General Motors Diesel Division

{{Short description|Marketing and customer service unit of General Motors}}

{{Confused|General Motors Diesel}}

{{use mdy dates|date=June 2020}}

{{Infobox company

| name = General Motors Diesel Division

| former_names =

| logo = Gm logo 1938.png

| logo_size = 120

| type = Subsidiary

| founded = 1938

| founder =

| defunct = {{end date and age|1965}}

| fate = Merged with GM Detroit Diesel Engine Division

• Detroit Diesel Engine Division became Detroit Diesel Corporation after majority share sold to the Penske Corporation
• Detroit Diesel brand maintained under subsequent ownership structures

| slogan =

| location_city = Detroit, Michigan, United States

| location_country =

| location =

| key_people =

| num_employees =

| industry = Marketing, customer service

| products = Diesel engines

| parent = General Motors

| revenue =

| net_income =

| homepage =

}}

General Motors Diesel Division (GMDD) was a marketing and customer service unit of General Motors founded in 1938. It sought customers for GM's diesel engines, which had undergone major development during the 1930s.{{cite conference |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QuUiAQAAMAAJ| via=Google Books| title=History and Development of the 567 Series General Motors Locomotive Engine | last=Kettering| first=E.W. |date=November 29, 1951 |publisher=Electro-Motive Division, General Motors Corporation |conference=ASME 1951 Annual Meeting |location=Atlantic City, New Jersey}}{{cite web| url=https://ech.case.edu/cgi/article.pl?id=CDEDOGMC| title=CLEVELAND DIESEL ENGINE DIVISION OF GENERAL MOTORS CORP.| website=Encyclopedia of Cleveland History| publisher=Case Western Reserve University}} It was most active in association with GM's Detroit Diesel Engine Division, which produced lines of lightweight diesel engines that could be adapted to many uses including road vehicles, small boats, military equipment, construction and farm equipment, pumping, and auxiliary power generation.{{citation| url=http://history.gmheritagecenter.com/wiki/index.php/Detroit_Diesel_Division| url-status=dead| archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120216131424/http://history.gmheritagecenter.com/wiki/index.php/Detroit_Diesel_Division| archivedate=February 16, 2012| title=Detroit Diesel Division| first=Bill| last=Bowman| work=GM Heritage Center}} In 1939, Detroit Diesel Series 71 engines were installed in buses produced by Yellow Coach,{{cite web| url=http://www.coachbuilt.com/bui/y/yellow_coach/yellow_coach2.htm| title=Yellow Coach| website=Coachbuilt| date=2004| first=Mark| last=Theobald}} who would be acquired by GM in 1943 to launch the GMC Truck and Coach Division. Uses for Detroit Diesel engines would proliferate during World War II and the postwar economic boom. The GM Cleveland Diesel Engine Division's products were sold to relatively few customers for mostly marine uses. GMDD developed a widespread international marketing, service, and parts distribution infrastructure for GM diesel engines in the postwar years.

In 1962 GM's Electro-Motive Division (EMD), which had its own marketing and service infrastructure from its years in the locomotive business, took over the production and marketing of large diesel engines formerly produced by the Cleveland Diesel Engine Division.

In 1965 GMDD was absorbed by the General Motors Detroit Diesel Engine Division.

General Motors Diesel Division is not to be confused with General Motors Diesel, Ltd., the Canadian subsidiary of EMD formed in 1949, or the Diesel Division of General Motors of Canada, the entity for General Motors of Canada's diesel equipment manufacturing operations formed in 1969.