type division industry automotive predecessors rapid motor vehicle company reliance motor car company founded july 22 1911 ; 105 years ago 1911 07 22 founder william c. durant headquarters detroit michigan u.s. area served worldwide products automobiles commercial vehicles trucks services vehicle financing vehicle insurance parent general motors website gmc.com gmc general motors truck company formally the gmc division of general motors llc is a division of the american automobile manufacturer general motors gm that primarily focuses on trucks and utility vehicles . gmc sells pickup and commercial trucks buses vans military vehicles and sport utility vehicles marketed worldwide by general motors . contents 1 history 2 similarity to chevrolet 3 gmc models 3.1 light duty trucks 3.2 medium duty trucks 3.3 heavy duty trucks 3.4 buses 3.5 vans 3.6 suvs 3.7 motorhomes 3.8 military vehicles 3.9 gallery 4 see also 5 references 6 external links history edit gmc truck from a 1919 advertisement general motors was founded by william c. durant on september 16 1908 as a holding company for buick . 1 in 1909 gm purchased the rapid motor vehicle company of pontiac michigan forming the basis of the general motors truck company from which the gmc truck brand name was derived . rapid was established on december 22 1901 by max grabowsky . the company developed some of the earliest commercial trucks ever designed and utilized one cylinder engines . the reliance motor car company another independent manufacturer was also purchased that same year by gm . rapid and reliance were merged in 1911 and in 1912 the marque gmc truck first appeared on vehicles exhibited at the new york international auto show . some 22 000 trucks were produced that year though gmc s contribution to that total was a mere 372 units . gmc had some currency within gm referring to the corporate parent in general . later gmc would become distinct as a division brand within the corporation branding trucks and coaches ; in contrast the abbreviation for the overall corporation eventually ended up as gm . gmc maintained three manufacturing locations in pontiac michigan oakland california and saint 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 second world war gmc truck produced 600 000 trucks for use by the united states armed forces . in 1925 gm purchased a controlling interest in yellow coach a bus manufacturer based in chicago illinois which was founded by john d. hertz . after purchasing the remaining portion in 1943 gm renamed it gm truck and coach division . the division manufactured interurban coaches until 1980 . transit bus production ended in may 1987 . 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 . 2 in 1998 gmc s official branding on vehicles was shortened from gmc truck to simply gmc . in 2002 gmc released a book entitled gmc the first 100 years a complete history of the company . gmc currently manufactures suvs pickup trucks vans light duty trucks and medium duty trucks . in the past gmc also produced fire trucks ambulances heavy duty trucks military vehicles motorhomes and transit buses . similarity to chevrolet edit 2006 gmc sierra 2010 chevrolet silverado 1946 chevrolet pickup 1941 gmc model 9314 1919 gmc tanker 1920 chevrolet tow truck starting in 1920 gmc and chevrolet trucks are virtually identical except for the grilles and nameplates though their differences have varied over the years . from 1955 through 1959 small less than 2 ton gmc trucks with gasoline v8s were equipped with pontiac buick and oldsmobile v8s the canadian trucks used chevrolet engines . gmc had its own line of inline 6 cylinder engines known as jimmy s from 1939 1959 and their own v6 from 1960 1974 . chevrolet trucks were marketed towards private ownership while gmc was focused towards commercial uses . new chevrolet vehicles are sold exclusively at chevrolet dealerships gmc light trucks have recently been made available to buick and cadillac dealerships with previous pontiac and oldsmobile dealerships also having similar arrangements and separate franchises exist for medium and light duty commercial models as well . this crossover allowed gm dealers that did not sell chevrolets to offer full lineups of both cars and trucks by offering gmc s trucks alongside non truck divisions . between 1962 and 1972 most gmc vehicles were equipped with quad headlights while their chevrolet clones were equipped with dual headlights . in 1971 gmc marketed their version of the chevrolet el camino which was based on the chevrolet chevelle . called sprint it was virtually identical to the el camino and a sport version the sp was equivalent to the el camino ss . in 1973 with gm s introduction of the new rounded line series trucks gmc and chevrolet trucks became even more similar ending production of gmc s quad headlight models and setting the standard for the chevrolet gmc line of trucks for over thirty years . during this period the companies sister models silverado sierra blazer jimmy tahoe yukon etc. shared everything except for trims and prices . gm has recently begun a divergence in design between the two lines with the 2007 model silverados and sierras which have some differences in sheet metal and style . citation needed in 1996 gm merged gmc with the pontiac division in order to give pontiac dealerships a line of trucks mainly to allow pontiac dealers to compete with chevrolet which offered a full lineup of vehicles . while many gmc and chevrolet trucks are mechanically identical gmc is positioned as a premium offering to the mainstream chevrolet brand with luxury vehicles such as the denali series . the profitability of the gmc brand helped its survival in 2009 during the general motors chapter 11 reorganization and after the discontinuation of the pontiac brand many buick franchises also sell gmc light duty vehicles in the united states and canada . in 2007 gmc introduced the acadia a crossover suv which was the division s first unibody vehicle 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 introduced the terrain a mid size crossover suv based on gm s theta platform which slots below the acadia as gmc s smallest crossover replacing the pontiac torrent and sharing no sheetmetal with the chevrolet equinox . gmc models edit light duty trucks edit model introduced discontinued notes c and e series 3 1941 1947 little difference with the chevrolet art deco trucks new design series 1947 1955 little difference with the chevrolet advance design trucks blue chip series 1955 1959 pontiac powered similar to the chevrolet task force trucks c and k series 1960 1998 half three quarter and one ton trucks with sierra sierra grande high sierra and sierra classic trim lines sprint 1971 1977 coupe utility gmc version of the 1971 to 1977 chevrolet el camino caballero 1978 1987 coupe utility gmc version of the 1978 to 1987 chevrolet el camino s 15 1982 1990 became the sonoma in 1991 sonoma 1991 2004 formerly the s 15 1982 1990 syclone 1991 1991 high performance version of the sonoma sierra 1996 current gmc version of chevrolet silverado medium and heavy duty pickup canyon 2004 current gmc version of chevrolet colorado midsize pickup medium duty trucks edit 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 1996 c series 1960 2009 forward 1980s 2010 w series late 1980s 2010 rebranded isuzu elf t series 1994 2010 topkick 2003 2009 model used for ironhide in the transformers film series heavy duty trucks edit a 1972 gmc hm 7500 truck carrying a medium sized excavator . model introduced discontinued notes dlr f crackerbox 1959 1968 aluminium tilt cab b model 1960 1966 7500 1963 1978 9500 1966 1978 astro 95 1968 1988 general 1977 1988 brigadier 1978 1988 buses edit model introduced discontinued notes p series 1940s 1980 parlor highway coaches old look 1940 1969 transit new look 1959 1986 transit rts 1977 1987 transit classic 1982 1987 transit b series 1966 2003 school bus s series 1986 1989 school bus forward control vans edit model introduced discontinued notes handi van 1964 1970 handi bus 1964 1970 rally 1970 1996 gmc version of the chevrolet sportvan vandura 1970 1996 gmc version of the chevrolet chevy van safari 1985 2005 gmc version of the chevrolet astro savana 1996 current gmc version of the chevrolet express suvs edit model introduced discontinued notes suburban 1937 2000 rebranded as yukon xl jimmy 1969 2005 gmc version of the chevrolet blazer s 15 jimmy 1983 2005 tracker 1989 1991 canada only typhoon 1992 1993 high performance version of the s 15 jimmy yukon 1992 current gmc version of the chevrolet tahoe envoy 1998 2009 gmc version of the chevrolet trailblazer yukon hybrid 2009 2013 gmc version of chevrolet tahoe hybrid and cadillac escalade hybrid yukon xl 2001 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 motorhomes edit model introduced discontinued notes gmc motorhome 1973 1978 military vehicles edit model introduced discontinued notes cckw ccw 1941 1945 afkwx 1941 1945 cab over engine dukw 1942 1945 amphibious gallery edit 1947 gmc cabover truck a 1966 gmc k1500 converted for railroad service in pennsylvania . new york city omnibus 2969 is an old look tdh 5101 built in 1949 . a 1968 vintage suburban type new look bus . a 1948 pd 3751 bus built for greyhound lines . cckw 353 afkwx 353 c.o.e. dukw amphibian see also edit companies portal general motors history of general motors references edit this article includes a list of references but its sources remain unclear because it has insufficient inline citations . please help to improve this article by introducing more precise citations . june 2008 learn how and when to remove this template message jacobs timothy 1992 . a history of general motors . new york smithmark publishers . p. 10 . isbn 0 8317 4480 4 . stauss ed 1988 . the bus world encyclopedia of buses . woodland hills ca stauss publications . pp. 29 32 87 102 105 . isbn 0 9619830 0 0 . a brief outline of the first century of gmc truck history . gm heritage center . retrieved 5 february 2015 . external links edit wikimedia commons has media related to gmc vehicles . gmc homepage canadian gmc homepage gmc history gm s website official gmc middle east v t e gmc a marque of general motors current models suvs crossovers acadia terrain yukon yukon xl pickup trucks canyon sierra vans savana cargo savana passenger historic models vans suvs envoy jimmy safari typhoon vandura commercial trucks pickup trucks ak series advance design astro 95 blue chip brigadier c and k series caballero general s 15 sonoma sprint syclone topkick buses b series p series motorhomes gmc motorhome concept vehicles denali xt granite terracross terradyne category commons v t e gmc a marque of general motors light truck