Mark of Excellence
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The Mark of Excellence is the original name of the logo of the General Motors Corporation. First introduced in 1966, the logo originally included the phrase "Mark of Excellence" at the bottom, and as a decal, it was installed on the door jambs of General Motors' vehicles. This logo also was stamped on the release buttons of seat belt buckles on GM vehicles from 1967 until the mid-1990s.
The phrase "Mark of Excellence" and its appearance on the logo was phased out by the late 1970s.
In 2005, It was announced that small silver emblems of the logo would be applied to the the exterior of every 2006 GM vehicle. This was continued into 2007. The only 2007 GM production vehicles without this feature are the Saturn ION and the Saturn VUE. Both these vehicles are scheduled for replacement in 2008, and in 2008 all GM cars will carry the Mark of Excellence. This practice is similar to that of Chrysler Corporation, which included small emblems of its corporate symbol—the Pentastar—on the front fenders of Chrysler, Plymouth and Dodge automobiles in the 1960s and '70s, and again in the 1990s.
The phrase was sometimes used in a derogatory fashion, to highlight common failures on GM vehicles. For example, a large crack that would routinely appear in the dashboard of 1971-76 Chevrolet Impalas would be referred to as the "Mark of Excellence".
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