General Motors is a venerable name in American automobile history. The company’s origins date back to 1904, when a Flint, Michigan, company, the Durant-Dort Carriage Company, then the nation’s largest manufacturer of horse-drawn vehicles, saw the writing on the wall. The company’s owner, one William Durant, bought the Buick Motor Company, then in 1908 Durant formed the General Motors company, adding the Olds Motor Works and later Cadillac, Oakland (which would become Pontiac), and several others. The rest, as they say, is history.
Today, General Motors is one of America’s Big Three auto manufacturers, alongside Ford and Chrysler. The auto companies have seen some ups and downs in recent years. On Tuesday, though, General Motors announced a big “up” with the investment of $888 million into their Tonawanda Propulsion engine works in New York. The plant will…
