General Motors has applied to trademark the GMC Granite name, which originated with a 2010 concept car, for a fifth time.
An application was filed Sept. 30 with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). GM last trademarked the GMC Granite name in 2019; a spokesperson said at the time that the automaker files trademarks for a variety of reasons without mentioning any possible use for the name on production vehicles.
2010 GMC Granite Concept
Unveiled at the 2010 Detroit auto show, the GMC Granite concept was a small boxy hatchback that seemed influenced by the Scion xB and Kia Soul, which had just recently debuted. The Granite was originally meant to be a Pontiac before that division was scrapped during GM's bailout and bankruptcy restructuring.
Rumors persisted that GMC would introduce a production Granite, fed by trademark filings in 2010 and 2015 following the original filing in 2009, which trademarked the name for use on the Detroit concept.
2010 GMC Granite Concept
The fact that those previous filing didn't lead to a production vehicle wearing the Granite nameplate shows that fans shouldn't read too much into this latest filing. Automakers often trademark names to protect intellectual property, whether they plan to use it or not. That's often the case with heritage names like Ford Thunderbird and Toyota Celica, both of which are regularly re-trademarked. It's possible that's what GM is doing with the GMC Granite name as well.
While the concept's styling is now more than a decade old, GMC still has a slot in its lineup for a similarly sized crossover. The truck-and-SUV brand doesn't have a counterpart to the Chevrolet Trailblazer and Buick Encore GX yet.