Briefly describe the major automobile brands under General Motors, briefly describe their development history, and explain the cultural connotation of their car logos

Brands

1. Buick

On May 19, 1903, David Buick (David Buick) with the help of Briscoe Brothers Created Buick Motor Company. In 1908, its output reached 8,820 vehicles, ranking first in the United States, and General Motors was established with Buick as the center. Buick is General Motors' second-largest division. Buick cars are characterized by high horsepower, personalization, practicality and maturity.

Buick’s logo is three shields. Their arrangement gives people a feeling of starting high and constantly climbing, symbolizing a spirit of positivity and continuous climbing. The word Buick is the name of the company's founder, David Buick.

2. Chevrolet

Chevrolet's international brand pedigree has been passed down for nearly a century. It is General Motors's largest sales brand in the world, with total global sales since the launch of its first product in 1912. It has exceeded 100 million vehicles. In 2012, Chevrolet's global sales exceeded 4.95 million vehicles, setting another record high. As the most international and popular brand under General Motors, Chevrolet has strong technical and market resources. Chevrolet's brand positioning is a popular and trustworthy international automobile brand.

Chevrolet's bow tie logo was designed by William Durant, one of the founders of General Motors, in late 1913. But there are many versions of the story of how this logo became synonymous with the Chevrolet brand. The longest-running and most widely known version, and also confirmed by Durant himself, is that Durant himself created the Chevrolet bowtie logo, which was inspired by the wallpaper design of a Paris hotel.

According to the "Chevrolet Story" officially published by Chevrolet during the 50th anniversary celebration of the Chevrolet brand in 1961: "In 1908, during a trip around the world, Durant accidentally stopped in a French hotel. Seeing the infinitely extending pattern on the wallpaper, he tore off a piece of wallpaper and showed it to his friends, thinking it would make a great car logo.”

However, there are also many references to the Chevrolet bow tie logo. There are different versions of the origin of the design, each of which can explain itself, making the origin of this logo even more mysterious, and it seems that the truth will never be revealed. Two of the many versions come from within the Durant family. In 1929, Durant's daughter Margery published a book called "My Father".

The book mentions that Durant often sat at the dining table and repeatedly scribbled car logos on pieces of paper. Margery wrote: "I think it was one night, among the cups and dishes, that he sketched the Chevrolet logo."

3. Cadillac

In 1902, Cadillac was born in Detroit, known as the American Car City. In Webster's Dictionary, Cadillac is defined as a synonym for "the most outstanding and prestigious thing of its kind"; it has been dubbed the "world standard" by the Royal Automobile Club of London, which has always been known for its pursuit of ultimate nobility.

The Cadillac logo is a concentrated expression of its spiritual connotation. From the changes in the Cadillac logo at various stages of development, it is not difficult to see its pursuit of unique boldness and pioneering spirit. The corolla and shield are the permanent components of the Cadillac logo. What remains unchanged, but what is different, is that since the birth of the Cadillac logo, the design of its corolla and shield has continued to show breakthrough changes in different eras, as many as 30 times in a century.

This fully reflects Cadillac’s confidence and courage: while inheriting the essence of the courage and honor of the founder of the city of Detroit, it continues to inject bold and forward-looking design concepts into its products.

At the beginning of this century, Cadillac once again made a refreshing change to its logo.

The new logo has bright colors and sharp outlines. The overall color is platinum as the background color, while the corolla retains the original color combination: gold and pure black contrast, symbolizing wisdom and wealth; the shield is composed of blocks of different colors:

Red symbolizes bold action and the pursuit of innovation, silver represents purity, kindness, virtue and satisfaction, and blue represents the heroic spirit of chivalry. The new logo once again outlines the classic, noble and elegant elements that are present in the Cadillac brand at the same time. Breakthrough spirit.

4. GMC

The GMC truck first appeared as a nameplate at the 1912 New York International Auto Show. GMC produced 372 trucks that year. GMC's predecessor was the "Rapid Motor Vehicle Company", which General Motors acquired in 1909 and merged with the later-acquired "Reliance Motor Car Company" to form the General Motors Truck Company.

During World War II, GMC produced 600,000 trucks for use by the U.S. military. In 1960, GMC began to transition into producing trucks for personal use, and that year launched the Sierra, the brand's first full-size pickup truck for personal use.

5. Baojun

On July 18, 2010, SAIC-GM-Wuling, one of General Motors' joint ventures in China, officially released the new passenger car brand "Baojun Automobile" with the logo China's leader in mini-cars has begun to officially enter the emerging sedan market.

"Baojun" means "good horse", and the brand is positioned as a "reliable partner". With the brand spirit of "optimism and enterprising, steady and reliable, shrewd and confident", it aims to provide users with " "A valuable automotive product that you are proud to own", and its brand statement is "with international quality and high reliability, low ownership and use costs, maximizing customer ownership value and exceeding customer expectations".

6. Wuling

Wuling is the registered trademark and brand of Liuzhou Wuling Automobile Co., Ltd. This logo has been fully authorized for use by SAIC-GM-Wuling. Wuling is a well-known brand in China's automobile industry and is as famous as Changan in the mini-car market.

When cars enter people's lives, they bring more joy and pride to their owners. But among the Chinese people, there is a group that regards the seemingly inconspicuous "car" as their closest companion, and they always sigh when they look back. Because year after year, this partner has struggled with me, witnessed too much bitterness, and experienced too many touches. "Wuling" is one of the brands that has most extensively integrated into the life trajectory of this group.

7. Holden

Holden is a brand that Australians are proud of. This brand has been used in Australia since 1856. At that time, Holden Company was mainly engaged in the manufacturing of transportation and metallurgical supplies. In 1918, Holden designed and manufactured car bodies for customers for the first time, and then gradually became involved in the automobile manufacturing industry.

In 1931, General Motors Australia merged with Holden Company to form the "General Motors-Holden Company". In 1936, the company established its headquarters and various departments such as production, service, and sales in Melbourne, and began the rapid development of automobile production in Australia.

By 2002, the company's annual sales reached 5.94 billion Australian dollars, and it sold 175,442 cars (some imported from the US headquarters), accounting for 19.3% of the total number of cars sold in Australia that year, ranking among the best locally. .

Houghton’s logo is a red circular relief of a lion rolling a ball. Its design is inspired by an ancient legend: the scene of an Egyptian lion rolling a stone inspired mankind to invent the wheel. Holden not only dominates the Australian car scene, but is also famous for forging powerful engines, so the red lion is even more symbolic.

Extended information

The predecessor of General Motors was the Buick Motor Company founded by David Buick in 1907. In 1908, William C. Duran, the largest carriage manufacturer in the United States, Te bought the Buick Motor Company and became the general manager of the company, while launching the C-type car.

To market the car, Durant quickly established a dealership network and attracted large orders—far beyond the company's production capacity.

By 1908, Buick Motor Company had become a major automobile manufacturer in the United States. Durant wanted to end the coexistence of hundreds of companies in the automobile industry at that time, so he strongly supported Benjamin Crisco's plan to convert Buick into , Ford, Maxwell-Brisco, Olds and other major automobile companies, but the negotiations ended in failure because Ford demanded a huge price of US$8 million.

In the same year, Durant established an automobile holding company-General Motors Company (GM) based on Buick Motor Company and Olds Motor Company. In 1909, he merged two other automobile companies- Oakland Motor Company and Cadillac Motor Company.

For 100 years, General Motors and its products have touched the lives of countless consumers around the world. After a hundred years of innovation and development, from the least promising beginning on September 16, 1908 to Alfred Sloan's famous "different wallets, different goals, different models" strategy.

From the world’s first mass-produced sports car to the first car with a fuel efficiency of 3.53 liters of fuel per 100 kilometers (80 miles per gallon); from the acquisition of world-famous cars such as Chevrolet, Opel, and Vauxhall The brand has now focused on developing new "green" propulsion technologies, and GM has developed markets far beyond the company's birthplace.