Close

Create a link to this page

Copy and paste this link tag into your Web page or blog:

<a href="http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-3404701908.html" title="Facts and informations about William Crapo Durant">William Crapo Durant</a>

William Crapo Durant

William Crapo Durant

The American industrialist William Crapo Durant (1861-1947) was the founder of General Motors, an automobile manufacturing company.

William C. Durant was born in Boston, Mass., on Dec. 8, 1861. He grew up in Flint, Mich., where he became a leading carriage manufacturer. In 1886 he organized the Durant-Dort Company and helped to make Flint the carriage capital of the nation.

Durant acquired control of the Buick Motor Car Company in 1904 and revived it; by 1908 Buick was one of the four leading automobile companies. Durant had a vision of the boundless possibilities of the automobile, particularly the moderate-priced car, and attempted to capitalize on these possibilities by establishing a large-scale enterprise based on volume production. He intended that his company would be well financed, market a variety of automobiles, and produce many of its own parts.

After an attempt to buy Ford Motor Company in 1907 failed because Henry Ford wanted to be paid in cash, Durant established the General Motors Company the next year. He began with the Buick and added Cadillac, Oldsmobile, Oakland (Pontiac), and other lesser companies. Durant overextended himself, and by 1910 General Motors needed the intervention of a bankers' syndicate to lift the burden of debt. Durant returned to the automobile business in 1911 with the Chevrolet car. In 1916, with the backing of the Du Pont family, he recovered control of General Motors.

In 1919 General Motors was one of the largest American industrial enterprises, but Durant exercised little control over its operation; General Motors was too decentralized to be effective. When the Panic of 1920 occurred, Durant was overcommitted in the stock market. He tried unsuccessfully to support the price of General Motors stock; he was forced out of the company in 1920 by the Du Ponts, who wanted to protect their sizable investment.

The remainder of Durant's life was anticlimactic. In 1921 he started Durant Motors, which failed to become a major automobile producer. Durant Motors was already shaky when the 1929 crash occurred; the Depression then sharply reduced automobile sales and resulted in 1933 in dissolution of the firm. Durant was bankrupt by 1935. During his remaining years he engaged in a variety of business enterprises but without marked success. He died in New York City on March 18, 1947.

Durant was a pioneer in the automotive industry, and his most notable creation, General Motors, has dominated the automobile market since. Some of his chance ideas, such as the entry of General Motors into the manufacture of refrigerators, were highly successful. However, Durant never succeeded in organizing and administrative structure adequate for the giant enterprise he founded, and the task of converting General Motors into an enduring monument was left to his successors.

Further Reading

John B. Rae, The American Automobile: A Brief History (1965), places Durant in the context of his times and industry. Alfred D. Chandler, Jr., Strategy and Structure: Chapters in the History of the Industrial Enterprise (1962), has a chapter which analyzes Durant's administrative strategy. Carl Crow, The City of Flint Grows Up: The Success Story of an American Community (1945), includes a brief account of Durant's early years.

Additional Sources

Weisberger, Bernard A., The dream maker: William C. Durant, founder of General Motors, Boston: Little, Brown, 1979. □

Related newspaper, magazine, and trade journal articles from HighBeam Research

(Including press releases, facts, information, and biographies)

	Closing Breakfast--Conference closes with a hero's tale.(2005 Winter Conference Phoenix)(Michael J. Durant's survival of prison in Somalia) Magazine article from: Corrections Today; 4/1/2005; ; 700+ words ; Michael J. Durant, chief warrant officer 4, U.S. Army (retired) and...set people up for success, courage and heroism, Durant said. Aside from the personal survival aspect of his story, Durant expressed that the most important lesson taken... Read more
	Sam Durant: Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles. (Reviews). Magazine article from: Artforum International; 1/1/2003; ; 700+ words ; You hear Sam Durant's show at the Museum of Contemporary Art...interpretive principle. For in a manifestation of Durant's consistent attitude toward architecture...noise. But the sound tracks featured in Durant's projects don't merely produce sound... Read more
	Sam Durant: Blum & Poe. Magazine article from: Artforum International; 12/1/2004; ; 700+ words ; Previously Sam Durant has satirically exploited the disjunction...the very core of modernist ideology. As Durant has shown, the problem stems from the...mid-career retrospective at LA MOCA, however, Durant is no longer a stranger to corporate and... Read more
	Sam Durant. (Preview).(Brief Article) Magazine article from: Artforum International; 9/1/2002; ; 480 words ; ...titled Abandoned Houses, 1995, by Sam Durant, an artist for whom the dreams of both...exhibition--the first major museum survey of Durant's work (to be followed by a show at the...the death of someone, or something, and Durant forensically follows every clue. In two... Read more
	End Uses and End Users of Small Electric Motors. Magazine article from: Business Economics; 4/1/2000; ; 700+ words ; ...market and outlook for small electric motors, which power an enormous variety of consumer...Introduction Fractional horsepower electric motors are used in virtually every sector of...modules and miniaturization. These small motors have five major end uses: motor vehicles... Read more
	Sam Durant at Paula Cooper. Magazine article from: Art in America; 12/1/2005; ; 550 words ; ...and that's what Los Angeles artist Sam Durant's ambitious second solo show in New York...wrote for the accompanying catalogue, Durant credits the hip-hop duo The Coup's song...country's slave-owning first president. Durant's project points to overwhelming evidence... Read more
	New bent axis motors from Sauer-Danfoss.(MOBILE HYDRAULICS) Magazine article from: Diesel Progress North American Edition; 1/1/2009; 700+ words ; ...released its new H1 110 cc and 80 cc bent axis motors, the first sizes in a new series of motors designed to complement the growing family of H1 axial piston pumps. As such, H1 motors have been designed around advanced electrical... Read more
	Sam Durant. (Blum and Poe gallery, Los Angeles California). Magazine article from: Artforum International; 1/1/1996; ; 411 words ; ...gallery's reception area, a suspicious Sam Durant contrasted the workaday practicality of...Project with American Ingenuity, 1995, Durant attached a high-pressure laminate surface...scraps of low-quality building materials, Durant seemed to revel in a folk-art esthetic... Read more
	Danfoss upgrades small motor line.(hydraulic motors)(Brief Article) Magazine article from: Diesel Progress North American Edition; 3/1/1999; 219 words ; ...has redesigned and upgraded its DH and DS hydraulic motors, which now feature numerous improvements over the original motors in the line, the Racine, Wis., manufacturer said. The DH and DS motors, part of Danfoss' small motor range, now feature... Read more
	Swiss tech powers Mars mission. (News).(Maxon motor, based in Sachseln near Lucerne, is providing 39 miniature motors for two new Mars rovers)(Brief Article) Magazine article from: Swiss News; 4/1/2002; 319 words ; ...Lucerne, is providing 39 miniature motors for two new Mars rovers, which will be sent to the Red planet in 2003. The motors, which are just 20 millimeters in...they will encounter on Mars. We build motors which are very light, can withstand... Read more

For more facts and information, see all related premium articles

Related entries from encyclopedias, dictionaries, and thesauruses

	Durant, William Crapo Encyclopedia entry from: Gale Encyclopedia of U.S. Economic History DURANT, WILLIAM CRAPO Born in Boston, Massachusetts, on December 8, 1861, William Crapo Durant (1861 – 1947) grew up in Flint...Cambridge University Press, 1995, s.v. "Durant, William C." Encyclopedia of World Biography... Read more
	Durant, William C. 1864-1947 Book article from: American Decades DURANT, WILLIAM C. 1864-1947 Automotive...Symbol The flamboyant William Crapo Durant became a symbol of the...Chrysler were production men, Durant was the epitome of the...vast chain of suppliers. Durant was impatient and sometimes... Read more
	General Motors Dictionary entry from: Dictionary of American History ...everything from microchips to locomotives. William Crapo Durant of Flint, Michigan and a small group...September 1908 in Trenton, New Jersey. Durant, who already owned Buick Motor Company...incorporated them into GM. Among Durant's first acquisitions were Oldsmobile...GM experienced a ... Read more
	The 1900s: Business and the Economy: People in the News Book article from: American Decades ...PEOPLE IN THE NEWS William Crapo Durant chartered the General...parts manufacturers. Durant's bankers told him that...Milwaukee draftsman William Harley, pattern maker...Davidson, and toolmaker William Davidson. Harley-Davidson...McCormickJr., along with William Deering and ... Read more
	Automobiles: In Search of Style Book article from: American Decades ...Motor Car Company 2,385 Durant Motors, Inc. 785 Stutz...1911 by the flamboyant William Crapo Durant, who in the previous...ousted for a second time. Durant brought to GM his four-cylind...GM in 1923, convinced Durant's immediate successor... Read more

See all related entries