Otto Explains — Brand History
The History of Chevrolet
Short Answer
Chevrolet was founded in Detroit in November 1911 by William C. Durant, the founder of General Motors, and the Swiss-born racing driver Louis Chevrolet, after whom it is named. Durant used Chevrolet's success to win back control of General Motors, Chevrolet had joined General Motors by 1920, and it grew into one of the world's largest car brands, known for its V8 engines, the Corvette, its pickups and its full-size SUVs.
Who founded Chevrolet?
Two very different men. William C. “Billy” Durant had built the Durant-Dort Carriage Company in Flint from 1886, taken over Buick in 1904 and created General Motors on 16 September 1908, but in 1910 he lost control of General Motors to the bankers who had lent it money. Louis Chevrolet was a racing driver and engineer, born in La Chaux-de-Fonds in Switzerland, who had driven for the Buick racing team from 1909 and wanted to build a car of his own. In General Motors’ account, Durant told him, “We’re going to need a car.” Together they founded the company in 1911 and named it after Louis.
What was the first Chevrolet?
General Motors describes the first Chevrolet as a powerful six-cylinder luxury car. The company soon changed direction towards more economical cars, a decision that led Louis Chevrolet to leave the business that carried his name. In 1913 Chevrolet introduced its first overhead-valve four-cylinder engine, built in Flint, and General Motors says its two models of 1914 drew many buyers who might otherwise have chosen a Ford Model T.
How did Chevrolet become part of General Motors?
Through Durant’s plan to win back the company he had founded. Chevrolet’s cheaper cars included the 490, introduced for 1916 and named after its $490 starting price, which put it in direct competition with Ford’s Model T. Durant bought General Motors shares back, and by 1916 he could tell its board that Chevrolet held a majority stake, which made him president of General Motors again. Chevrolet then became part of General Motors itself: General Motors lists it among 14 companies it added between 1917 and 1920, and the merger was completed in 1918. Durant’s second spell did not last. He lost General Motors after the 1920 slump and left in early 1921.
How did Chevrolet grow in the 1920s and 1930s?
It became General Motors’ high-volume brand. Under Alfred Sloan’s plan of “a car for every purse and purpose”, set out in the 1924 annual report, Chevrolet took the low end of the market and Cadillac the top. Chevrolet built 486,366 cars in 1926, and in 1927, with fresher styling and more advanced engineering at a comparable price, it beat Ford to become the best-selling car in the United States. Its six-cylinder “Stovebolt” engine arrived in 1929. The 1932 cars were sold as “The Great American Value”, with features such as a synchromesh gearbox and four-wheel brakes that were usually found on dearer cars. At the 1933 world’s fair in Chicago, visitors watched new Chevrolets being built on a working assembly line.
What did Chevrolet do during the Second World War?
Like the rest of General Motors, it turned to military production. Chevrolet’s engine plant at Tonawanda, New York, opened in 1938 to build six-cylinder car engines, built more than 64,000 aircraft engines during the war, and returned to car engines afterwards.
When did Chevrolet arrive in the Middle East?
Early in the twentieth century, according to General Motors Middle East, which also says General Motors has sold vehicles in the region since the 1920s. Its regional operations date from 1926, when an assembly plant opened in Alexandria, Egypt, and its first product was a Chevrolet truck. Two Chevrolets became part of Gulf life: the Caprice, which after its North American production ended in 1996 continued here as an Australian-built car under the Chevrolet badge, widely used by police in cities such as Abu Dhabi and Riyadh, and the Silverado pickup, which General Motors says local drivers call “Chaffar”.
How did the 1950s change Chevrolet?
The decade gave Chevrolet two things that still define it. In January 1953 General Motors showed the Corvette at its Motorama show in New York, and production began in Flint that June; Zora Arkus-Duntov, who joined General Motors in May 1953, set out to make it one of the fastest production cars. Then came the small-block V8: the first was built in Flint on 9 July 1954, and from the 1955 models it brought V8 power to ordinary Chevrolet buyers, in pickups as well as cars. In 1957 Chevrolet offered Ramjet fuel injection on the Bel Air and the Corvette.
What happened to Chevrolet in the 1960s and 1970s?
Chevrolet sold in huge numbers and widened its range. The Impala, launched at the top of the range, helped make Chevrolet the sales champion in 1958, and in 1965 its annual sales passed a million, making it America’s best-selling car. The 1960 C/K pickups began a new era of Chevrolet trucks, and in 1963 more than one in three trucks sold in the United States was a Chevrolet. The muscle-car years brought the Chevelle Malibu SS, and the Camaro arrived for 1967 as Chevrolet’s answer to the Ford Mustang. When fuel prices rose in the 1970s, Chevrolet turned to small cars: the Chevette, introduced in September 1975, was America’s best-selling small car in 1979 and 1980.
How did Chevrolet change between the 1980s and the 2000s?
From 1981 every Corvette has been built at Bowling Green, Kentucky, and Chevrolet’s full-size SUVs grew in importance when the Tahoe joined the Suburban in 1995. The biggest crisis came in 2009, when General Motors declared bankruptcy on 1 June and, with federal government help, emerged in under 40 days as General Motors Company, with Chevrolet still one of its brands. In December 2013 General Motors decided to withdraw Chevrolet from mainstream sales in Western and Eastern Europe from 2016, keeping only iconic models such as the Corvette there.
What has changed at Chevrolet since 2017?
Chevrolet has moved towards electric cars and away from saloons. The Bolt of 2017 was, in General Motors’ words, the first long-range, mass-produced electric car at a truly affordable price, and a new Bolt is built at Fairfax, Kansas, in 2026. Long-running names came to an end: the last Impala was built on 27 February 2020, the Camaro was retired after the 2024 model year, and when the Malibu ended in November 2024 Chevrolet’s American range was left with trucks, SUVs and the Corvette. The Corvette changed most of all: in 2020 the eighth generation became the first with its engine mounted in the middle of the car.
Who owns Chevrolet today?
Chevrolet is a brand of General Motors, alongside Buick, Cadillac and GMC. In 2023 General Motors described it as one of the world’s largest car brands, sold in nearly 80 countries, with nearly 2.7 million cars and trucks sold in 2021. The Corvette remains part of it: asked in 2024 whether the Corvette would become a separate brand, General Motors President Mark Reuss answered “Never”. In the Gulf, Chevrolet Arabia’s websites serve Oman and eight other countries of the region.
Common Questions
- When exactly was Chevrolet founded? In November 1911, but sources give different days: General Motors’ heritage timeline says 11 November, while General Motors Middle East’s centenary release and other references give 3 November.
- Is Chevrolet part of General Motors? Yes. Chevrolet joined General Motors between 1917 and 1920, after Durant had used Chevrolet’s success to regain control of the company, and it has been one of General Motors’ brands ever since.
- Where does the Chevrolet bowtie come from? No one knows for certain. Durant is said to have seen the design on wallpaper in a Paris hotel room, or perhaps in a newspaper advertisement while on holiday in Virginia. Either way, the bowtie became one of the best-known car emblems.
- Is the Corvette a separate brand from Chevrolet? No. The Corvette is a Chevrolet model family. In 2024 General Motors President Mark Reuss said the company would never take the Corvette out of Chevrolet, and Chevrolet calls the Corvette its halo since 1953.
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