the Detroit automaker's "North Star," even as the company pulls back production to match limited demand. General Motors CEO Mary Barra said the Trump administration's tariffs caused a "few-billion-dollar impact," but also praised them for "leveling the playing field." In October 2024, Barra was named the most powerful woman in business by Fortune in its annual ranking of the top 100 women in business.

GM's Role in Detroit's Economy and Identity

General Motors remains one of the most consequential institutions in Detroit's economic life. As the state's largest automotive employer, GM's success strengthens Michigan, Detroit, and the entire nation. GM alone drives about 4% of Michigan's entire GDP, directly contributing over $29 billion in 2024.

By total sales, GM has continuously been the largest automaker in the United States, and was the largest in the world for 77 years before losing the title to Toyota in 2008. General Motors operates manufacturing plants in eight countries. Beyond its core vehicle brands, GM further owns a namesake defense vehicles division which produces military vehicles for the United States government and military, the vehicle safety, security, and information services provider OnStar, the auto parts company ACDelco, and a namesake financial lending service.

The company's relationship with Woodward Avenue has proven symbolically important to Detroit. Detroit has been the home of General Motors since GM's original Detroit home on Woodward Avenue opened in 1911. With the move to Hudson's Detroit, the company is returning to Woodward Avenue and launching what it describes as a bold new era. In October 2024, General Motors increased its investment in lithium production by raising its commitment to Canadian mining company Lithium Americas from $650 million to $945 million, underscoring the depth of its investment in an electric future rooted in Detroit.