INFOGRAPHIC: History of Chevrolet

Chevrolet is a brand that's probably made even popular by the Transformers movie franchise. Thanks to Bumblebee, the yellow Camaro, Chevrolet maintained and has probably made its brand even stronger. Similar to other car brands, Chevrolet has a humble beginning before it managed to enjoy the global success it has today. This American automaker is known for several cars such as the Camaro, Corvette, Silverado, among others. In the Philippines, the Trailblazer and Colorado are often regarded as Chevy's popular cars--two vehicles that are among the ideal choices in its respective segment. As such, here is a brief story of how Chevrolet became a global brand.

The story behind the foundation of Chevrolet is a reflection of how powerful a dream is. It also symbolizes how anyone can find success if one believes in his/her own vision and goal.

Chevrolet was founded by two individuals: William C. Durant and Louis Chevrolet. Durant and Chevrolet officially established the Chevrolet brand on November 3, 1911.

Obviously, Chevrolet was named after Louis Chevrolet, who was a race car driver for Buick. On the other hand, Durant was kicked out of the company he co-founded, which was General Motors. Durant and Chevrolet then decided to team up and start a car company.

Durant's expertise in business operations took care of the brand's financial side while Chevrolet's knowledge in cars became the foundation of the company's technical or engineering side. Yes, you could say that Durant and Chevrolet were a two-punch combo.

Chevrolet's logo or emblem dubbed as the ‘Bowtie’ was released in 1913. There's no exact explanation as to what the Chevy bowtie logo stands for. Sources point to different interpretation about Chevy's logo. Some say that it was inspired by a Swiss Cross due to Louis Chevrolet's heritage while some explained that the bowtie logo was taken from a wallpaper in a French hotel room Durant stayed in.

The two-punch combo of Durant and Chevrolet came to a sudden end as the two individuals found themselves in a company dispute in 1915. This led Chevrolet to sell his stake in the company to Durant which made him the major shareholder of the brand.

By 1916, the Chevrolet brand had become so successful that, with the backing of Pierre Samuel du Pont of the prominent du Pont family, the company acquired a controlling stake in General Motors and Louis Chevrolet once again headed the company he was once booted out of.

In 1918, Chevrolet began producing a vehicle that featured a truck-based platform. The reason for this was that Chevy wanted to make a vehicle that can transport individuals as well as haul equipment.

Five years later, in 1923, Chevrolet achieved its 1,000,000 millionth vehicle production milestone, a testament to its success and presence in the automotive industry. Chevy's momentum continued to grow during the years. By 1940s, this American automaker had produced 7,000,000 vehicles worldwide, which shows that Chevy has the capability to produce about a million vehicles annually.

With that in mind, Chevrolet made itself a competitive car brand. The brand's positive sales performance resulted in a rivalry. It’s an open secret that American automakers Chevrolet and Ford have been rivals in the industry. These companies even went to forge ties with emerging Japanese automakers in order to gain additional technical know-how and to further expand its market reach.

When World War II started, Chevrolet was asked by the United States government to help in the country's war effort. In 1942, Chevrolet stopped the production of its vehicles and the company transformed its plants to make military hardware.

After the war, Chevrolet immediately went back to manufacturing cars.

In 1953, Chevrolet introduced the Corvette, which is said to be the first production vehicle that made use of a fiberglass body and panels. The Corvette was received well by the market and it has become one of the popular cars of Chevrolet to this date.

In 1954, Chevrolet produced the 50 millionth car General Motors car, a gold 1955 Chevrolet Bel Air that was featured in a nationally-televised parade.

In 1964, the ‘pony car’ class was born and Chevrolet needed something to compete in the segment. Three years later, in 1967, the Camaro was introduced to the public for the first time.

As the oil crisis struck the world in 1973, diminutive and economical cars from Japan started to flood the American market. In response, Chevrolet built its own subcompact hatchback in the Chevette.

In 1979, Chevy builds its 100 millionth car, a Monza.

In 1986, the Corvette is the first Chevy to get anti-lock brakes.

In 1992, the one-millionth Corvette is built; a convertible with an arctic white exterior and red leather interior which duplicated the color scheme of the original 1953 model.

Weakened by the global financial crisis in 2008 and 2009, GM files for bankruptcy and is bailed out by the US government, sacrificing the Saturn, Pontiac, Hummer, and Saab brands along the way.

A year later, in 2010, Chevy sells 4.26 million vehicles globally--an average of one every 7.4 seconds.

In 2015. General Motors and the various brand under its umbrella mark a milestone as it celebrates 500 million GM-branded vehicles built globally over the past 106 years--the most of any automaker by far.

Today, Chevrolet is one of the largest car brands globally. In the Philippines, Chevrolet offers a wide range of brand-new cars ranging from a subcompact hatchback to a full-size SUV. It has a vehicle that can suit every lifestyle. Locally, the Spark is one of the ideal choices when you're on the lookout for a city car. Meanwhile, you can opt to get the Trailblazer or Colorado if you're the kind of individual who takes pleasure in driving through rough terrain. Visit CARMUDI PHILIPPINES to get more information about the Chevrolet brand. You can also start shopping for your next brand-new car here.