One hundred years ago today, the Chevrolet brand was created. Founded by an aspiring auto racer who trained himself in mechanical engineering, the Chevrolet brand now sells some 4.25 million cars, in over 140 countries, each year.
That’s quite a leap from 1911, when Louis Chevrolet rolled his first completed automobile out of a rented garage in Detroit, Michigan.
His partner in the business, William C. Durant, quickly recognized the importance of having a sound distribution network to sell its automobiles, and Durant signed up buggy dealers, bicycle shops and just about every other type of entrepreneur he could find to sell Chevrolet automobiles.
It’s fitting, then, that Chevrolet is emphasizing local dealer promotions to help it celebrate its first 100 years. If you’d like to see what your local Chevy dealers have in store, you can find that information on the Chevrolet website.
To honor its customers, Chevy’s created an interactive “Ride Of Your Life” website. By choosing one of six Chevy vehicles and entering geographic information, the site will take you on a customized ride through your life. It’s entertaining, if a bit creepy.
The Roger Sherman documentary, “Chevy 100, An American Story” premiers tonight at the Detroit Institute of Arts, but don’t worry if you can’t make the screening. The film debuts on national TV on November 21 at 8:00 p.m., on the Velocity Channel.
The celebration isn’t limited to the United States, either. In La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland, Louis Chevrolet’s birthplace, Chevrolet of Europe is commissioning a public artwork in a local park, and Korean Chevy fans are attempting to set a world record for the largest car logo.
Now that things at General Motors have settled down a bit, it’s reasonable to expect Chevy to make another hundred years. Here’s wishing it all the best on its first century.