About Chevrolet Cars
Chevrolet was founded by the Swiss/French mechanic and racing driver Louis Chevrolet and the American William Durant (founder of General Motors) in the early years of the 20th century. Durant had used Louis as a racing driver in his days with Buick and now wanted to use the young mans designs to rebuild his own reputation in the automobile industry, having been removed from General Motors in 1910. In 1915 following a successful business trip to Toronto the Chevrolet Motor Car Company of Canada was born. Both Chevrolet (US) and Chevrolet (Canada) were eventually bought by General Motors.
Chevrolet sales soon hit 100,000 and this success enabled Durant, in what might be seen as a strange twist of fate, to buy enough shares in General Motors to regain control of the company, which he had been ousted from some years earlier. By 1927 Chevrolet had sales in excess of 1 million units, which surpassed even Ford at that time.
Chevrolet introduced independant front suspension for it's models in 1934, which transfomed the quality of the ride, and enhanced the driving experience. In 1950 they added power brakes and in 1953 launched the Corvette, the first production car to have a fibre glass body. The sporty Camaro was added to the range in the 1960's and was so successful that it accounted for 10% of the companies total sales in it's first year of production.
As times and opinions changed Chevrolet, like it's competitors, was forced to change too. In 1970 it launched the Vega and Chevette, which were comparitively small cars by Chevrolets standard, and also downsized some of it's existing models. Then in 1980 they launched the successful Cavalier, and also various trucks and SUVs.
Chevrolet has built a world wide reputation and produced some of the most famous American cars and trucks ever, but the car industry is fraught with difficulties and Chevrolet has suffered along with the rest. It is currently developing new fuel saving technology and hybrid cars as it looks to the future of car design.
At present Chevrolet still produces a wide range of regular vehicles from hatchbacks to SUVs, and among it's biggest sellers are the Silverado pick-up and the Impala, but what will the future hold? One thing's for sure in 10 years time if you're in need of a sensibly priced vehicle, 'Chevy' will have something to fit the bill.
|