About the Chevrolet brand

General Information

Chevrolet Motor Division is a division of General Motors Corporation that produces passenger cars, pickups, and SUVs. The company's office is located in Warren, a northern suburb of Detroit, Michigan.

Corporate History

The Chevrolet Motor Car Company was founded in 1911 by William Durant, the founder of General Motors. After losing control of GM, Durant focused on creating new enterprises. He took with him a promising car design and enlisted the help of famous racer Louis Chevrolet, whose name the new brand adopted.

The first model, introduced in 1912, was the Classic Six. It was a spacious five-seat sedan with a six-cylinder engine producing 30 horsepower, electric lighting, four doors, a folding top, windshield, and a set of tools. That same year, the Little Four with a four-cylinder engine appeared. However, both models were unsuccessful due to their high price — the Ford T cost five times less.

Durant realized that the key to success was not luxury but simplicity and affordability. He abandoned expensive models and switched to producing inexpensive four-cylinder cars: the open Baby Grand and the sporty Royal Mail. It was on these models that the famous bowtie Chevrolet logo first appeared in 1914.

In 1916, based on these, the Chevrolet-490 was created (the name reflected its starting price), which brought fame to the company. These inexpensive and reliable cars became as popular as Ford. The model was produced until 1922 and gave rise to the Superior model, which lasted until 1927. It was with the Chevrolet-490 that the brand's specialization in cheap and simple cars began, bringing it worldwide fame.

In 1917, the company developed its own V8 engine, but it was not in demand at the time. Successful sales of Chevrolet models brought Durant financial gain, and in 1918 he regained control of General Motors, incorporating Chevrolet into the corporation. Its products became a highlight of GM's production line for a long time.

Chevrolet engineers and designers contributed to the global automotive industry. In 1923, the division released the first car with an air-cooled engine. Starting in 1950, models began to be equipped with automatic transmissions.

In 1953, Chevrolet introduced the first Corvette model with a fiberglass body. It was the first attempt to create a purely American sports car with a modernized 3.8-liter engine and automatic transmission. Demand was low, but the situation improved with the installation of a new V8 engine and frame modernization in 1955, as well as replacing the automatic with a manual transmission. From 1956, the Corvette became a true sports car with 290 hp. By 1961, the Corvette 283 with fuel injection reached 315 hp and accelerated to 100 km/h in 5.5 seconds. From 1963, the Corvette model at auto shows drew universal admiration and to some extent symbolized American automotive style. Since 1984, a new generation Corvette has been produced in coupe and convertible body styles with V8 engines.

In 1985, the Camaro IROC-Z appeared. In 1992, new all-wheel drive SUVs Blazer and Suburban were released, and in 1995, a new design Blazer. Currently, Chevrolet produces dozens of models of any class and type in many countries.

Since 2002, under the Chevrolet brand, Daewoo cars began to be produced within the GM-Daewoo Auto & Technology corporation. Models Aveo, Spark, Lacetti, Rezzo appeared.