One of the nation’s largest corporations is 107 years old today, although in common with other centenarians, it has its ailments. General Motors was conceived by William Durant of Flint, Michigan. Durant cofounded Chevrolet — named after noted racing car drivers Louis and Gaston Chevrolet, originally from Switzerland — and Durant promoted Buick to prominence on early racetracks. Over the years, Durant headed and then lost control of General Motors not once, but twice. In 1908, when GM was founded, there were just 198,000 cars and trucks in the U.S. Today, there are over 253 million. Assembling motor vehicles is a $280 billion a year business for 331 manufacturers across the country.Profile America is in its19th year as a public service of the U.S. Census Bureau.