Chevrolet

For other uses, see Chevrolet (disambiguation).
"Chevy" redirects here. For people named or nicknamed Chevy, see Chevy (given name).

Chevrolet
Formerly
    • Chevrolet Motor Company
    • Chevrolet Motor Division of General Motors Company
Company typeDivision
IndustryAutomotive
FoundedNovember 3, 1911; 113 years ago (1911-11-03)
FounderArthur Chevrolet
Louis Chevrolet
William C. Durant
FateAcquired by General Motors in 1918[1]
Headquarters
Detroit, Michigan
,
U.S.
Area served
  • Americas
  • Australasia
  • Central Asia
  • China (excl. Hong Kong and Macau)
  • Europe (excl. Russia and Belarus, defunct)
  • Japan
  • Middle East
  • Philippines
  • South Korea
Key people
Alan Batey (SVP)[2]
ProductsAutomobiles
Commercial vehicles
Trucks
BrandsChevrolet Performance
Services
  • Vehicle financing
  • Insurance
  • Maintenance
  • Repairs
  • Sales
ParentGeneral Motors
Websitechevrolet.com

Chevrolet (/ˌʃɛvrəˈleɪ/ SHEV-rə-LAY), colloquially referred to as Chevy, is an American automobile division of the manufacturer General Motors (GM).

Louis Chevrolet (1878–1941), Arthur Chevrolet (1884–1946) and ousted General Motors founder William C. Durant (1861–1947) started the company on November 3, 1911[3] as the Chevrolet Motor Car Company. Durant used the Chevrolet Motor Car Company to acquire a controlling stake in General Motors with a reverse merger occurring on May 2, 1918, and propelled himself back to the GM presidency. After Durant's second ousting in 1919, Alfred Sloan, with his maxim "a car for every purse and purpose", picked the Chevrolet brand to become the volume leader in the General Motors family, selling mainstream vehicles to compete with Henry Ford's Model T in 1919 and overtaking Ford as the best-selling car in the United States by 1929 with the Chevrolet International.[4]

Chevrolet-branded vehicles are sold in most automotive markets worldwide. In Oceania, Chevrolet was represented by Holden Special Vehicles, having returned to the region in 2018 after a 50-year absence with the launching of the Camaro and Silverado pickup truck (HSV was partially and formerly owned by GM subsidiary Holden, which GM retired in 2021). In 2021, General Motors Specialty Vehicles took over the distribution and sales of Chevrolet vehicles in Oceania, starting with the Silverado. In 2005, Chevrolet was relaunched in Europe, primarily selling vehicles built by GM Daewoo of South Korea with the tagline "Daewoo has grown up enough to become Chevrolet", a move rooted in General Motors' attempt to build a global brand around Chevrolet. With the reintroduction of Chevrolet to Europe, GM intended Chevrolet to be a mainstream value brand, while GM's traditional European standard-bearers, Opel of Germany and Vauxhall of the United Kingdom, were to be moved upmarket.[5] However, GM reversed this move in late 2013, announcing that the brand would be withdrawn from Europe from 2016 onward, with the exception of the Camaro and Corvette.[6] Chevrolet vehicles were to continue to be marketed in the CIS states, including Russia. After General Motors fully acquired GM Daewoo in 2011 to create GM Korea, the last usage of the Daewoo automotive brand was discontinued in its native South Korea and succeeded by Chevrolet.

In North America, Chevrolet produces and sells a wide range of vehicles, from subcompact automobiles to medium-duty commercial trucks. Due to the prominence and name recognition of Chevrolet as one of General Motors' global marques, 'Chevrolet', 'Chevy' or 'Chev' is used at times as a synonym for General Motors or its products, one example being the GM LS1 engine, commonly known by the name or a variant thereof of its progenitor, the Chevrolet small-block engine.

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference historych was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Corporate Officers (January 15, 2014). "Alan Batey – GM Corporate Officers". GM.com. Archived from the original on July 14, 2014. Retrieved August 19, 2014.
  3. ^ "Chevrolet 1911–1996". GM Heritage Center. 1996. p. 97. Archived from the original on October 6, 2014. Retrieved October 1, 2014.
  4. ^ 60 years of Chevrolet. Crestline. 1972.
  5. ^ Luft, Alex. "General Motors To Move Opel Upmarket, Position Chevy As "Value" Brand". Archived from the original on December 13, 2013. Retrieved November 17, 2013.
  6. ^ "General Motors to withdraw Chevrolet brand from Europe". BBC News. December 5, 2013. Archived from the original on March 21, 2018. Retrieved June 21, 2018.