Chevrolet, a car brand affectionately known as "CHEVY" by Americans, has long been the pride and love of Americans. With the development of time, Chevrolet's love for cars has gradually integrated into the lives of people in other parts of the world with the United States as its roots, making people feel that Chevrolet is a kind, warm and trustworthy "car partner".
From its birth in 1911 to the present, Chevrolet has entered its 110th year; looking back, Chevrolet was born of love and insisted on because of love. In the past 110 years, Chevrolet has encountered ups and downs and is still standing today, in addition to its love for cars, it also adheres to the spirit of change and innovation. Whether it is the start-up stage or the new energy period, Chevrolet adheres to the brand spirit of being a fun car life creator, daring to dream and act, and creating the future with dreams, which has made it followed by more than 252 million car owners. Achieving a century-old car company is no longer simple, and the history beyond a hundred years has given Chevrolet a magnificent depth that other car brands cannot match. Chevrolet relies on the spirit of insisting on change and innovation.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="6" > achieve "American national car status" in the change</h1>
When it comes to Chevrolet's greatness, it is always inseparable from the word change. As "the world's most innovative car brand", Chevrolet has been a constant path of change since its inception. In 1911, Billy Durant, who was forced to leave Buick Cars, founded the Chevrolet Motor Company along with the recently retired Louis Chevrolet. In an attic on the outskirts of Detroit, their first prototype, the Chevrolet Grand Blueprint, was born, which would later be Chevrolet's first production model, the Classic Six.
The Classic Six is powered by a 4.9-liter inline six-cylinder engine, which is one of Chevrolet's strongest performances, and is matched by a 3-speed manual transmission that can reach a top speed of 105 km/h. Large in size, horsepower and high in style, the Classic Six is undoubtedly Louis Chevrolet's dream car. In order to prove to consumers that the Classic Six is powerful and smooth, Louis Chevrolet even adopted a more common measurement method nowadays: put the pen on the engine, and when the speed reaches a certain data, observe the vibration of the pen to judge the smoothness of the engine. At the time, the Classic Six could still keep the pen on the engine at 2,000 rpm, showing how much effort Louis Chevrolet had put into the Classic Six.
However, the high-performance Classic Six did not achieve the expected results, mainly due to its high price. You know, at that time, the average price of cars in the United States was 800-900 US dollars, and the price of the Classic Six was as high as 2150 US dollars, so the Classic Six was destined to be only affordable for some of the rich. Despite this, the Classic Six sold 2999 units in 1912, which shows that the Classic Six is very popular in addition to the price. Despite its unfavorable start, the Birth of classic Six meant a lot to Chevrolet. "This is Chevrolet Motors' first product, and it's a lot of significance. It is also a high-class car that Mr. Louis Chevrolet has built with all his experience and learning, which is enough to go down in history." Edward Welburn, a senior vice president at GM, once said of it. Although Louis Chevrolet and Billy Durant left chevrolet in 1913 due to different car-making concepts, "Chevrolet" has been used as a brand name because it represents the brand's racing dna and quality assurance. Chevrolet has since begun the development of popular models, driven by Billy Durant, who believes that the future trend of the automotive industry is the popularization of the car. In 1913, the Styling Features of the Classic Six were applied to the cheaper Baby Grand model, which cost only $875. Because of its reliable quality, good safety and affordable price, the Baby Grand model was well received upon launch. It is worth mentioning that the Baby Grand is Chevrolet's first model to use the "golden bow tie" logo, and chevrolet Motors has since opened the "golden bow tie era". In 1915, the Series 490 model, which gave Chevrolet the initial foundation for Chevrolet's U.S. national status, was born. Named after its $490 price tag, the Series 490 model has boosted Chevrolet's annual production from less than 10,000 to 200,000 in one fell swoop. It was also because of the success of the Series 490 model that Billy Durant was able to regain power at GM.
In December 1927, Chevrolet took advantage of the suspension of production of Ford's updated product line and released a four-wheel braking system with a four-cylinder engine power increased by 11.5 percent to 35 horsepower. With this car, Chevrolet sold more than a million vehicles in the whole year of 1927, surpassing Ford to become the largest automobile manufacturer in the United States.
In 1928, when Ford fell into a production capacity crisis, Chevrolet became more and more courageous. This time, in the Chevrolet National and Ford Model A competition, Ford once again gave up the throne of the first-selling model. It can be said that compared with Ford, Chevrolet at this time already has a better influence in all aspects. Chevrolet, which surpassed Ford, did not pause the pace of its own development. Since the establishment of the brand in 1911, Chevrolet has always adhered to the brand philosophy: let consumers spend every dollar worthwhile. To meet the demands of young people for the first one to be powered, smooth and beautiful, Chevrolet released a new model with a six-cylinder engine, the International, with a price range of $525 to $725. Since Chevrolet's main competitor, Ford, only produced four-cylinder cars at the same price, when Chevrolet International appeared as "a six for the price of a four", it was immediately sought after by young people, and the result was that 106914 cars were produced in the first 45 days of the International market, and the number of orders in hand far exceeded this. Even Walter Chrysler's love for International is overflowing. He had this to say about Chevrolet International in Time magazine, "Chevrolet throttle is fully open to the mass market, although I have seen the Ford Model A before, but I still think Chevrolet International is better."
When time entered the Great Depression in the United States, the pace of Chevrolet's development did not slow down due to the continuous economic recession, and even at this stage, the gold paint sign of Chevrolet's American national car was more shiny. In 1930, for example, Chevrolet introduced independence, which was priced at $475 to $650. The car's larger body size, more ornate design, smoother engine, and more durable clutch helped Chevrolet achieve 627104 in 1931, while fords produced only 541615 at the same time. In 1932, Chevrolet introduced the Confederate Roadster luxury coupe, which was a great value for money. Because of its eye-catching and compact and practical, plump and well-proportioned tail curves, it is known as "one of the most beautiful cars before World War II" because of its eye-catching and compact tail curves that fully match its sporty appearance and excellent performance characteristics. Not only that, but in the advertisement of Chevrolet's 1932 Confederate Roadster luxury coupe, the car began to integrate into women's lives, which is also one of its most sought after fashion symbols. Calculated, Chevrolet Confederate Roadster should be the first car company to start paying attention to female users.
In the mid-1930s, after Roosevelt implemented the New Deal, Chevrolet entered a new stage of development. In March 1933, Chevrolet introduced the Standard Six model. With a price of only $445 – $475 , the Standard Six model was called "the cheapest six-cylinder car ever built" at the time. Because of the attractive price, the Standard Six model helped Chevrolet win the annual sales championship in the year of launch. It was with this strategy that Chevrolet reached the unprecedented sight of "someone buying a Chevrolet car every 40 seconds every day" during that time. At that time, one out of every three cars sold in the United States was a Chevrolet, and the Standard Six with a six-cylinder engine was hailed as "America's Value Choice." Born from love, casting greatness in adversity, Chevrolet has gone through 110 years in its youth.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="28" > every innovation is leading the times</h1>
When it comes to the greatness of Chevrolet, it is inseparable from innovation. Chevrolet has been chasing its dreams since the launch of the first car, and every innovation has allowed Chevrolet to lead the way in the car trend, attracting latecomers to continue to follow. For example, one of the most common functions in cars now , the radio, many people have long been accustomed to it, every time there is a traffic jam, they like to listen to FM music, so that the journey is no longer boring, but what many people don't know is that this function was first introduced by Chevrolet in 1924. Chevrolet noticed interest in broadcasting at the time and boldly assembled this epoch-making trend technology on the car, which was Chevrolet's first step to connect with the world and the beginning of its leading car trend. Nowadays, many models will be modified or replaced after a certain period of time after being launched on the market, but this concept was first proposed by GM President Sloan in 1925. At the time, Sloan persuaded GM directors to accept his idea of launching an annual model update, and the title of the meeting transcript was called the "Continuous Model Improvement Plan of the Year", which focused on creating rapidly updated products based on consumer demand. The "Model of the Year Continuous Improvement Program" took root in GM in the United States in the late 1920s and is still widely used by all automakers around the world.
Chevrolet's Superior K series, introduced in 1925, was the model developed after Chevrolet first proposed the "Model of the Year" concept. Its appearance subverts the "black" rules of the automotive industry body in the past. In addition to giving customers the freedom to choose body styles such as soft-top, hard-top coupes, station wagons and sedans, it also introduces blue, green and other color versions. Since then, the family car market has entered the era of "colorful".
In addition, some entry-level models are still stingy with independent suspension, and it is not known that Chevrolet has been offered as early as the new Standard Six model introduced in 1935. At that time, the United States was not yet a country on the wheel, and the road mileage was far less than 500 kilometers. Due to the shortage of roads and the rampant traffic, the traditional front overhang causes the vehicle to travel bumpily due to the limitations of the engineering structure, the steering is affected in the case of bumps, and the wear of the tires is serious. Chevrolet's improvements to the Standard Six's engineered structure and the first time it is equipped with a separate front suspension have resulted in a significant improvement in comfort and safety, and further alleviated the problem of front wheel wear. For nearly a hundred years, Chevrolet's pursuit of driving performance and comfort never stopped, which laid the traditional advantage of American cars. The SUV boom has not receded, and Chevrolet has launched the world's first SUV model, the Chevrolet Suburban, by chance. In 1935, although the United States rapidly developed highways across the country, but there are still many rough surface roads, consumers close to the mountains especially want to have a full road condition model, it not only has a certain cargo and off-road capacity, but also does not lose the comfort of the car, so the Chevrolet Suburban Carryall utility vehicle came into being.
Although later SUV continued to appear in new forms, the Chevrolet Suburban is still recognized as the originator of modern SUVs. Since its birth in 1935, Chevrolet Suburban has produced a total of 12 generations of models, which has been produced non-stop for 76 years, which is a miracle of model manufacturing. Today's Suburban still maintains the volume of a full-size SUV. Its interior is becoming more and more luxurious, with leather seats, various electrical components and various luxury multimedia systems are equipped with the model. In terms of design, Suburban gradually improved the angular shape into urbanization and luxury. In terms of performance, it also continues to achieve the optimal balance point of urban commuting, non-paved road travel and loading goods. Suburban has become not only a partner in the daily life of consumers, but also a car for many celebrities and dignitaries because of its performance and reputation. The birth of the Chevrolet Suburban made people realize that cars can ride in a wider world. If there had been no Chevrolet Suburban back then, we probably wouldn't have seen SUV flourishing today.
In terms of safety, Chevrolet also does not hesitate to protect its occupants. In 1935, Chevrolet applied the industry's first "TurretTop" full-steel roof developed by Fisher to the Chevrolet Master model. This measure puts Chevrolet's cars far ahead of its competitors in terms of quality, safety, configuration and value ratio. It is worth mentioning that based on this innovation of the entire all-steel roof, Chevrolet did a vehicle crash test. Since then, safety has begun to become a key consideration for Chevrolet, and the development history of body safety in the automotive industry has progressed. As the test evolved into a professional vehicle crash test in the automotive industry, Chevrolet's initiative can be called the "founder of safety".
Not only that, thanks to the puppet collision experiment developed by General Motors, Chevrolet also took the lead in dummy collision experiments in 1973 and took the lead in adopting airbag technology, which also became the safety test standard of the later automobile industry. Moving forward from innovation and leading the development of the automobile trend in innovation, 110-year-old Chevrolet is in its youth.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="47" > achieved brilliantly, relying on the continuous introduction of models suitable for the needs of the times</h1>
From the Series 490, which initially laid the foundation for the national car, to the National, which helped Chevrolet surpass Ford, to the Superior K series models that pioneered the color era and the SUV originator Chevrolet Suburban, Chevrolet was able to achieve glory in the past 110 years, relying on the continuous introduction of models that meet the needs of the times. In addition, from its birth to the present, from Classic Six to Corvette, the racing genes from the racing experience of founder Louis Chevrolet himself have always flowed in Chevrolet's blood, which is why the Chevrolet brand has been committed to providing mainstream consumers with a car life of driving pleasure for every era for 110 years.
In June 1953, a generation of legendary sports cars, the Corvette, was born. Beginning with the participation of Corvette in 1955 with a new small-block V8 engine in NAZCA, Chevrolet has topped the top 30 times in this top series in the 68 years of NAZCAR racing. In the 20 years between 1990 and 2010 alone, Chevrolet won 15 championships.
Although Colvet's victory at NAZCA laid the foundation for his use as an American supercar, in the face of the world stage, Colvet still needs to find a breakthrough to prove himself, that is, to win a world-class event, so Chevrolet set its sights on the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
From September 2000, when Colvert won his first victory, Chevrolet began the 24 Hours of Le Mans. In addition to winning four consecutive team titles in the 24 Hours of Le Mans GTS from 2001 to 2004, Chevrolet even finished first and second in the drivers' championships in 2001, 2002 and 2004. With the launch of the Corvette C6R in 2005, the team won the Le Mans North American Series Racing Team and Manufacturer Championship for 8 consecutive years and the Drivers' Championship for 7 consecutive years. At the same time, Colvert also won the 5th 24 Hours of Le Mans. In 2009, the last race in the GT1 category of the Le Mans Endurance Race, Colvet won the group championship with a perfect victory, becoming the permanent champion of this category. What's more, in the GTE Pro category of the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2015, Chevrolet competed with only one Corvette and reached the podium.
Chevrolet's success in NAZCA and le Mans 24 Hours has also been extended to other venues, and in 2009, Chevrolet's first global model, the Cruze, was put into the WTCC race by Chevrolet just after its launch. After a year of global conquest, Chevrolet won three consecutive victories from 2010 to 2012.
Chevrolet's love of racing has not only led to the development of American racing culture, but also shown the performance of American cars to the world. Whether it's racing in a NAZCA race, being more reliable than endurance at Le Mans, or showing the prolific strength of a production car in the World Touring Car Championship, Chevrolet has shown unparalleled prowess. The inseparability with motorsport has also led to a leap in Chevrolet's technological level and at the same time driven the growth of market sales.
In the Chinese market, Chevrolet was introduced to China by SAIC-GM on January 18, 2005. Thanks to Chevrolet's global platform strategy, the Cruze, its first model based on the compact Delta platform, was introduced to the Chinese market as soon as it was launched in 2009. The first-generation Cruze, which entered the Chinese market, also lived up to expectations, becoming a star model in the Chinese market with excellent handling and good quality, and achieved a sales volume of more than 10,000 for 64 consecutive months in the domestic compact mid-level car market. In 2012, Chevrolet's mid- and high-end car strength model Mai Ruibao landed in China, with the product characteristics of "driving and enjoying one" to stand out in the domestic mid-to-high-end car segment, and won the 2014 domestic American mid-to-high-end car sales champion.
Since entering China in 2005, Chevrolet has broken through the market through accurate positioning, starting from the national car, and then launched the national medium-sized car, completing the first cumulative sales of 1 million vehicles in the first 5 years. Since then, Chevrolet has accurately grasped the needs of consumers, and has continuously broken through the peak of sales of 2 million, 3 million and 4 million, and up to now Chevrolet has been recognized by more than 4.5 million car owners in the Chinese market.
Chevrolet in the Chinese market after years of development, but also from the initial two models to start, relying on the continuous introduction of the latest technology platform and strengthen localization research and development and other initiatives, the product spectrum is becoming more and more perfect, and now has a new generation of flagship car Mai Ruibao XL, mid-to-high-end car strength model Mai RuiBao, the new generation of urban SUV Chuangku, the American big 7-seat SUV pioneer, the legendary performance sports car Camaro, etc., including 12 large series of 53 products, covering small cars, compact mid-level cars, mid-to-high-end cars, SUVs, sports cars A number of market segments, such as electric vehicles, have become the favorite American car brands by young consumer groups, and have opened a chapter in the car lifestyle that belongs to the mainstream population in China.
In order to celebrate the upcoming 110th anniversary, Chevrolet launched the 110-year gratitude feedback campaign, hand in hand with Tmall 10 billion subsidies to help, from now until October 31, buy designated models can get Tmall 10 billion subsidy gift certificates, buy any model will have the opportunity to win Chevrolet 110th Anniversary Limited Commemorative Gold Coins, and deposit 110 yuan sincerity gold, you can expand to 3000 yuan booking gift.
Summary: Over the course of 110 years, Chevrolet has become a cultural symbol with a special memory and has become a part of American life. In the past 110 years, Chevrolet has become a legend through continuous change and innovation, but it is as energetic as a teenager, constantly creating a better future. In other words, "Chevrolet 110 years, legend is a teenager." Today's Chevrolet belongs not only to the United States, it is the Chevrolet of the world. The world is diversifying, the automobile is also advancing towards the new energy era, Chevrolet's purpose has withstood the test in the long river of time, and change, innovation, commitment, quality and value are constantly being recognized by more and more users. Believe me, in the future, Chevrolet's car dreams will be created with you.
(Some of the pictures come from the Internet)