GMC: История грузовиков и внедорожников General Motors

Utility vehicle brand

GMC (formerly the General Motors Truck Company (1911–1943), or the GMC Truck & Coach Division (1943–1998)) is a division of American automotive manufacturer General Motors (GM) for trucks and utility vehicles. GMC currently makes SUVs, pickup trucks, vans, and light duty trucks. In the past, GMC also produced fire trucks, ambulances, heavy duty trucks, military vehicles, motorhomes, transit buses, and medium duty trucks. While many of their vehicles are mechanically similar, GMC is positioned as a premium offering to the mainstream Chevrolet brand, and includes the luxury trim Denali. In North America, GMC vehicles are almost always sold alongside Buick (another premium brand) vehicles at multi brand dealerships.

Roots to the GMC brand can be traced to 1900, when the "Grabowsky Motor Company" was established by brothers Max (1874 1946) and Morris Grabowsky, in Detroit, and renamed Rapid Motor Vehicle Company in 1902 when the brothers moved operations to Pontiac, Michigan. In 1909, William C. Durant gained control of Rapid Motor Vehicle Company and made it a subsidiary of his General Motors Company. In 1911, General Motors formed the "General Motors Truck Company" and folded Rapid and Reliance Motor Car Company (another early commercial vehicle manufacturer that Durant had acquired in 1908) into it. In 1912, the Rapid and Reliance names were dropped in favor of "GMC". All General Motors truck production was consolidated at the former Rapid Motor Plant 1 in Pontiac, Michigan. GMC maintained three manufacturing locations in Pontiac, Michigan, Oakland, California, and St. Louis, Missouri

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 five days and 30 minutes. During the First World War, the company provided the Model 16 3/4 ton truck, and modified its production to provide 1 ton troop carriers and aviation support vehicles, and by 1918, more than 90 percent of GMC truck production was for military use. GMTC provided a total of 8512 trucks to the U. S. government during the war years and earned a Distinguished Service Award. During the Second World War, GMC Truck produced 600,000 trucks for use by the United States Armed Forces. In 1923, GMC trucks were exported to Japan to help recovery and reconstruction as a result of the Great Kantō earthquake, and the company continued to provide vehicles as the transportation infrastructure was rebuilt. Before the earthquake struck, most of Japan's transportation of commerce and people was by wooden carts and government owned railroads, which were severely damaged when the train tracks were twisted beyond use. Autonomous trucks were much more effective at traveling to heavily damaged areas. In 1925, GM purchased a controlling interest in Yellow Coach, a bus and taxicab manufacturer based in Chicago, Illinois which was founded by John D. Hertz. The company was renamed Yellow Truck & Coach Manufacturing Company (YT&CMC), an affiliated subsidiary of General Motors. All manufacturing operations of General Motors Truck Company were placed under YT&CMC. In 1928 Plant 2 opened and all headquarters staff moved to the administration building at 660 South Boulevard E in Pontiac, MI. In 1943, GM purchased the remaining interest in YT&CMC and renamed it GMC Truck and Coach Division. In 1981, GMC Truck & Coach Division became part of GM Worldwide Truck & Bus Group. Bus production ended in May 1987 and the division name was changed from GMC Truck & Coach to GMC Truck Division. The Canadian plant (in London, Ontario) produced buses from 1962 until July 1987. GM withdrew from the bus and coach market because of increased competition in the late 1970s and 1980s. Rights to the RTS model were sold to Transportation Manufacturing Corporation, while Motor Coach Industries of Canada purchased the Classic design. In 1998, GMC's official branding on vehicles was shortened from "GMC Truck" to simply "GMC". In 1996, GM merged GMC Truck Division with the Pontiac Motor Division in order to "give the combined division a brand image projecting physical power and outdoor activity". This coincided with many GMC dealerships merging with Pontiac dealerships, allowing a single dealer to offer both trucks and entry to mid level cars, using a similar approach already in use by Chevrolet. In 2002, GMC celebrated its 100th anniversary and released a book entitled GMC: The First 100 Years, a complete history of the company. In 2007, GMC introduced the Acadia, a crossover SUV, which was the division's second unibody vehicle (after the Vandura) whose predecessor, the GMT 360 based Envoy, was discontinued with the closure of GM's Moraine, Ohio plant on December 23, 2008. In 2009, GMC ended production of medium duty commercial trucks after over 100 years. They became exclusive to Chevrolet with the launch of the 4500HD/5500HD Silverado in 2018. Also in 2009, GMC introduced the Terrain, a mid size crossover SUV based on the GM Theta platform shared with the Chevrolet Equinox. It replaced the Pontiac Torrent after the brand's demise. In 2020, General Motors announced the return of the Hummer nameplate, this time as a sub brand of GMC instead of a stand alone division. The Hummer lineup includes two models, an electric pickup truck and SUV, to be sold as the "GMC Hummer EV". According to GM, the Edition 1 production electric pickup truck will feature 1,000 horsepower, hit 60 mph in 3 seconds and is scheduled to launch in late 2021. The new Hummer EV was revealed on October 20, 2020. In 2022, the GMC brand was introduced in South Korea as a subsidiary of GM Korea.

Beginning in 1920, GMC and Chevrolet trucks became largely similar, built as variants of the same platform, sharing much the same body sheetwork, except for nameplates and grilles – though their differences, especially engines, have varied over the years. GMC advertising marketed its trucks to commercial buyers and businesses, whereas Chevrolet's advertising was directed towards private owners. Beginning in 1928, GMCs used Pontiac's 186 cu in six cylinder engines in their lighter trucks. Medium duty trucks relied on Oldsmobile straight 6 engines, while the heaviest trucks used GMC's own "Standard Big Brute" engine. In North America, Chevrolet offers a full lineup of cars, crossover vehicles, sport utility vehicles, and pickup trucks. GMC, however, does not offer any car models, so typically they are sold along Buick (or sometimes Cadillac) vehicles at multi brand dealerships, allowing the same dealer to sell a full lineup of upscale vehicles, including both cars and trucks. However some standalone GMC dealerships do exist, primarily for dealers who have a focus on selling to the commercial and fleet vehicle markets.

Image Model Introduced Discontinued Notes Varies, first letter denotes production year:A=1939 1940, C=1941 1945, E=1946, F=1947 1950, Z=1954, Y=1955, X=1956, T=1957, S=1958 1959, N=1960;Second letter denotes cab style:C=cab behind engine, F=cab over engine 1939 1959 Line sold to Navistar, now marketed under the WorkHorse brand. L Series 1960 c.1984 Steel Tilt Cab TopKick 1980 2002 C Series 1960 2002 Forward 1985 1997 rebadged Isuzu Elf W Series 1998 2010 Rebadged Isuzu Elf T Series 1994 2010 Rebadged Isuzu Giga TopKick 2003 2009 Model used for Ironhide in the Transformers film series

Image Model Introduced Discontinued Notes Suburban 1937 2006 Rebranded as Yukon XL for 2000, it was sold in the Middle East using the Suburban nameplate through the 2006 model year. Jimmy 1969 1991 GMC version of the Chevrolet Blazer S 15 Jimmy 1983 2005 GMC version of the Chevrolet Blazer Tracker 1989 1991 Canada only, GMC version of the Geo Tracker Typhoon 1992 1993 High performance version of the S 15 Jimmy Yukon 1992 current GMC version of the Chevrolet K5 Blazer (1992 1994) and Chevrolet Tahoe (1995–present) Envoy 1998 2009 GMC version of the Chevrolet TrailBlazer Yukon Hybrid 2008 2013 GMC version of Chevrolet Tahoe Hybrid and Cadillac Escalade Hybrid Yukon XL 2000 current Formerly the Suburban Acadia 2007 current GMC version of the Chevrolet Traverse; became a mid size crossover SUV commencing with the 2017 model year Terrain 2010 current GMC version of the Chevrolet Equinox Hummer EV SUV 2024 current Sport Utility variant of the electric Hummer EV off road sub brand

Image Model Introduced Discontinued Notes GMC motorhome 1973 1978 The only Class A recreational vehicle produced by a car manufacturer. There were 12,921 produced.