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Chevrolet, also known as Chevy, is a brand of vehicle produced by General Motors Company. Founded by Louis Chevrolet and ousted GM founder William C. Durant on November 3, 1911, General Motors acquired Chevrolet in 1918. Chevrolet was positioned by Alfred Sloan to sell a lineup of mainstream vehicles to directly compete against Henry Ford's Model T in the 1920s, with "Chevrolet" or "Chevy" being at times synonymous with GM. In North America, Chevrolet sells and produces a wide variety of automobiles, from subcompact cars to medium-duty commercial trucks, whereas in Europe, the brand name is used on automobiles produced in Korea by General Motors.
On November 3, 1911, race car driver and automotive engineer Louis Chevrolet co-founded the Chevrolet Motor Car Company with William C. Durant (ousted founder of General Motors for 5 years) and investment partners William Little (maker of the Little automobile) and Dr. Edwin R. Campbell (son-in-law of Durant) and in 1912 R. S. McLaughlin of Canada.
Durant was ousted from the management of General Motors in 1910 for 5 years. He took over the Flint Wagon Works, incorporating the Mason and Little companies. As head of Buick Motor Company prior to founding GM, Durant had hired Louis Chevrolet to drive Buicks in promotional races.[2]Durant planned to use Chevrolet's reputation as a racer as the foundation for his new automobile company.
Actual design work for the first Chevy, the costly Series C Classic Six, was drawn up by Etienne Planche, following instructions from Louis. The first C prototype was ready months before Chevrolet was actually incorporated.
Chevrolet first used the "bowtie emblem" logo in 1913. It may have been designed from wallpaper Durant once saw in a French hotel. More recent research by historian Ken Kaufmann presents a case that the logo is based upon a logo for "Coalettes". Others claim that the design was a stylized Swiss cross, in honor of the homeland of Chevrolet's parents.
Louis Chevrolet had differences with Durant over design and in 1915 sold Durant his share in the company. By 1916, Chevrolet was profitable enough to allow Durant to repurchase a controlling interest in General Motors. After the deal was completed in 1917, Durant became president of General Motors, and Chevrolet was merged into GM as a separate division. In 1917, Chevrolet's factories were located at New York City; Tarrytown, N.Y.; Flint, Michigan; Toledo, Ohio; St. Louis, Missouri; Oakland, California; Fort Worth, Texas, and Oshawa, Ontario. In the 1918 model year, Chevrolet introduced the Model D, a V8-powered model in four-passenger roadster and five-passenger tourer models. It also started production of an overhead valve in-line six. Most cars of the era had only low compression flat head engines. These cars had 288in3 55 hp (41 kW) engines with Zenith carburetors and three-speed transmissions.
Chevrolet continued into the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s competing with Ford, and after the Chrysler Corporation formed Plymouth in 1928, Plymouth, Ford, and Chevrolet were known as the "Low-priced three". In 1933 Chevrolet launched the Standard Six, which was advertised in the United States as the cheapest six-cylinder car on sale.
Chevrolet had a great influence on the American automobile market during the 1950s and 1960s. In 1953 it produced the Corvette, a two-seater sports car with a fibreglass body. In 1957 Chevy introduced its first fuel-injected engine, the Rochester Ramjet option on Corvette and passenger cars, priced at $484. In 1960 it introduced the Corvair, with a rear-mounted air-cooled engine. In 1963 one out of every ten cars sold in the United States was a Chevrolet.
Chevrolet Camaro 2010
The basic Chevrolet small-block V-8 design has remained in continuous production since its debut in 1955, longer than any other mass-produced engine in the world, although current versions share few if any parts interchangeable with the original. Descendants of the basic small-block OHV V-8 design platform in production today have been much modified with advances such as aluminium block and heads, electronic engine management, and sequential port fuel injection. Depending on the vehicle type, Chevrolet V-8s are built in displacements from 4.3 to 9.4 litres with outputs ranging from 111.394 horsepower (83.066 kW) to 994 horsepower (741 kW) as installed at the factory. The engine design has also been used over the years in GM products built and sold under the Pontiac, Oldsmobile, Buick, Hummer, Opel (Germany), and Holden (Australia) nameplates.
Chevrolet launched the Chevrolet Volt (and related Opel/Vauxhall Ampera) to add to a wide range of vehicles that by 2010 included a varied mix of American, Australian, European and Korean based designs to suit each local market.
In 2009 China became Chevrolet's third largest market, with sales of 332,774 vehicles, behind only the United States and Brazil (1,344,629 and 595,500
Chevrolet is among the newest brands in India launched by GM's India operations. Until June 6, 2003 (the official birthday of Chevrolet), GM India (which was originally a joint venture with Hindustan Motors) sold the Opel Corsa, Opel Astra, and the Opel Vectra. The Corsa and Astra were built at a plant in Halol, Gujarat.
Since then, Chevrolet currently sells the Chevrolet Cruze, Chevrolet Spark, Chevrolet Optra, Chevrolet Aveo, Chevrolet Tavera, Chevrolet Captiva, Chevrolet SRV, Chevrolet Beat, Chevrolet Beat Diesel and Chevrolet Aveo U-VA. The Chevrolet Forester, a rebadged Subaru, was imported directly from Fuji Heavy Industries in Japan until 2005. The Optra and Tavera are built at the Halol plant. The Chevrolet launched in India the Chevrolet Captiva SUV. The latest models launched by Chevrolet is the Chevrolet Beat & the Chevrolet Cruze.
In the mid 2000s, Suzuki imported and marketed the Chevrolet TrailBlazer and the Chevrolet Optra wagon in Japan. Suzuki, a GM partner, also assembled and marketed the Chevrolet MW microvan. The MW was originally a rebadged Suzuki Wagon R+ and later a rebadged Suzuki Solio. Suzuki had also marketed the Chevrolet Cruze subcompact in the past. General Motors Japan Limited currently distributes and markets the Captiva, Camaro, and Corvette in limited numbers. In the 2000s, General Motors Asia Pacific (Japan) had distributed and marketed the TrailBlazer also. As of 2010, Mitsui Bussan Automotive distributes and markets the Chevrolet Tahoe, Chevrolet Express, Chevrolet HHR, Silverado, and Traverse. Previously, it had also marketed the Starcraft versions of the G-Van and Chevrolet Trailblazer. Mitsui Bussan Automotive had been importing and distributing certain GM models since 1992, but will cease their GM import business in November 2011, as GM Japan wants to consolidate the distribution channels. The Chevrolet models that have been imported by Mitsui will no longer be sold once existing inventories are depleted. Thus there were three distinct distribution channels for Chevrolet-branded vehicles at one time in Japan.
In 2003, a joint-venture between GM and DRB-Hicom, called Hicomobil, began marketing the Chevrolet Aveo, Chevrolet Optra, Chevrolet Nabira and Chevrolet Lumina. The joint venture has since been dissolved in 2009, only to be succeeded with Naza in 2010.
In the Middle East, Chevrolet-badged cars, trucks, SUV's, and crossovers are sourced from GM Daewoo (in South Korea), GM in North America, and GM Holden (in Australia). The Middle East market has a separate division called Chevrolet Special Vehicles (CSV), which (as of December 2007) sources the high-performance 400 bhp (300 kW) CR8 sedan from Holden Special Vehicles. The Holden Commodore is badged as the Chevrolet Lumina in the Middle East, as well as South Africa. The longer wheelbase Holden Caprice is sold as the Chevrolet Caprice in the Middle East.
In Pakistan, Chevrolet introduced its cars in collaboration with a local automobile manufacturer called Nexus Automotive. The current lineup available from Chevrolet Pakistan includes Chevrolet Optra, Chevrolet Spark, Chevrolet Joy, Chevrolet Aveo, and Chevrolet Colorado. The company plans to add Chevrolet Captiva, Chevrolet Epica and Chevrolet Cruze to its lineup in the future.
Many global-market Chevrolet vehicles are designed and manufactured by GM Daewoo of South Korea, but they had been sold under Daewoo brand in South Korea until February 2011. Daewoo brand was fully replaced by Chevrolet in March 2011. All Daewoo products relaunched under Chevrolet brand, with the release of Chevrolet Camaro, Chevrolet Orlando and Chevrolet Aveo.
Chevrolet Europe
Chevrolet Europe GmbH is a Swiss-based firm (in Zürich) that mainly sells cars produced by GM Korea. Until 2005, Chevrolet Europe sold a few models, mostly United States domestic market (USDM) models modified to suit European regulations. Among them were the Chevrolet Alero (which was a rebadged Oldsmobile Alero) and the Chevrolet Trans Sport (which was a Chevrolet Venture with the front end of the Pontiac Trans Sport). Among other models sold by Chevrolet Europe were the Camaro, the Corsica/Beretta, the Corvette, the Blazer, and the TrailBlazer. The current generation of North American–built Chevrolet Impala V-8 sedans has also been available in Europe in recent years, marketed as both large family sedans and more economically priced alternatives to Jaguars and BMWs as high performance executive cars.
It was in 2005 that all the mainstream models from GM Daewoo were rebranded as Chevrolet in Europe. (The ownership of the SUV models in the former Daewoo range had reverted to ownership of SsangYong Motor Company by this time.) However the Daewoo name was retained in South Korea and Vietnam. In the rest of the world, most Daewoo models have worn the Chevrolet badge since 2003. Exceptions include the use of the Suzuki badge in the United States and Canada, the Pontiac badge in Canada, the Holden badge in Australia and New Zealand, and the Buick badge in China for certain GM Daewoo models.
Chevrolet Volt
The Chevrolet division is currently recovering from the economic downturn of 2007–2010. After sales of GM vehicles plummeted and when the U.S Government bailed out the company, GM began developing more fuel efficient cars and trucks in order compete with foreign automakers such as Toyota and Honda. Since, the sales of the Chevrolet brand have been healthy. Sales were up due to new cars such as the Cruze, Volt, and a redesigned Equinox and Malibu. In late 2010 General Motors began a small production of the plug-in electric Volt, which later was announced as the 2012 North American Car of the Year and World Green Car of the Year, and production numbers are expected around 60,000 in the 2012 fiscal year. At Auto China in 2010 General Motors showed the Volt MPV5 concept, an MPV based on the electric Volt sedan but, the MPV hasn't been official on or if production will exist. Chevrolet has also shown the new version of the Aveo, renamed Sonic at the 2011 North American Auto Show in Detroit. The Sonic will feature a four-door sedan, hatchback, as well as a sport version. The Chevrolet Malibu, which the model of the 8th gen. were considered to have been one of General Motors' turnaround cars through the tough economic crisis of 2008–10 was announced that a 9th generation would succeed over the previous model in the first quarter of 2012 was revealed in the April 2011 on the company's Facebook page as well as in New York.
Sport
Chevrolet enter a variety of cars in sporting events around the world and is particularly well known in NASCAR and FIA World Touring Car Championship.
NASCAR
Major teams include Hendrick Motorsports, Richard Childress Racing, Earnhardt Ganassi Racing and Stewart Haas Racing who all drive Impala-themed cars. Hendrick has 10 championships, RCR has 6 championships. Chevrolet is the most successful manufacturer to be involved in NASCAR with 35 manufacturer's titles and the most recorded wins by manufacturer. Previously the Chevy Monte Carlo was used.
American Le Mans Series
The Corvette runs in the American Le Mans Series GT class. Corvette Racing started in 1999 at the Daytona 24-hour race and has since won eight consecutive ALMS GT1 manufacturers and team championships and seven ALMS GT1 drivers' titles.[30] The Corvette also takes part in the French 24 Hours of Le Mans race.
FIA World Touring Car Championship
In 2005, when the Chevrolet brand was re-launched in Europe, Chevrolet took part in the WTCC with a version of the Lacetti, developed by the UK-based Ray Mallock Ltd (RML). In 2009 the Cruze replaced the Lacetti[32] and in 2010 and won the Drivers' and Manufacturers' championship. Chevrolet participates in the BTCC with the Cruze.
Marketing
In 2010, General Motors replaced the advertising agency Campbell-Ewald, which served Chevrolet for 91 years, with Publicis Worldwide. Campbell-Ewald of Interpublic Group of Companies had served Chevrolet since 1919.[34] In May 2010 Chevy's advertising account was awarded to Goodby, Silverstein and Partners.[35] Recently, Chevrolet uses a customized Klavika for the vast majority of its marketing type.
Chevrolet globally has had their marketing campaigns, songs, taglines, and slogans, including the following.
Songs
A Great New Star.ogv
Dinah Shore performs See the U.S.A. in your Chevrolet in 1952.
"Chevy Volt and Me"
See the U.S.A. in Your Chevrolet (1950s–1960s), sung by Dinah Shore as the theme song to The Dinah Shore Chevy Show.
409 (1962) The Beach Boys
Shut Down (1963) The Beach Boys
My Stingray--
SS 396 (1965) Paul Revere and The Raiders
Camaro – Cyrkle
Crocodile Rock (1972) Elton John
Little Red Corvette (1982), a song by Prince from the album 1999
Listen to the Heartbeat of America (1986–1992)
Like a Rock (1991–2004)
This is Our Country (2006–present)
American Pie – Don McLean
Stingwray- Static-X
Z28 – Static-X
Chevy Van – Sammy Johns
My Camaro – Young Jeezy (2010)
Peanut Better And Jelly – Cadillac Don Ft J Money
Dre – Chevy Ridin' High Featuring Rick Ross
Ice Cream Paint Job- Dorrough
Everybody – VV Brown (2011 – Chevrolet Volt Now Commercial)
Where Have All the Cowboys Gone – Paula Cole (1997)
Racing In The Streets – Bruce Springsteen (1978)
Chevrolet – ZZ Top
Taglines
The cars more Americans can depend on (1991)
The trucks that last (1991)
The trucks you can depend on, the trucks that last (1992)
The most dependable, longest lasting trucks on the road (1993, 1995–present)
This is our Country (1994)
Like a Rock
The Heartbeat of America
May the Best Car Win (2009–2010)
Chevy Runs Deep (2010 – present)
Excellence for Everyone (2010–present)[36]
Slogans
See the U.S.A. in Your Chevrolet (1950s–1960s)
Putting you first keeps us first (1960s)
It's Exciting! (mid 1960s)
Building a better way to see the USA (early 1970s)
Baseball, Hotdogs, Apple Pie & Chevrolet (mid 1970s)
Good things are happening at Chevrolet (early 1980s)
USA-1 Taking Charge (1983)
Today's Chevrolet (mid 1980s)
The Heartbeat of America (1987–1994)
Rock, Flag and Eagle (1985–1987)
Genuine Chevrolet (1994–2001 United States; 1994–1996 Canada)
Tried, Tested, and True (1996–2004 Canada)
We'll Be There (2001–2004 United States)
Like a Rock (1991–2004; Chevrolet Trucks) Featuring the Bob Seger song of the same name
An American Revolution (2003–2009)
For All Life's Roads (2004–2006; Canada)
Our Country, My Truck (2006–2007; Chevrolet Trucks)
America's Best Trucks (2007–present; Chevrolet Trucks)
Let's Go (2007–2009; Canada)
May the Best Car Win (2009–2010; United States & Canada)
Excellence for Everyone (2010–present)
Chevrolet Runs Deep (2010–present)
Chevrolet, is the Car (2011–present; South Korea)[36]
Watches
In 2007, General Motors allowed AJS-Production SA to register the Louis Chevrolet trademark for a line of premium quality Swiss Watches watch marketed under the Louis Chevrolet brand name. Although the watches bear the name of Louis Chevrolet, they are not marketed or produced in association with General Motors. The watch brand pays tribute to Louis Chevrolet, co-founder of the Chevrolet automobile company (later acquired by General Motors). Chevrolet was born in a family of a watchmaker and in his childhood helped his father at the workbench. The collection was called Frontenac, the name inherited from the race car company founded by Louis Chevrolet. The Chevrolet watch collection comprises automatic, manually wound and quartz models, equipped with ETA and Ronda movements.
The Louis Chevrolet Frontenac watches, manufactured in Porrentruy, the Swiss Jura region, feature the styling cues suggested by the Chevrolet cars. The collection was developed while applying the same materials as used in the car industry. Pearled appliques on the Chevrolet watches' dials remind the metal forms of the old dashboards. The number '8,' Chevrolet's racing number, is sported on the case back.
