General Motors is one of the oldest and most popular American car companies, but like many other major automakers, GM owns quite a few brands, including a few luxury brands. Here’s a look at General Motors and the four brands that GM owns that may surprise you.

What brands does General Motors own?

According to Consumer Reports, General Motors currently owns four brands. GMC may be the least surprising one, as its name is similar to GM’s. However, the fact that GM owns Buick, Cadillac, and Chevy may be surprising. This is because both Buick and Cadillac are luxury automakers, and as a result, the two brands are competing, despite being owned by the same company.

It’s the same story for GMC and Chevy. While both companies produce some unique cars, a couple of popular cars from the two companies are practically twins. This means that not only are the cars competing with one another in the same segment, but they’re similar in terms of their design, specs, and features. An example of that is the Chevy Silverado and the GMC Sierra. 

However, GM is not making the same cars and giving them new names. For example, while both Buick and Cadillac are luxury brands GM owns, they are at different price levels. Buick is supposed to be more luxurious than a GMC or a Chevy but less luxurious than a Cadillac. Similarly, the Chevy Corvette is unique to Chevy, and GM’s other brands don’t have a car similar to the Corvette.

A brief history of General Motors

The fact that GM owns four popular car brands is something that goes back to 1908, when GM was first founded. This was because when GM was founded, the company was essentially multiple car companies that were now under the same leadership. Those automakers were Buick, Cadillac, Ewing, Marquette, Oakland, Oldsmobile, Rapid, and Reliance. 

In 1911, GM founded GMC, and it did so by merging Rapid and Reliance into GMC. Chevy was also founded in 1911 and merged with GM in 1918. Throughout the years, most of the other car brands that GM owned died off. For example, Oakland turned into Pontiac before GM killed off Pontiac in 2010. One of the main reasons why GM killed off Pontiac was because of the Great Recession, which bankrupted GM. 

GM and its brands have a lot of exciting offerings that are coming soon

The bankruptcy was a bad time for GM, but the Michigan-based automaker has emerged stronger than ever. GM is still one of the major American automakers, and GM’s lineup is one of the main reasons why it’s stood the test of time. In terms of GM’s future offerings, GM has a lot of hype around two big EVs. The first is the Silverado EV, which will be a strong competitor in the electric pickup truck segment. 

Another big, highly-anticipated EV from GM is, of course, the GMC Hummer EV. The original Hummer had a reputation for being bad for the environment, and GM hopes to give the Hummer a new lease on life by making it an EV. The Hummer EV gets over 300 miles of range while having over 1,000 hp, so it’s no surprise that fans are excited to get their hands on one.