The Auto Writer

100 years ago today, the General Motors Corporation was formed, one of the largest and longest enduring company on the face of the earth.

When I learned earlier this year that GM was going to celebrate their centennial on this date, I was a
bit surprised by that news as I had understood that the Buick division was founded in 1903. A quick check of my automotive history revealed that I was right, but the company we know as General Motors was founded in 1908 when Buick owner William Durant purchased Oldsmobile (itself founded in 1897), laying the foundation for GM.

Leading up to this special day, General Motors has been actively planning and rolling out new models, mostly pre-production cars we’ll see in various makes’ showrooms in the near future starting with the Chevrolet Camaro which rolls out in February 2009. GM has also shown us its plug-in hybrid, the Chevrolet Volt and its newest econocar, the Chevrolet Cruze.

We’ve also seen various Cadillac models including the CTS wagon and CTS coupe as well as the all-new SRX crossover. Buick will soon get a new LaCrosse, based on the Invicta design and both Pontiac and Saturn have new models in the works.

The one place where GM will be making the mos noise today won’t be on the streets of Detroit, though I’m sure that they’ll be some evidence in the Motor City that GM is celebrating its centennial. Rather, GM is inviting everyone to visit GMNext, its flagship blog, to keep track of all of the day’s activities.

Beginning at 8 a.m. ET, GM will be launching a pre-show leading up to its 8:30 a.m. global broadcast which will originate from Renaissance Center in Detroit and from four additional GM locations including Russelsheim, Germany; Shanghai, China; Mexico City, Mexico and Sao Paulo, Brazil. The Broadcast will highlight technologies, global products, GM leaders and future leaders from around the world. Live streaming of the event will take place on the blog.

Beginning at 10:30 a.m. EDT, three GM leaders, including Vice Chairman Bob Lutz, will be chatting with the world in the GMnext.com chat room, speaking candidly about the day’s events and what’s next for GM. The chats are open to the public. At 1:30 p.m. the automaker will launch a roundtable discussion about the next 100 years of transportation.

Happy 100th Anniversary, GM!

(Source: General Motors)

Update: I managed to catch the entire morning global broadcast, but my schedule kept me from getting back to GM before the day’s events came to a close. I was impressed by the “show” as GM did a very good job of going to its various far-flung locations to interview local managers, staff, and assembly line workers. I came away from the event with a much deeper appreciation of the scope and breadth of the automaker, a company who derives about two-thirds of its sales outside of the US.

As for the official roll out for the Chevrolet Volt, GM’s plugin hybrid, I must say that the live footage made the Volt look much more attractive than the photographs which were leaked out on September 8th. Nice Chevrolet styling cues with the grille, sporty lines, and I like the tapered rear deck area. Much better looking than what I thought and an improvement on the concept, in my opinion.