A lot of people scratched their heads over GM's decision to keep the GMC division alive as it snuffed other brands over the last decade: Oldsmobile, Hummer, Saturn, Pontiac and now, it seems, Saab. But GMC consistently hauls in the money and it also gives dealers with other franchises (GM and non-GM) a chance to tap into the lucrative light-truck market.
I remember as a kid the Chrysler dealer in my town couldn't get Dodge trucks to sell and was losing out to the Ford dealer down the road. So he snapped up a GMC franchise when it became available and never looked back.
According to GM, GMC is the second largest of the four GM brands in U.S. sales, and heads up engineering for GM pickup trucks, SUVs, and crossover vehicles. To celebrate GMC's centennial in 2012, the General gathered up some little-known historic facts about its truck builder along with some historical tidbits and cool old photographs.
· In 1912, Rapid Motor Vehicle Company was merged with two others - Reliance and Randolph - to become GMC.
· On August 1, 1909, a Rapid F-406-B - a GMC predecessor - was the first truck to reach the 14,110-foot summit of Pikes Peak.
· If GMC was a standalone manufacturer, it would be the 10th-largest automaker in the United States in terms of total vehicle sales. (From January to November of 2011).
· GMC built some of the world's earliest electric vehicles from 1912-1917. These trucks had single-digit model names, each denoting load capacity, from one-half-ton to 12 tons.
· GMC was tasked with engineering and production of the eight 1936 Parade of Progress vans and the dozen 1941 Futurliners, which toured the country carrying mobile road shows. Above, the 33-foot-long, 11-foot-high, 33,000-pound streamliners are pictured traveling through San Bernardino, California.
· During World War II, GMC manufactured approximately 584,000 military vehicles of more than a dozen different types, including the CCKW-353 "Deuce-and-a-Half" and the amphibious "Duck." The Deuce and a Half, shown above being assembled in Pontiac, Michigan, was the most prevalent GMC military vehicle, with over 560,000 examples built over the course of the war.
· From 1973 to 1978, GMC produced motorhomes in 23- and 26-foot lengths. They appeared in Bill Murray's 1981 movie Stripes and the 1996 blockbuster Twister. A 1973 model is shown here with the optional roof-mounted air conditioner.
Source: [Hemmings Blog]
