History of General Motors History of General Motors The history of General Motors (GM), one of the world's largest car and truck manufacturers, reaches back more than a century and involves a vast scope of industrial activity around the world, mostly focused on motorized transportation and the engineering and manufacturing that make it possible. Founded in 1908 as a holding company in Flint, Michigan, as of 2012 it employs approximately 209,000 people around the world. With global headquarters at the Renaissance Center in Detroit, Michigan, United States, General Motors manufactures cars and trucks in 35 countries. In 2008, 8.35 million GM cars and trucks
General Motors Firebird immobile, trapped in an insufferable freeway traffic jam. In a flashforward to the future, they are cruising at high speed in air conditioned comfort along an automated freeway (with no other vehicles to be seen) in their turbine-powered Firebird. The movie's concept (now more than fifty years old) was that this future was not unreasonably remote, and General Motors would provide it—and yet it is consistent with current projections (2008) for future automotive travel using electronic vehicle control and improved highway infrastructure. General Motors Firebird The General Motors Firebird comprises a quartet of prototype cars that General Motors engineered for