The emergence of the giant GM
The founding of General Motors first appeared on the paper and was again related to Henry Ford. At the end of the 19th century, a tricky lawyer named George B. Selden secured a monopoly patent. Simply put, this was the right to „tribute payments“ for any existing and future automobile. In contrast to other manufacturers Ford did not, however, and founded with other entrepreneurs an „anti-Selden syndicate“. The syndicate lost the multi-year court trial in 1909 however, and was now theoretically no longer own cars. In that dark hour Ford almost sold his company to Mr. Durant and Buick. The business, however, broke. Nevertheless, Durant, a former hand-car manufacturer, had already established the General Motors Company as a precaution the previous year.
In 1911, Ford won the appeal. The American auto industry was no longer in the way of obstacles. The turmoil of the past few years had led to a series of mergers and acquisitions. Under the umbrella of GM, the brands Buick, Oldsmobile, Cadillac and Oakland (the later Pontiac) were again found. In 1918 the brand Chevrolet was integrated into the Group. Brand diversity remained from now on a characteristic of GM, which grew inexorably, successfully expanded and finally was decades as the largest company in the world.