center in detroit michigan usa . type public traded as nyse gm s & p 500 component industry automotive founded september 16 1908 ; 108 years ago 1908 09 16 as general motors corporation august 11 2009 2009 08 11 as general motors company 1 founder william c. durant charles stewart mott frederic l. smith citation needed headquarters detroit michigan u.s. number of locations 396 facilities on six continents 2 area served worldwide except north korea cuba iran sudan and syria key people dan ammann president mary barra ceo products automobiles automobile parts commercial vehicles production output 9 958 000 vehicles 2015 3 services vehicle financing revenue us 152.35 billion 2015 4 operating income us 5.346 billion 2015 4 net income us 9.687 billion 2015 4 total assets us 194.52 billion 2015 4 total equity us 39.87 billion 2015 4 number of employees 216 000 2015 2 divisions buick chevrolet cadillac gmc subsidiaries list transportation jie fang opel opc holden hsv wuling baojun vauxhall vxr financial services gm financial others logistics gm goodwrench industrial acdelco dmax gm components holdings international general motors am rica do sul general motors do brasil gm colmotores colombia general motors canada cami automotive general motors china general motors de mexico general motors india csipl gm korea company chevrolet europe gm vietnam gm uzbekistan gm egypt general motors south africa general motors japan opel group website www.gm.com index.html footnotes references 5 general motors company 1 commonly known as gm is an american multinational corporation headquartered in detroit michigan that designs manufactures markets and distributes vehicles and vehicle parts and sells financial services . the current company general motors company llc new gm was formed in 2009 as a part of its 2009 bankruptcy restructuring after the bankruptcy of general motors corporation old gm . the new company purchased the majority of the assets of old gm including the name general motors . general motors produces vehicles in 37 countries under twelve brands chevrolet buick gmc cadillac holden hsv opel vauxhall wuling baojun jie fang and ravon . 6 7 8 contents 1 business units 2 history 2.1 chapter 11 bankruptcy 3 corporate governance 3.1 financial results 4 world presence 4.1 north america 4.2 south america 4.3 europe 4.4 asia 4.5 africa 4.6 oceania 5 motorsports 6 research and development 7 small car sales 8 environmental initiatives 8.1 hybrid electric vehicles 8.2 all electric vehicles 8.3 battery packs for electric vehicles 8.4 hydrogen initiative 8.5 flexible fuel vehicles 9 philanthropy 10 brand reorganization 10.1 discontinued brands 10.2 former subsidiaries 10.3 current affiliates 10.4 former affiliates 10.5 spin offs 11 controversies 11.1 ralph nader and the corvair 11.2 defective ignition system investigation 12 see also 13 references 14 further reading 15 external links business units edit in addition to its twelve brands general motors also holds a 20 % stake in imm and a 77 % stake in gm korea . it also has a number of joint ventures including shanghai gm saic gm wuling and faw gm in china gm avtovaz in russia ghandhara industries in pakistan gm uzbekistan general motors india general motors egypt and isuzu truck south africa . general motors employs 212 000 people and does business in more than 140 countries . 2 general motors is divided into five business segments gm north america gmna opel group gm international operations gmio gm south america gmsa and gm financial . 9 12 13 general motors led global vehicle sales for 77 consecutive years from 1931 through 2007 longer than any other automaker and is currently among the world s largest automakers by vehicle unit sales . 10 general motors acts in most countries outside the u.s. via wholly owned subsidiaries but operates in china through 10 joint ventures . 18 96 9 gm s onstar subsidiary provides vehicle safety security and information services . in 2009 general motors shed several brands closing saturn pontiac and hummer and emerged from a government backed chapter 11 reorganization . in 2010 the reorganized gm made an initial public offering that was one of the world s top five largest ipos to date and returned to profitability later that year . 11 in march 2016 general motors bought cruise automation a san francisco self driving vehicle start up to develop self driving cars that could be used in ride sharing fleets . 12 13 history edit main article history of general motors the company was formed on september 16 1908 in flint michigan as a holding company controlled by william c. durant owner of buick . 14 at the beginning of the 20th century there were fewer than 8 000 automobiles in america and durant had become a leading manufacturer of horse drawn vehicles in flint before making his foray into the automotive industry . 15 gm s co founder was charles stewart mott whose carriage company was merged into buick prior to gm s creation . over the years mott became the largest single stockholder in gm and spent his life with his mott foundation which has benefited the city of flint his adopted home . gm acquired oldsmobile later that year . in 1909 durant brought in cadillac elmore oakland and several others . also in 1909 gm acquired the reliance motor truck company of owosso michigan and the rapid motor vehicle company of pontiac michigan the predecessors of gmc truck . durant along with r. s. mclaughlin lost control of gm in 1910 to a bankers trust because of the large amount of debt taken on in its acquisitions coupled with a collapse in new vehicle sales . 16 the longest lived continuous automobile nameplate still in production in the world is the chevrolet suburban 17 the next year durant started the chevrolet motor car company in the u.s. and in canada in 1915 and through this he secretly purchased a controlling interest in gm . durant took back control of the company after one of the most dramatic proxy wars in american business history . durant then reorganized general motors company into general motors corporation in 1916 merging chevrolet with gm and merging general motors of canada limited as an ally in 1918 . shortly thereafter he again lost control this time for good after the new vehicle market collapsed . alfred p. sloan was picked to take charge of the corporation and led it to its post war global dominance when the seven manufacturing facilities operated by chevrolet before gm acquired the company began to contribute to gm operations . these facilities were added to the individual factories that were exclusive to cadillac buick oldsmobile oakland and other companies acquired by gm . this unprecedented growth of gm would last into the early 1980s when it employed 349 000 workers and operated 150 assembly plants . chapter 11 bankruptcy edit main article general motors chapter 11 reorganization the 2nd generation buick lacrosse has been cited as an example of a gm s revival following its restructing in the aftermath of the great recession . 18 19 on july 10 2009 general motors emerged from government backed chapter 11 reorganization after an initial filing on june 8 2009 . 20 21 through the troubled asset relief program the us treasury invested 49.5 billion in general motors and recovered 39 billion when it sold its shares on december 9 2013 resulting in a loss of 10.3 billion . the treasury invested an additional 17.2 billion into gm s former financing company gmac now ally . the shares in ally were sold on december 18 2014 for 19.6 billion netting 2.4 billion . 22 23 a study by the center for automotive research found that the gm bailout saved 1.2 million jobs and preserved 34.9 billion in tax revenue . 24 also in 2009 as part general motors chapter 11 bankruptcy the company shed several brands closing saturn pontiac and hummer while selling saab automobile to dutch automaker spyker and emerged from a government backed chapter 11 reorganization . in 2010 the reorganized gm made an initial public offering that was one of the world s top five largest ipos to date and returned to profitability later that year . 11 25 26 corporate governance edit gm world headquarters in detroit based on global sales general motors is routinely among the world s largest automakers . 27 headquartered at the renaissance center in detroit gm employs approximately 202 000 people around the world . in 2009 general motors sold 6.5 million cars and trucks globally ; in 2010 it sold 8.4 million . as of 2016 update mary barra is the chief executive officer ceo and chairman of the board and daniel ammann is the president . 28 the head of design edward t. welburn was the first african american to lead a global automotive design organization and as of 2014 update the highest ranking african american in the us motor industry . 29 30 as part of the company s advertising ed whitacre announced the company s 60 day money back guarantee and repayment of 6.7 billion loan from government ahead of schedule . 31 on december 12 2013 gm announced that mary barra 51 executive vice president global product development purchasing and supply chain was elected by the board of directors to become the next ceo of the company succeeding dan akerson on january 15 2014 . barra also joined the gm board . 32 from june 2009 to march 2011 the company had three chief executive officers and three chief financial officers . 33 34 financial results edit the company has reported annual profits since 2010 . it can carry forward previous losses to reduce tax liability on future earnings . it earned 4.7 billion in 2010 . the wall street journal estimated the tax break including credits for costs related to pensions and other expenses can be worth as much as 45 billion over the next 20 years . 35 in 2010 general motors ranked second on the list with 8.5 million units produced globally . 36 in 2011 gm returned to the first place with 9.025 million units sold worldwide corresponding to 11.9 % market share of the global motor vehicle industry . the top two markets in 2011 were china with 2 547 203 units and the united states with 2 503 820 vehicles sold . the chevrolet brand was the main contributor to gm performance with 4.76 million vehicles sold around the world in 2011 a global sales record . 37 in may 2013 during a commencement speech ceo dan akerson suggested that gm was on the cusp of rejoining the s & p 500 index . gm was removed from the index as it approached bankruptcy in 2009 . 38 on april 24 2014 cnnmoney reported that gm profits fell to 108 million for the first three months of 2014 . gm now estimates the cost of their 2014 recall due to faulty ignition switches which have been linked to at least 13 deaths at 1.3 billion . shares of gm were down 16 % for the year before the new announcement of gm s lower profits . 39 on january 4 2016 fortune reported that gm led a 1bn equity financing in the transportation network company tnc lyft.com . 40 this was gm s first investment in the ride sharing ecosystem and its reported participation 500 000 000 in the round is considered to be indicative of its efforts towards the future of driving which it believes will be connected seamless and autonomous . 41 world presence edit year u.s. sales vehicles chg yr . 1998 42 4 603 991 1999 5 017 150 9.0 % 2000 43 4 953 163 1.3 % 2001 4 904 015 1.0 % 2002 4 858 705 0.9 % 2003 4 756 403 2.1 % 2004 44 4 707 416 1.0 % 2005 4 517 730 4.0 % 2006 45 4 124 645 8.7 % 2007 46 3 866 620 6.3