From American icon to global juggernaut
 | Peter Brown, Publisher |
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Chevrolet -- revolutionary, evolutionary, relentless.
Don't look now, but Chevy just keeps coming at you.
It's cool that as Chevrolet celebrates its 100th birthday, the brand has revolutionized its lineup with handsome, affordable cars that bring technology to the mass market.
That has been Chevy's niche during its Golden Ages.
Like long-lasting people, Chevrolet has enjoyed good times and suffered through tough times. Just a few years ago, it was basically a truck and rental-car company. Now, in addition to its trucks, this centenarian has strong, appealing cars from the bottom up through the middle -- claiming the position it had in the 1950s when, every September, brand-new, beautiful Chevy models were unveiled.
We of course think of Chevy as synonymous with Americana. Listen to "American Pie" someday. Think of the small-block V-8. How many other engines are household words?
But just as America's place in the world is evolving, so is Chevrolet's.
More than a couple hundred MILLION Chevys have been sold in 140 countries around the world. Today, those global Chevrolets are as likely to have been engineered in Korea as in Michigan. Today's General Motors executives are responding to a new, broader world.
(A historical footnote: It was former CEO Rick Wagoner who overruled many of his lieutenants and decreed, correctly, that Chevrolet would be GM's global mass-market brand.)
A hundred years from now, small-block V-8s may be history. Internal combustion may be no more.
But there will be powerful brands that people know and trust. Read the stories in this special issue of Automotive News and see if you don't think that in 2111, Chevrolet will still be out there representing mobility and value to the world's consumers.
