The History of Chevrolet: From Small Beginnings to Global Success

Chevrolet has been a mainstay in the U.S. car business for over 100 years. Its brand and signature bowtie logo makes it easy to recognise and associate all of its cars with the auto giant. This company’s extensive history includes numerous industry firsts and the production of numerous best-selling automobiles in their respective classes. Since the company’s original goal was to create “a car for every budget and need,” it’s no surprise that the Chevrolet brand became the best at making and selling cars out of all the different parts of the General Motors Company.

For Chevrolet’s first owners, the company’s early days are a success story in the auto industry’s history. William Durant and Louis Chevrolet started the company in 1911, and Durant used it to take over most of the General Motors Company.

By 1919, after being fired and brought back, Durant was made president of GM. As a General Motors subsidiary, Chevrolet quickly became the best-selling car brand in the world. Even though Chevrolet and GMC cars were built on the same platforms by the 1920s, GMC cars were mostly made for business use, while Chevrolet cars became very popular with private buyers.

The Series C Classic Six was the first model that Chevrolet made. Etienne Planch made the design, which came out in 1913, at Louis Chevrolet’s request. The car was very expensive to make, and the price for customers was too high, so they quickly cancelled the line in favour of the much less costly Series 490. The 490 changed everything for Chevrolet in the end. The price and performance of the engine were so good that it took a big chunk of sales away from Ford’s Model T and made Chevrolet a major player in the industry. The 490 had a four-cylinder engine with 24 horsepower. This engine would be Chevrolet’s standard until 1930 when a similar six-cylinder engine occurred.

As Chevrolet moved into the middle of the 20th century, their success helped them become one of the most exciting and important players in the auto industry. With the six-cylinder engine, they blew past Ford cars as the better-performing and cheaper option.

In 1953, Chevrolet made the first Corvette, which would become a world-famous car, and soon after, they made the first fuel-injected engine. Soon after, it made the first car with an air-cooled engine in the back, the Chevrolet Corvair. Other models in the 1960s and 1970s, like the Impala, the Monte Carlo, and many others, helped shape the industry so that one of every ten cars sold was a Chevrolet.

Chevrolet is still a major brand that makes cars for everyone. Chevrolet continues to serve a large market worldwide with its trucks, SUVs, sports cars, and more. Chevrolet is always looking to the future, and as time goes on, the company is making more high-efficiency cars to serve their communities better.