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Chevrolet (IPA: /ˌʃɛvroʊˈleɪ/ - French origin) (also known as Chevy) is a brand of automobile, produced by General Motors (GM). It is the top selling GM marque, with "Chevrolet" or "Chevy" being at times synonymous with GM. Chevrolet offers 18 vehicles and many different enhanced versions in its home market. The vehicles range from subcompact cars to medium duty commercial trucks. Its number one seller in the United States is the Silverado pickup. Chevrolet continues to be the performance, price, fuel economy, and value leader for General Motors North America. North American historyChevrolet was founded by Louis Chevrolet (Swiss-French) and William C. Durant (American). 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. It is said to have been designed from wallpaper Durant once saw in a French hotel. More recent research by historian Ken Kaufmann presents a compelling case that the logo is based from a logo for "Coalettes". In 1915, Durant was in the process of setting up Chevrolet production facilities in Toronto, Canada. Later that year, during a luncheon meeting in New York with "Colonel Sam" McLaughlin, whose McLaughlin Motor Car Company manufactured McLaughlin-Buick cars, it was agreed that Chevrolets with McLaughlin-designed bodies would be added to the Canadian company's product line. Three years later, the two Canadian operations (Chevrolet was by then a part of GM in the United States) were bought by GM to become General Motors of Canada Ltd.[4] 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 four-passenger roadster and five-passenger tourer models. These cars had 288in3 35 hp (26 kW) engines with Zenith carburetors and three-speed transmissions. Famous Chevy models include the large and luxurious Impala (1958) and the innovative air-cooled rear-engined Corvair. Chevrolet had a great influence on the American automobile market during the 1950s and 1960s. In 1957, Chevy made the first fuel injected engine. In 1963, one out of every ten cars sold in the United States was a Chevrolet.[5] The basic Chevrolet small-block V-8 design has remained in continuous production since its debut in 1955, longer than any other mass-produced engine in the world, although current versions share few if any parts interchangeable with the original. Descendants of the basic small-block OHV V-8 design platform in production today have been much modified with advances such as aluminum block and heads, electronic engine management and sequential port fuel injection, to name but a few. The small block Chevrolet V-8 is used in current production model (2008) Impala sedans, a variety of light and medium duty Chevrolet trucks, and the current generation Corvette sports car. Depending on the vehicle type, they are built in displacements from 4.8 to 7.0 litres with outputs ranging from 180 to 638 horsepower (476 kW) as installed at the factory. It will also be used as a performance option in the forthcoming (2009 model year) revival of the Chevrolet Camaro. The engine design has also been used over the years in GM products built and sold under the Pontiac. Oldsmobile, Buick, Opel (Germany) and Holden (Australia) nameplates. Recently, a 6-litre, 400 horsepower (300 kW) version of the small-block V-8 designed initially for the C-6 Corvette has been installed in a factory-built high performance version of the Cadillac CTS sedan known as the CTS-V.
US and Canada models
Europe models
Future VehiclesThe Chevrolet brand is currently undergoing a product restructuring in North America along with all other GM brands in order to fit into the parent company's turnaround efforts. Since the 2007 hiatus of the Monte Carlo, there is an unknown status as of January 2009. In early 2009 Chevrolet will bring back the Chevrolet Camaro muscle car for the 2010 model year. At the 2009 Detroit Auto Show, the production version of the Chevrolet Beat was displayed under the nameplate of Spark; Chevrolet announced that the Spark along with the Chevrolet Orlando would go into production in the US. Orlando is most likely to replace the HHR. In 2010 Chevrolet will introduce two more models: the plug-in electric Chevrolet Volt; and the Chevrolet Cruze which will be the successor to the Cobalt. New for 2010 - 2010 Chevrolet Beat (Spark) 2010 Chevrolet Orlando 2011 Chevrolet Cruze 2011 Chevrolet Volt Chevy Vehicles List
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