General Motors

History
The General Motors Corporation invented the first self-sustaining fusion reactor in 2020. The corporation patented the device in the summer of 2021 and constructed five commercial plants by the end of the year.

General Motors was the largest producer of civilian and military vehicles in the Inner Sphere as well as being the largest single contractor for the AFFS. It traced its roots to a pre-spaceflight company on Terra, but really came into its own in the 26th century. Shortly after the introduction of the Marauder design, GM became a household name. During the Succession Wars, the extensive factories producing military equipment broke down, and it wasn't until the Helm Memory Core was studied by the NAIS that the company could return to maximum production. In 3067, it had major factories on seven worlds and smaller factories on four more worlds. It also partnered with Universal Air and Federated-Boeing Interstellar, to produce engines for the vessels made in Kathil Shipworks. Another unique partnership was GM/Blackwell, which was a partnership between GM and Wolf's Dragoons. The company agreed to revitalize an obsolete production line on New Valencia to build the Marauder II for the Dragoons. Later, the Dragoons requested GM's help in refurbishing Outreach's maintenance and production systems. This exposure to Star League-era equipment allowed GM to gain a considerable amount of experience with LosTech and allowed them to introduce newer designs faster than their competition.

In 3065, GM arranged for a prototype Phoenix Hawk built by Vicore Industries to be delivered to Ceres Metals Industries on Warlock. This led to the Capellan company beginning production.

During the Jihad, the Word of Blake sponsored several attacks on many GM production facilities. Particularly hard hit was GM Kathil, which lost most of its 'Mech and combat vehicle production lines, as well as the orbital shipyards. The BattleMech facilities on New Valencia and Talcott were also seriously damaged. GM therefore focused on their battle armor and combat vehicle lines to keep war materials flowing to the AFFS, to gain money to repair the lines. They also began an expansion program at their secondary facilities like the one on El Dorado.

The GM Camino 'Mech plant on El Dorado was the subject of heavy investment by the planetary ruling elite and while all of the public announcements made by the Governor-General during the Jihad and the subsequent rebuilding remained staunchly pro-Davion and anti-Word, there was a degree of discontent among that same ruling elite over so many of the Warlord-class BattleMechs from the plant being "stolen for foreign adventurism" by the ROaR program. As a consequence, GM apparently began development of a BLR-2E configuration of the Warlord, intended to be a lighter and more streamlined model that used more conventional equipment, although that configuration hadn't been seen to be in production by 3081. Another new configuration was confirmed to be in service during the closing years of the Jihad, with one such 'Mech being operated during the liberation of Terra by Leftenant Melissa Sanromea-Davion. This new variant, the BLR-2XC was evidently a prototype command 'Mech featuring a range of advanced technology including a Cockpit Command Console and, most notably, was lighter overall than other variants of the Warlord, dropping into the heavy 'Mech classification rather than the assault 'Mech classification. Despite being lighter than the other variants of the Warlord, the BLR-2XC bore many characteristics of a hybrid of the -2D and -2G models and used a range of locally-produced items including; a 300XL engine and El Dorado-produced command and ECM software.

During the Dark Age, GM expanded the range of battle armor manufactured on Salem with the design and manufacture of the Sea Fox and Fusilier battle suits. While the Sea Fox was a specialized suit with a clear capability niche, the Fusilier proved to be a suit that met no glaring demand - and yet, despite this lack of demand, the Department of the Quartermaster within the Armed Forces of the Federated Suns procured Fusiliers for more than a decade anyway. GM also began producing the Hanse MBT, a vehicle design that proved unpopular with the AFFS and many other buyers, and another specialized vehicle - the superheavy Destrier Siege Vehicle, but GM's research and development wasn't solely confined to specialized battle armor and vehicles. By 3145, GM had begun producing three new designs of BattleMechs from its various plants, with Hollander IIIs being manufactured on Kathil, the new Templar III OmniMech appearing from factories on New Valencia and the fearsome Atlas III from factories on El Dorado.

Leadership
The company's CEO in 3067 is Hoban Cobb.

Manufacturing Centers
General Motors has manufacturing centers on the following planets:

El Dorado
The El Dorado facility also features a repair and refit areas.

Kathil
NOTE: Most of these lines were damaged or destroyed by the Word of Blake during the Jihad. As of 3079, only the vehicle lines were active, and even as late as 3081, the Kathil plant was reduced to operating as little more than a single-line tank manufacturer. Some additional production lines were repaired by 3083, but estimates indicated that the bulk of the 'Mech production lines would probably be unable to resume production earlier than 3090.

New Valencia
Note: Many of these lines were seriously damaged by Word of Blake attacks during the Jihad, severely reducing their productivity. By 3078, however, they were able to complete Operation MUSE RED, producing six experimental Pendragon mechs with Clan tech. The Blackwell facilities were completely destroyed in the Jihad, and General Motors has indicated that it won't be restarting production of any of those designs, even the Marauder II.