Written by | Chu Yunwen
Everything in the world is different, and the reason is that genes determine the development route of organisms in the process of growth in the day after tomorrow.
Similarly, for companies, genes also play a crucial role, how far can companies go? What scale can it grow to? Is the voice and competitiveness in the market strong enough? All have to do with it.
What determines the gene of the enterprise is often the intrinsic personality of the founder, which will determine the direction of the company and the characteristics of the product. The automotive industry has a clear embodiment of this, publicity and restraint, practicality and sports, technology and tradition, which are vividly reflected in the product.
Derived from the original intention of the track
Many of the early car brands were born in racing, and Louis Chevrolet, one of Chevrolet's founders, was an accomplished star racing driver. From 1904 onwards, Louis Chevrolet won the title of "Most Popular Driver" of the Vanderbilt Cup for six consecutive years, and in 1906 set a record for a staggering 192 km/h at the time.
1912 Chevrolet Classic Six
On November 3, 1911, Louis Chevrolet and William C. Durant founded the Chevrolet Motor Company. Today, the Chevrolet brand has gone through 110 years.
When racers dominate the development of the brand, Chevrolet will be driven by sport and performance throughout. In 1912, Louis Chevrolet's C series "Classic Six" made a stunning appearance in Detroit. This large displacement, high horsepower, six cylinders, high-performance luxury car almost met all the demands of people for a car at that time.
1914 Chevrolet Series H Touring
The high-end model set the tone of the brand for Chevrolet, and the real promotion role was to mention the H-type car with a four-cylinder engine launched in 1914, which really opened the "golden bow tie era" and became a direct competitor to the famous Ford T-shaped car at that time.
1914 Chevrolet Series H Race Car
Although it is a practical and people-friendly product based on durability, under the influence of the brand gene, the subsequent H-type car has also been created into a race version. After all, for Chevrolet, this is its unique advantage from other brand models, and it is also the basis for the brand to base itself on the market.
Louis Chevrolet, whose credo of "constantly pushing the limits of performance and chasing the original dream of speed and passion", won the Indy 500 again in 1921. Since then, Chevrolet models have become regulars in many of the world's top events such as the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the WTCC, the Indy 500 Grand Prix, nasCAR and many other world-class events, and achieved immortal results.
He has won the NASCAR Manufacturers' Championship and 30 Drivers' Championships 40 times, the World Touring Car Championship Manufacturers and Drivers Championship three times from 2010 to 2012, and the drivers' championship and runner-up twice, and chevrolet Corvette has won the GT category of the 24 Hours of Le Mans 5 times.
The reason why Chevrolet is involved in motorsport, in addition to the racing genes rooted in the blood, another purpose is to better complete the technical transformation between high-performance racing cars and mass production cars, so that more consumers can experience the fun of sports driving, so as to highlight the original intention of the brand.
Thanks to the accumulation of event technology and data, Chevrolet has many sports models, such as the representative Camaro of muscle cars, and the American national treasure sports car Corvette, and continues to subdivide RS, SS, ZR1 and many other sports sub-brands.
The continuous honing and technical verification of the race allow Chevrolet to decentralize many cutting-edge technologies to more affordable models. A range of words for racing, such as "powertrain, aerodynamics, weight ratio, durability, lightweighting, thermal management, airflow management", have come into play at the home car level.
Here we take the Mureyborg XL and Cruze as an example, both vehicles are equipped with Chevrolet's world-leading power drive technology and classic sports chassis, which further strengthens the movement and handling performance while ensuring ride comfort.
In July 2021, Maribao XL came to Zhejiang International Circuit and broke the fastest lap speed record of a mass production car within 200,000 yuan with a lap speed of 1′54"168, showing excellent sport handling performance and setting a new benchmark for the performance of mass production vehicles within 200,000 yuan.
I believe that in the current era of young consumer groups occupying the mainstream, few people will say no to motivation and manipulation.
Camaro and Corvette are certainly the Dream Car in the hearts of many people, but the people who can pocket it are still a minority after all, providing a century-old movement and control on more people-friendly products, which will obviously get attention in the flat market, in a more popular phrase now, Chevrolet has mastered the traffic code.
Create a powerful SUV matrix with innovation
The development of the automobile is a process of innovation and vitality, and chevrolet, a brand that has developed for more than a hundred years, is well versed in this way. While adhering to sports as the fundamental development route, Chevrolet has been seeking new breakthroughs for different nodes in the development of the times.
Innovation means better demonstrating the brand's own value in different eras and market demands, and chevrolet has seen the potential of this type of model in 1935, taking the SUV boom that has swept the world as an example.
Chevrolet Suburban Carryall
At that time, Chevrolet may have thought that a car needed more attributes to bless, so it launched the Suburban Carryall, which perfectly combined the advantages of cars and light trucks, with good comfort and sensitive handling of the car, and has a certain cargo and off-road capabilities, which is also known as the originator of SUVs.
1969 Chevrolet Blazer
Chevrolet thus ushered in innovative developments in the field of SUVs. In the years since, Chevrolet has launched a number of models of epochal significance, and in 1969, the Blazer, which was destined to become the "number one SUV in the United States", pioneered the four-wheel drive SUV, and has sold about 5 million units so far, winning 28 awards in the United States.
Today, Chevrolet's SUV product matrix in China has covered all categories of small, compact, medium, medium and large and full-size SUVs. If Chevrolet's prominence in the sedan field is movement and handling, then in the SUV field, it emphasizes toughness and reliability.
In fact, reliability is also a label engraved on the Chevrolet brand in the early days of its establishment, the H series four-cylinder car from the advent of the Chevrolet brand to establish a reliable reputation, its basic design has been used until 1928, up to 14 years, in the early days of the emergence of the car, is even more valuable.
In the field of SUVs, Chevrolet further strengthened this point, in 2004, Chevrolet launched the mid-level SUV - Equinox Explorer, and in 2017 introduced to China, with a tough and stylish design style, spacious riding space, rich technology equipment and a highly fun driving experience, the Explorer won the title of "Most Attractive SUV Model of the Year".
At the same time, Explorer also won the 2004 "J.D. Power Of the Year No. 1" award, J.D. Power is known for its independence and objectivity, and its automotive reliability report has been recognized by consumers in many places.
For the sports gene that Chevrolet has been adhering to, it is also reflected in the entire series of SUV products, the main SUV opened the market with the "Chevrolet 2T9" powertrain when entering the domestic market, with a very strong performance performance, and now there is a 48V light mix blessing, in addition to strengthening the power performance, but also to further improve the economy.
In the course of nearly a century, Chevrolet SUV has become a bellwether for the SUV market and a label for American car culture because of its continuous innovation and exploration of freedom. With years of technology and cultural precipitation, each SUV launched by Chevrolet continues its own characteristics while being full of innovative courage.
110 years of vitality remains
The dual route of driving pleasure and toughness and reliability allows Chevrolet to always show outstanding brand vitality, maintain the genes while innovating, and solidify its own consumer group with excellent quality, and continue to replenish new blood.
The Chevrolet brand has gone through 110 years of history this year, witnessing the whole process of cars from scratch and entering thousands of homes.
Everyone is saying that today's automotive market is facing unprecedented changes, perhaps this statement is aimed at young brands that are just starting or starting up, for Chevrolet, the changes experienced in the development of more than a hundred years can not be counted.
In response to changes in the market, Centennial Chevrolet has been full of ambition, in the next 5 years, will launch a total of 20 new models for the Chinese market, including a number of new energy products based on Aoteneng electric vehicle platform. When the century-old brand embraces the era of electrification, what kind of surprises will it bring? Maybe only wait for Chevrolet to tell us the answer. 【iDailycar】