Chevrolet

Chevrolet (IPA: /ˌʃɛvroʊˈleɪ/ - French origin) (colloquially Chevy) is a brand of automobile, produced by General Motors (GM). more...

Home
ATV Parts
Apparel & Merchandise
Automotive Tools
Aviation Parts
Boats Parts
Car & Truck Parts
Car Audio, Video
Manuals & Literature
Aviation
Boats & Watercraft
Car & Truck
Acura
Alfa Romeo
Audi
BMW
Buick
Cadillac
Chevrolet
Camaro
Corvette
Other Models
Trucks
Chrysler
Dodge
Ferrari
Fiat
Ford
Mustang
Other Models
Trucks
GMC
Honda
Infiniti
Jaguar
Jeep
Land Rover
Lexus
Lincoln
Mazda
Mercedes
Mercury
Nissan
Oldsmobile
Other Makes
Plymouth
Pontiac
Porsche
Saab
Subaru
Toyota
Volvo
VW
Motorcycle & ATV
Other
Motorcycle Parts
Other
Other Vehicle Parts
Personal Watercraft Parts
Racing Parts
Services & Installation
Snowmobile Parts
Vintage Car & Truck Parts
Wholesale Lots

It is the top selling GM marque and the best known brand of GM worldwide, with "Chevrolet" or "Chevy" being at times synonymous with GM.

Chevrolet offers over 20 vehicles and many different enhanced versions in its home market. The brand's vehicles range from subcompact cars to medium duty commercial trucks. Its number one sellers in the United States include the Silverado pickup, which is recently the best-selling vehicle in the United States and the Impala, which is the number one selling car with a domestic nameplate in the United States.

History

North American history

Chevrolet was co-founded by Louis Chevrolet and William C. Durant. Louis Chevrolet was a race-car driver, and William Durant, founder of General Motors, had been forced out of GM in 1910; he wanted to use Chevrolet's designs to rebuild his own reputation as a force in the automobile industry. As head of Buick Motor Company, prior to founding GM, Durant had hired Chevrolet to drive Buicks in promotional races.

Chevrolet first used its "bowtie" logo in 1913. This logo is said to have been designed from wallpaper Durant once saw in a French hotel. Another theory of the design of the mark is from the Swiss cross, because Louis Chevrolet was from Switzerland.

In 1915, Durant made a trip to Toronto, Ontario to determine the possibility of setting up production facilities in Canada. After meeting with "Colonel Sam" McLaughlin, whose McLaughlin Motor Car Company manufactured the McLaughlin-Buick, it was agreed the Chevrolet Motor Car Company of Canada, operated by McLaughlin, would be created to build Chevrolet cars in Canada. Three years later, the two Canadian operations (Chevrolet was by then a part of GM in the United States) were purchased by GM to become General Motors of Canada Ltd.

By 1916, Chevrolet was profitable enough to allow Durant to buy a majority of shares in GM. After the deal was completed in 1917, Durant was president of General Motors, and Chevrolet was merged into GM, becoming a separate division. In the 1918 model year, Chevrolet introduced the Model D, a V8-powered model in 4-passenger roadster and 5-passenger tourer models. These cars had 288in³ 35 hp (26 kW) engines with Zenith carburetors and 3 speed transmissions.

Read more at Wikipedia.org