The W-platform (also known as the W-body ) was a General Motors automotive platform underpinning both mid size and full-size front-wheel drive cars — across the platform's three generations from 1987-2016.
101-490: Code named GM10 , the program began development in 1982 under Chairman Roger B. Smith and debuted in 1987 with the Pontiac Grand Prix , Buick Regal , and Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme coupés — with the four-door sedan body style introduced for 1990. The 1997–2005 2nd Generation, or W2 Platform, used both a 110.5 in full-size wheelbase as well as a 109 in mid-size wheelbase. From 2005-2016,
202-793: A business-only vehicle . In the past, GM also assembled the Suburban and Avalanche in Mexico for export to other markets, chiefly the U.S. and Canada. In 2009 China became Chevrolet's third-largest market, with sales of 332,774 vehicles, behind only the United States and Brazil (1,344,629 and 595,500 vehicles respectively). By 2010, Chevy sold just over half a million, with the Cruze being its best seller there. A total of 673,376 locally-manufactured Chevrolets were sold in China in 2018 (down from
303-614: A controlling interest in General Motors . After the deal was completed in 1918, Durant became president of General Motors, and Chevrolet was merged into GM as a separate division. In 1919, Chevrolet's factories were located at Flint, Michigan ; branch assembly locations were sited in Tarrytown, N.Y. , Norwood, Ohio , St. Louis, Missouri , Oakland, California , Ft. Worth, Texas , and Oshawa, Ontario General Motors of Canada Limited . McLaughlin's were given GM Corporation stock for
404-629: A market share of 21.5% of the region's plug-in electric passenger car segment. Combined global Volt/Ampera sales passed the 100,000 unit milestone in October 2015. As of June 2016 , the Volt family of vehicles ranks as the world's all-time top selling plug-in hybrid, and it is also the third-best-selling plug-in electric car ever, after the Nissan Leaf and the Tesla Model S . Volt sales in
505-532: A racer as the foundation for his new automobile company. The first factory location was in Flint, Michigan at the corner of Wilcox and Kearsley Street, now known as " Chevy Commons " at coordinates 43°00′31″N 83°42′36″W / 43.00863°N 83.70991°W / 43.00863; -83.70991 ( Chevy Commons ) , along the Flint River, across the street from Kettering University . One of
606-681: A record of 767,001 in 2014). In 2018, Chevrolet held just 2.90% share of the Chinese market (down from a record market share of 5.33% in 2012). The best-selling Chevrolet models in China by 2019 were the Cavalier (~ 10 000 units per month). Malibu (~ 3500 units per month), Equinox (~ 2000 units per month), Cruze - at one time the best-selling model (~ 1500 units per month), Sail (~ 1200 units per month), new Orlando (~ 1000 units per month), Malibu XL (~ 800 units per month), Trax (~ 100 units per month), Lova RV (~ 100 units per month), representing just 9 of
707-713: A separate bureaucracy from that of the Truck and Bus Group. In 1982 Smith negotiated contract concessions with the United Auto Workers and cut planned raises for white-collar workers. After unveiling a more generous bonus program for top executives that provoked an angry response from the union, Smith was forced to back-pedal. Relations with the UAW, management, and stockholders remained strained. Profits improved in 1983 and Smith began unveiling his vision for reorganization, diversification, and "deindustrialization." One of
808-697: Is also manufactured in Rayong, Thailand. Starting in 2003, the Holden Commodore was badged as the Chevrolet Lumina in Thailand for the VY and VZ model series. Exports lasted until 2005. General Motors is currently exploring cost-cutting options as part of its restructuring plan. One of these options involves expanding the Rayong, Thailand plant to add additional capacity to export Colorados to
909-606: Is an American automobile division of the manufacturer General Motors (GM). Louis Chevrolet (1878–1941), Arthur Chevrolet (1884–1946) and ousted General Motors founder William C. Durant (1861–1947) started the company on November 3, 1911 as the Chevrolet Motor Car Company. Durant used the Chevrolet Motor Car Company to acquire a controlling stake in General Motors with a reverse merger occurring on May 2, 1918, and propelled himself back to
1010-476: Is described in detail in the book Call Me Roger by Albert Lee, a former GM speechwriter. The structure of the deal was unusual in that EDS would be owned by GM, but Smith promised it would allow Perot autonomy to run the company. In addition, the stock of EDS became a special 'Class E' GM stock, which was separate from normal GM stock, an arrangement which almost got GM kicked off the NYSE . Perot eventually agreed to
1111-703: The Chevrolet Camaro , all were commercially successful and included family sedans, practical station wagons, and sporty coupes and convertibles. As the popularity of small, fuel efficient imported vehicles began to find buyers in the US during the 1970s and 1980s, the Chevrolet Vega was introduced while the Chevrolet Chevette was the result of international collaboration. By the mid-1980s, the Vega
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#17327880645361212-882: The Chevrolet Cavalier , followed up by the Chevrolet Celebrity . Chevrolet during the 1990s formed a partnership with Toyota and introduced the Geo Prizm while also offering the domestically produced Chevrolet Corsica . As mid-sized family sedans began to gain popularity, the Chevrolet Lumina found many buyers and as minivans began to find buyers, the Chevrolet Venture followed the popular selling Chevrolet Trailblazer and Chevrolet Traverse SUV's. The basic Chevrolet small-block V8 design has remained in continuous production since its debut in 1955, longer than any other mass-produced engine in
1313-585: The Chevrolet Cruze , Chevrolet Spark , Chevrolet Optra , Chevrolet Aveo , Chevrolet Tavera , Chevrolet Captiva , Chevrolet SRV , Chevrolet Beat , Chevrolet Sail and Chevrolet Aveo U-VA . The Chevrolet Forester , a rebadged Subaru , was imported directly from Fuji Heavy Industries in Japan until 2005. The Cruze and Tavera were built at the Halol plant. Chevrolet also was the sole engine supplier for
1414-702: The Chevrolet Tahoe . In 2018, the Corvette was added to the roster, making it the most expensive vehicle in the lineup. It is legally imported, as the government has seized and destroyed expensive vehicles that were bought into the country illegally. In 2019, the Camaro returned to the Philippines with a 2.0-liter turbo engine at 275 hp and 398Nm to compete with the Ford Mustang ever since it
1515-1059: The Chevy C2 , which is a reworked older-generation Corsa B. Vehicles based on US platforms are the Avalanche, the Suburban, the Equinox, the Tahoe, the Cheyenne (which is similar to the Silverado), the Aveo, the HHR, the Traverse, the Malibu, the Camaro and the Corvette. The Chevrolet Optra , assembled in South Korea by GM Korea, was also sold in Mexico. The second-generation Epica was sold as
1616-539: The Chrysler Corporation formed Plymouth in 1928, Plymouth, Ford, and Chevrolet were known as the "Low-priced three". In 1929 they introduced the famous "Stovebolt" overhead-valve inline six-cylinder engine, giving Chevrolet a marketing edge over Ford, which was still offering a lone flathead four ("A Six at the price of a Four"). In 1933 Chevrolet launched the Standard Six , which was advertised in
1717-585: The Corvette , a two-seater sports car with a fiberglass body. In 1957 Chevy introduced its first fuel injected engine, the Rochester Ramjet option on Corvette and Chevrolet Bel Air passenger cars, priced at $ 484 ($ 5,251 today). In 1960 Chevrolet joined the newly popular "compact car" market by introducing the Corvair , with a rear-mounted air-cooled engine. In 1963 one out of every ten cars sold in
1818-577: The Formula Rolon single-seater series in India. In 2017, GM ceased the production and sale of Chevrolet cars in India, but it continues to run service centers. In 1999, Opel was rebranded to Chevrolet as a coincidence of Chevy's entry to Indonesia. Chevrolet stopped selling cars and ceased production in Indonesia by the end of March 2020. From 1995 to 2000 Toyota in an agreement with GM sold
1919-915: The GM LS1 engine , commonly known by the name or a variant thereof of its progenitor, the Chevrolet small-block engine . On November 8, 1911, the Chevrolet Motor Car Company was incorporated. It was founded by Swiss race car driver and automotive engineer Louis Chevrolet with his brother Arthur Chevrolet , William C. Durant and investment partners William Little (maker of the Little automobile ), former Buick owner James H. Whiting , Edwin R. Campbell (son-in-law of Durant) and in 1912 R. S. McLaughlin CEO of General Motors in Canada . Former Buick officers were also employed, including Curtis R. Hatheway as secretary. Durant
2020-454: The Saturn division , investing heavily in technological automation and robotics, and attempting to rid the company of its risk-averse bureaucracy. However, Smith's far-reaching goals proved too ambitious to be implemented effectively in the face of the company's resistant corporate culture. Despite Smith's vision, he was unable to successfully integrate GM's major acquisitions and failed to tackle
2121-526: The Sonic , Captiva , Camaro , and Corvette in limited numbers through an agreement with Yanase Co., Ltd. dealerships. In the 2000s, General Motors Asia Pacific (Japan) had distributed and marketed the TrailBlazer also. As of 2010 , Mitsui Bussan Automotive distributes and markets the Chevrolet Tahoe , Chevrolet Express , Chevrolet HHR , Silverado , and Traverse . Previously, it had also marketed
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#17327880645362222-572: The United Kingdom , were to be moved upmarket. However, GM reversed this move in late 2013, announcing that the brand would be withdrawn from Europe from 2016 onward, with the exception of the Camaro and Corvette . Chevrolet vehicles were to continue to be marketed in the CIS states, including Russia . After General Motors fully acquired GM Daewoo in 2011 to create GM Korea , the last usage of
2323-581: The W3 Platform used a 110.5 in, full-size wheelbase in sedan and coupe configurations, including for the Pontiac Grand Prix (2004-2008), Buick LaCrosse/Allure (2005-2009), Chevrolet Impala/Impala Limited (2005-2016) and Chevrolet Monte Carlo (2000-2007) — each with high performance V8 variants. The platform cost $ 7 billion to develop, with engineering executed by the Chevrolet-Pontiac-Canada (CPC) group; also known as
2424-632: The plug-in hybrid Chevrolet Volt , sold as the Opel/Vauxhall Ampera in Europe , which received multiple awards including the 2012 North American Car of the Year, European Car of the Year , and World Green Car of the Year. The Volt/Ampera family was the world's best selling plug-in electric car in 2012 with 31,400 units sold. The Opel / Vauxhall Ampera was Europe's top selling plug-in electric car in 2012 with 5,268 units, representing
2525-626: The 1920s. In the mid-2000s, Suzuki imported and marketed the Chevrolet TrailBlazer and the Chevrolet Optra wagon in Japan. Suzuki, a GM partner, also assembled and marketed the Chevrolet MW microvan. The MW was originally a rebadged Suzuki Wagon R+ and later a rebadged Suzuki Solio. Suzuki had also marketed the Chevrolet Cruze subcompact in the past. In the 2010s, General Motors Japan Limited distributed and marketed
2626-437: The 1930s. By the 1980s however, that autonomy (also including Fisher Body division producing the car bodies, and GM Assembly division building them) were seen as representing a dated business model that had led to needless large scale redundancy, infighting by the divisions, and a bloated internal bureaucracy. Smith took on the massive GM bureaucracy with disastrous results. A sea change in how GM would market and build cars in
2727-498: The 1984 reorganization forced teamwork by the divisions, parts sharing evolved into wholesale sharing of entire designs and simply re-badging vehicles for each division. Observers suggested differences between automobiles produced and marketed by the Chevy , Buick , and Oldsmobile divisions were less distinct as a consequence. Automotive commentators cited a lack of a distinct brand identity and demographic changes as crucial factors in
2828-472: The 1984 reorganization, GM10 (also known as W-body), has been called "The biggest catastrophe in American industrial history." Beginning in 1982, and costing $ 7 billion, the plan was to replace all midsize cars produced by Chevrolet , Pontiac , Oldsmobile , and Buick . The plan was huge in scope, calling for seven plants that would each assemble 250,000 of the cars, or 21% of the total U.S. car market. It
2929-437: The 1997 model year the second generation W-body was released with a MacPherson strut coil spring design. A revised and updated W3 platform was introduced in 2004, rather than a stretched Epsilon platform , as had been planned. Parma Metal Fabricating Division of Parma, Ohio was responsible for metal fabrication and final assembly took place at GM's Oshawa Car Assembly . The transverse use of GM's LS small-block engine in
3030-658: The 1st generation Chevrolet Camaro by the Yutivo family-owned General Motors plant. Other than Chevrolets, the plant also assembled Opels , Pontiacs , Holdens , Buicks , and Vauxhalls for the Filipino market. GM withdrew from the Philippines in 1985 and returned in 2000. During Chevrolet's absence in the market, many cars like the Chevrolet Suburban and the Chevrolet Astro have been imported new in
3131-594: The American market passed the 100,000 milestone in July 2016. In October 2016, GM began production of the Chevrolet Bolt EV , the first ever affordable mass market all-electric car with a range over 200 mi (320 km). The Chevrolet Bolt won several awards including the 2017 Motor Trend Car of the Year award, the 2017 AutoGuide.com Reader's Choice Green Car of the Year, Green Car Reports Best Car To Buy 2017, Green Car Journal 's 2017 Green Car of
General Motors W platform - Misplaced Pages Continue
3232-488: The Atlanta Constitution on November 12, 1911. Others claim that the design was a stylized Swiss cross , in tribute to Chevrolet's home country. Over time, Chevrolet used several different iterations of the bowtie logo at the same time, often using blue for passenger cars, gold for trucks, and an outline (often in red) for cars that had performance packages. Chevrolet eventually unified all vehicle models with
3333-534: The Camaro and right-hand-drive Corvette in Japan. Kazakhstan-based Allure Group of Companies and Uzbekistan-based UzAuto Motors opened an assembly plant for the manufacture of Chevrolet-branded cars in March 2020, in the city of Kostanay . As of 2024, the vehicles are assembled from semi-knocked-down or complete-knocked-down kits. Assembly of the Chevrolet Onix from complete knock-down kits commenced at
3434-511: The Chevrolet Export Boxing plant at Bloomfield, New Jersey was repurposed from a previous owner where Knock-down kits for Chevrolet, Oakland, Oldsmobile, Buick and Cadillac passenger cars, and both Chevrolet and G. M. C. truck parts are crated and shipped by railroad to the docks at Weehawken, New Jersey for overseas GM assembly factories. Chevrolet continued into the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s competing with Ford, and after
3535-505: The Daewoo automotive brand was discontinued in its native South Korea and succeeded by Chevrolet. In North America, Chevrolet produces and sells a wide range of vehicles, from subcompact automobiles to medium-duty commercial trucks. Due to the prominence and name recognition of Chevrolet as one of General Motors' global marques, 'Chevrolet', 'Chevy' or 'Chev' is used at times as a synonym for General Motors or its products, one example being
3636-681: The GM presidency. After Durant's second ousting in 1919, Alfred Sloan , with his maxim "a car for every purse and purpose", picked the Chevrolet brand to become the volume leader in the General Motors family, selling mainstream vehicles to compete with Henry Ford 's Model T in 1919 and overtaking Ford as the best-selling car in the United States by 1929 with the Chevrolet International . Chevrolet-branded vehicles are sold in most automotive markets worldwide. In Oceania , Chevrolet
3737-413: The General Motors system. It's like a blanket of fog that keeps these people from doing what they know needs to be done. I come from an environment where, if you see a snake, you kill it. At GM, if you see a snake, the first thing you do is go hire a consultant on snakes. Then you get a committee on snakes, and then you discuss it for a couple of years. The most likely course of action is—nothing. You figure,
3838-703: The Impala was added to the lineup as Chevrolet began importing the American-built sedan to South Korea for the first time. In 2018, Gunsan plant was shut down on May 31 and VIDAMCO plant in Hanoi , Vietnam was sold by Vinfast in June. Chevrolet Cruze and Chevrolet Orlando was discontinued on May 31. Also Chevrolet Captiva discontinued in July 2018. Their best-selling vehicle is Chevrolet Spark and Chevrolet Malibu . The American-built Chevrolet Colorado pickup
3939-435: The Middle East, Chevrolet-badged cars, trucks, SUVs, and crossovers are sourced from GM Korea (in South Korea) and GM in North America. Formerly, some models were sourced from GM Holden in Australia. The Middle Eastern market has a separate division called Chevrolet Special Vehicles , which (as of December 2007) sourced the high-performance 400 bhp (300 kW) CR8 sedan from Holden Special Vehicles . The Holden Commodore
4040-449: The Middle East. In Pakistan, Chevrolet introduced its cars in collaboration with a local automobile manufacturer called Nexus Automotive . The lineup from Chevrolet Pakistan included the Chevrolet Optra , Chevrolet Spark , Chevrolet Joy , Chevrolet Aveo , Chevrolet Cruze , and Chevrolet Colorado . Chevrolet has been in the Philippines for a long time, assembling the Chevrolet Bel-Air , Chevrolet Impala , Chevrolet Malibu and even
4141-450: The Starcraft versions of the G-Van and Chevrolet TrailBlazer . Mitsui Bussan Automotive had been importing and distributing certain GM models since 1992, but will cease their GM import business in November 2011, as GM Japan wants to consolidate the distribution channels. The Chevrolet models that have been imported by Mitsui will no longer be sold once existing inventories are depleted. As of 2022, General Motors Japan imports and distributes
General Motors W platform - Misplaced Pages Continue
4242-407: The United States as the cheapest six-cylinder car on sale. During the Great Depression the Chevrolet Master introduced a streamlined appearance, showing Art Deco influences and before and after the World War II era, the Chevrolet Deluxe and Chevrolet Fleetline found many buyers. Chevrolet had a great influence on the American automobile market during the 1950s and 1960s. In 1953 it produced
4343-404: The United States was a Chevrolet. During the 1960s and early 1970s, the standard Chevrolet, particularly the deluxe Chevrolet Impala series, became one of the United States' best-selling lines of automobiles in history. During that era, the mid-sized Chevrolet Chevelle which was used to introduce the Chevrolet Monte Carlo , and the economically priced Chevrolet Nova , which was the basis for
4444-406: The W-bodies was a major addition for 2005. The GM W Platform was phased out with the production of the new long-wheelbase Epsilon II platform . The last car produced on the W platform was the ninth generation of the Chevrolet Impala , which was replaced by the Epsilon-based tenth-generation Impala, beginning in model year 2014. GM continued to produce the W-body Impala to fleet customers only under
4545-649: The Year , and was listed in Time magazine's Best 25 Inventions of the Year of 2016. On February 14, 2021, Chevrolet unveiled the 2022 Bolt EUV and redesigned Bolt EV . As of 2010 Chevrolet had operations in over 140 countries, and global sales in 2011 set a record with 4.76 million vehicles sold worldwide. Mexico has a mix of Chevrolet models from different GM brands and platforms branded as Chevrolet. The models come from Chevrolet USA, GM Korea, Mexico and other origins. Examples of Opel-sourced vehicles are Vectra, Astra, Corsa, Meriva, Zafira and Captiva (Opel Antara). Mexico also has some cars of its own, such as
4646-500: The automobile industry followed in 1985, when Smith announced the purchase of Hughes Aircraft Company from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute for $ 5.2 billion. The company was then merged with GM's Delco Electronics to form Hughes Electronics . Smith's purchases of EDS and Hughes were criticized as unwise diversions of resources at a time when GM could have invested more in its core automotive divisions. GM spun EDS off as an independent company in 1996. After some major acquisitions in
4747-416: The board orchestrated a $ 743 million buyout of Perot's GM stock at a substantial premium over the market value of the shares. Perot accepted the buyout, but publicly denounced the expenditure as outrageous at a time GM was closing plants and laying off workers. He announced that he would put the money in escrow to give the automaker a chance to reconsider, but never actually sequestered the funds. This merger
4848-457: The chairman of the world's biggest and most powerful company lost it. " What ensued was one of the most vitriolic corporate battles of the 1980s, with Perot and Smith publicly exchanging barbs using the media, which delightedly splashed the story over every business publication in the U.S.. Perot notoriously lashed out at Smith in a 1988 exclusive to Fortune Magazine, saying: " My question is: Why haven't we unleashed their potential? The answer is:
4949-446: The city to use its eminent domain power to raze an existing immigrant neighborhood in neighboring Hamtramck . In order to transfer the land to GM for the construction of a new factory, the city condemned the homes of 4,200 residents as well as numerous churches, schools, and businesses, including the original Dodge assembly plant opened in 1914 by John and Horace Dodge for their then new 1915 Dodge Brothers car ("Dodge Main"). Although
5050-440: The company's treasurer by 1970, and vice president the following year. In 1974, Smith was elected executive vice president in charge of the financial, public relations, and government relations staffs. He ascended to GM's chairmanship in 1981. In 1981, mayor Coleman Young and the city of Detroit won a notorious landmark decision in the Michigan Supreme Court , Poletown Neighborhood Council v. City of Detroit that allowed
5151-427: The company. Longstanding informal relationships which had greased the wheels of GM were severed, seemingly overnight, leading to confusion and slipping new product programs. The reorganization virtually stopped GM in its tracks for 18 months, and never really worked as intended, with the CPC division building Cadillacs and BOC building Pontiacs . The reorganization added costs and created more layers of bureaucracy when
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#17327880645365252-524: The country via grey-market and sold to retailers. Chevrolet's current Philippine operations are under the control of The Covenant Car Company Inc. The company was officially incorporated on July 1, 2009 and assumed business operations on October 1, 2009. There are at least 24 dealerships around the country as of 2020. Its current lineup include the Chevrolet Spark , Chevrolet Sail , Chevrolet Cruze , Chevrolet Malibu , Chevrolet Colorado , Chevrolet Trax , Chevrolet Trailblazer , Chevrolet Suburban , and
5353-446: The day they opened. Smith began the reorganization of GM that would define his chairmanship (see below), with the 1981 creation of the worldwide Truck and Bus Group, consolidating the design, manufacture, sales and service of all trucks, buses and vans under one umbrella. 1982 saw the creation of the Truck and Bus Manufacturing Division, which combined all truck manufacturing and assembly operations from their former divisions, but still
5454-520: The deal predated Smith's tenure as chairman, he subsequently used the construction of the new Poletown factory, along with plants on a greenfield site in Lake Orion Michigan, and one in Wentzville, Missouri (an identical twin to Orion) to showcase the technology he felt would lead GM into a new era. Unfortunately, the factories failed to live up to their promise and since they were duplicates of existing GM factories, unable to flexibly produce different models, were ultimately panned by critics as obsolete on
5555-471: The deal, because, as Lee puts it, he was sold on the idea of saving millions of American jobs by helping GM fight off Japanese competition. The relationship between Smith, Perot, and the EDS executives ruptured openly in September 1985, during a meeting in Dallas that brought the EDS executive compensation issue to a head. Smith was reluctant to accept the EDS plan, substituting a plan of his own. Described in Irreconcilable Differences by Doron Levin, EDS' CFO
5656-460: The demise of the Oldsmobile division in 2004. Compounding GM's problems was the fact while entire platforms shared designs, the engineered parts beneath the surface, where customers did not care or did not notice were often not shared, which is where money could be saved. Analyst David Cole summed it up: "The engineering was 180 degrees out of phase. GM cars looked alike outside but were all different inside." Smith's major new car program prior to
5757-420: The factory. The engine design has also been used over the years in GM products built and sold under the Pontiac , Oldsmobile , Buick , Hummer , Opel ( Germany ), and Holden ( Australia ) nameplates. In 2000, Chevrolet brought back the iconic Impala , although unlike its predecessors, this car was a mid-sized front-wheel drive four door sedan. It was produced until 2020, and the last generation (2014-2020)
5858-430: The first World Solar Challenge race and he hired AeroVironment to build a winning solar-electric vehicle. The resulting car, the Sunraycer easily won the race at a cost of just under 2 million dollars. The success of the Sunraycer led directly to the AeroVironment-designed GM Impact prototype , subsequently planned for 25,000 vehicles, which in turn led to the EV-1 . In 2009, Portfolio.com called Smith one of
5959-497: The first twenty months, with increased production expected. The Chevrolet Cobalt compact sedan will be the first Chevrolet-branded vehicle to be assembled at the plant, with plans to expand to many other models in the coming years. Chevrolet entered the Malaysian market in 2003, replacing Opel . Between 2003 and 2009, a joint-venture between GM and DRB-HICOM called Hicomobil, marketed the Chevrolet Aveo , Chevrolet Optra , Chevrolet Nabira and Chevrolet Lumina . The joint venture
6060-414: The future, the 1984 reorganization was intended to streamline the process and create greater efficiencies; the reverse actually occurred. Combining the nameplate divisions, Fisher Body , and GM Assembly into two groups, C-P-C ( Chevrolet , Pontiac , Canada ) to build small cars and B-O-C ( Buick , Oldsmobile , Cadillac ) to build large cars, the effort was subsequently criticized for creating chaos within
6161-438: The gold bowtie in 2004, for both brand cohesion as well as to differentiate itself from Ford (with its blue oval logo) and Dodge (who has often used red for its imaging), its two primary domestic rivals. Louis Chevrolet had differences with Durant over design and in 1914 sold Durant his share in the company. By 1916, Chevrolet was profitable enough with successful sales of the cheaper Series 490 to allow Durant to repurchase
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#17327880645366262-431: The installation of Chevrolet engines in Oldsmobiles , and by a poorly designed diesel engine. GM was also losing market share to foreign automakers for the first time. Deciding that GM needed to completely change its structure in order to be competitive, Smith instituted a sweeping transformation. Initiatives included divisional consolidation, forming strategic joint ventures with Japanese and Korean automakers, launching
6363-422: The last of the old-line GM chairmen, a conservative anonymous bureaucrat, resisting change. However, propelled by industry and market conditions, Smith oversaw some of the most fundamental changes in GM's history. When Smith took over GM, it was reeling from its first annual loss since the early 1920s. Its reputation had been tarnished by lawsuits, persistent quality problems, bad labor relations, public protests over
6464-420: The last of the original GM10's were launched. The next iteration of the platform was known as the MS2000 or simply the W2 platform. Early versions used a transversely installed, fiberglass mono-leaf spring combined with struts in the rear. The "generation 1.5" W-body models had updated rear suspensions that used coil springs instead of the transverse leaf spring design inspired by the Chevrolet Corvette . For
6565-479: The mid-1990s by Hughes Electronics ( Magnavox Electronic Systems and PanAmSat ), GM divested most of Hughes assets from 1997 to 2003, including sale of defense operations to Raytheon in 1997, the spinoff of Delphi Automotive Systems in 1999, the divestiture of Hughes Space and Communications to Boeing in 2000, and acquisition of the remaining communications and satellite operations (mostly DirecTV ) by NewsCorp in 2003. In 1987, Smith chose to have GM enter in
6666-428: The most controversial decisions made during Smith's tenure was the partial elimination of divisional autonomy in 1984. In the 1920s, chairman and CEO Alfred Sloan, Jr. had established semi-autonomous divisions within the corporation, each designing and marketing their own vehicles ( Chevrolet , Pontiac , Oldsmobile , Buick and Cadillac ). This was considered a crucial factor propelling GM past market leader Ford in
6767-399: The name Impala Limited until production ended in May 2016. Vehicles using the W-body platform include: Roger B. Smith Roger Bonham Smith (July 12, 1925 – November 29, 2007) was the chairman and CEO of General Motors Corporation from 1981 to 1990, and is widely known as the main subject of Michael Moore 's 1989 documentary film Roger & Me . Smith seemed to be
6868-505: The new Saturn facility in Tennessee, which he brought to fruition, in 1991. A native of Columbus, Ohio, Smith was married for 53 years to his wife Barbara. They had two sons, Roger B. Smith and Drew J. Smith; two daughters, Jennifer A. Ponski and Victoria B. Sawula; as well as six grandchildren. Smith died on November 29, 2007, after an unspecified short illness. Chevrolet Chevrolet ( / ˌ ʃ ɛ v r ə ˈ l eɪ / SHEV -rə- LAY ), colloquially referred to as Chevy ,
6969-408: The new groups added management, marketing and engineering staff, duplicating existing staff at both the corporate and division levels. Almost ten years elapsed before the 1984 reorganization was unwound and all car groups were combined into one division. By the 1990s, GM's program of sharing components across divisions that began in the 70s as a way to cut costs grew into a marketing problem. After
7070-423: The office was relocated to the General Motors Building at Cadillac Place in Detroit. In January 1921 a General Motors management survey recommended that the Chevrolet Division be cancelled, but Alfred P. Sloan Jr . recommended that the division be saved and William S. Knudsen , a former Ford employee who oversaw production of the Model T, was made Vice President of Operations and performance improved In May 1925
7171-419: The only employees were those supervising the robots and computers. This was obviously viewed negatively by the unions, and further strained relations. Over the decade of the 1980s, GM spent upwards of $ 90 billion attempting to remake itself, including a 1981 joint venture with the Japanese robot manufacturer, Fujitsu-Fanuc. With the resulting venture, GMF Robotics , GM became the largest manufacturer of robots in
7272-597: The plant in March 2024. A separate dealer in Almaty , authorized by GM, imports and sells the Tahoe and Traverse. Uzbekistan-based UzAuto Motors and Kyrgyz supplier DT Technikis are opening an assembly plant near Bishkek in the summer of 2024. Components will initially be imported from Uzbekistan, with plans to build components independently in the coming years. The plant will assemble Chevrolet and Isuzu vehicles. The Chevrolet brand has been licensed from GM. The plant will assemble 10,000 cars from semi-knocked-down kits within
7373-737: The proprietorship of their Company article September 23, 1933 Financial Post page 9. In the 1918 model year, Chevrolet introduced the Series D , a V8 -powered model in four-passenger roadster and five-passenger tourer models. Sales were poor and it was dropped in 1919. Beginning also in 1919, GMC commercial grade trucks were rebranded as Chevrolet, and using the same chassis of Chevrolet passenger cars and building light-duty trucks, sharing an almost identical appearance with GMC products. Until 1921, Chevrolet Corporate headquarters were located at 57th and Broadway in New York City until April when
7474-492: The root causes of GM's fundamental problems. A controversial figure widely associated with GM's decline, Smith's tenure is commonly viewed as a failure, as GM's share of the U.S. market fell from 46% to 35% and the company lapsed close to bankruptcy during the early 1990s recession . Smith and his legacy remain subjects of considerable interest and debate among automotive writers and historians. Smith spent virtually his entire professional career working for General Motors. He
7575-561: The small car division. The original program was intended to replace all midsize cars produced by Chevrolet , Pontiac , Oldsmobile , and Buick on the G and A platforms . This ultimately did not happen; while the A-platform Chevrolet Celebrity and Pontiac 6000 were quickly discontinued, the A-body Buick Century and Oldsmobile Cutlass Ciera remained in production until 1996. The plan
7676-525: The snake hasn't bitten anybody yet, so you just let him crawl around on the factory floor. We need to build an environment where the first guy who sees the snake kills it ." Perot went on to needle Smith regarding the opulent 25th floor GM offices in New York, " An entire teak forest must have been decimated for that floor ". Smith, who had obviously ignored the irony of the CEO of the largest public corporation in
7777-580: The staggering total of 628 (sic) models of passenger cars being produced in China by February 2019. Until 2003, GM India—originally a joint venture with Hindustan Motors , sold the Opel Corsa , Opel Astra and the Opel Vectra . Launched by GM's India operations, Chevrolet officially began business in India on June 6, 2003. The Corsa and Astra were built at a plant in Halol , Gujarat. Chevrolet sold
7878-649: The sum could be better spent on purchasing both Toyota and Nissan resulting in a bump in market share overnight and openly questioned whether the proposed capital expenditures would pay the same dividends; they did not. By the time Smith retired, GM had evolved from the lowest cost producer in Detroit to its highest cost producer, due in part to the drive to acquire advanced technology that never paid dividends in efficiency. In 1984 Smith oversaw General Motors' acquisition of Electronic Data Systems from its founder Ross Perot for $ 2.55 billion, serving two purposes. First
7979-412: The technical advancements Chevrolet benefited from was the implementation of an overhead valve engine from the very beginning, as the company was developed by the former owner of Buick , which had patented the overhead valve and cross-flow cylinder design as being more efficient than the conventional use of the flathead engine . Actual design work for the first Chevy, the costly Series C Classic Six ,
8080-592: The third-generation model Chevrolet Cavalier as the Toyota Cavalier in Japan in exchange for the Geo/Chevrolet Prism in an effort to avoid additional restrictions on their exports to the US. The OHV Chevrolet Stovebolt engine was used and reverse-engineered by Toyota when they created the Toyota Type A engine when GM had a factory manufacturing GM cars in Japan at Osaka Assembly during
8181-491: The world complaining about the opulence of the private office (which Perot had personally paid to furnish) of a rival, had responded to Perot's frequent criticism of GM's executive perks a year earlier, " Perot's office (in Dallas) 'makes mine look like a shanty-town. He has Remingtons; he has a Gilbert Stuart painting hanging on the wall. Nobody runs around saying 'Get rid of Ross's office'' ". A second large acquisition outside
8282-511: The world, although current versions share few if any parts interchangeable with the original. Descendants of the basic small-block OHV V8 design platform in production today have been much modified with advances such as aluminium block and heads, electronic engine management, and sequential port fuel injection. Depending on the vehicle type, Chevrolet V8s are built in displacements from 4.3 to 9.4 litres with outputs ranging from 111 horsepower (83 kW) to 994 horsepower (741 kW) as installed at
8383-502: The world. Unfortunately, the experience failed to meet the vision, with the new robots famously painting each other instead of the cars, or robots welding doors shut. Ultimately, some robotic systems and automation installed in several plants were removed shortly after their installation. The astonishing sums expended were widely viewed as money wasted. Responding to a 1986 report on 3-year capital expenditures projected at almost $ 35 billion, VP of finance F. Alan Smith (no relation) opined
8484-617: The worst American CEOs of All Time," stating, "Smith...had the right idea but may have lacked the intuition to understand how his rip-up-the-carpet redo would affect the delicate web of informal communication that GM relied upon." In 2013, he was included on Fortune ' s list of the "10 Worst Auto Chiefs," with writer Alex Taylor III stating, "He wasted billions trying to revive the sagging giant through diversification ( EDS and Hughes ), automation (robotized factories), reorganization (two superdivisions B-O-C and C-P-C), commonization ( GM-10 cars ) and experimentation ( Saturn ). Smith's legacy
8585-442: Was a fleet of lookalike autos, an unqualified successor , and a mountain of debt that pushed the company close to bankruptcy in 1992." Smith served as chairman of The Business Council in 1989 and 1990. His tenure at GM ended in 1990, one year after the release of the popular underground documentary Roger & Me , where many displaced GM workers called for Smith's retirement. Smith voluntarily retired from GM, and later toured
8686-823: Was badged as the Chevrolet Lumina in the Middle East, as well as South Africa. The longer wheelbase Holden Caprice was sold as the Chevrolet Caprice in the Middle East. The Middle East fleet (particularly Saudi Arabia) includes the likes of the Groove, Captiva, Blazer, Tahoe, and Traverse in the SUV/crossover category, and the Silverado in the truck category. Previously, the Cruze, Malibu, Sonic, and Avalanche, among other models, were offered in
8787-425: Was badly executed from the start, but the 1984 reorganization wrought havoc on the program and it never recovered. By 1989, the year before the last of the original GM10s were launched, GM was losing $ 2000 on every one of the cars it produced. When asked by Fortune why GM10 was such a catastrophe, Smith replied, “ I don't know. It's a mysterious thing. I've said I'll take my share of the blame on all those things. I
8888-587: Was born in Columbus, Ohio , the son of Besse Belle (Obetz) and E. Quimby Smith. Smith earned his bachelor's degree in business administration at the University of Michigan in 1947, and his MBA at the University of Michigan 's Ross School of Business in 1953. He served in the United States Navy from 1944 to 1946. Smith began his career at GM in 1949 as an accounting clerk, and had become
8989-524: Was dismissed from his senior management position at General Motors in 1910, a company that he had founded in 1908. In 1904 he had taken over the Flint Wagon Works and Buick Motor Company of Flint, Michigan. He also incorporated the Mason and Little companies. As head of Buick , Durant had hired Louis Chevrolet to drive Buicks in promotional races. Durant planned to use Chevrolet's reputation as
9090-415: Was drawn up by Etienne Planche, following instructions from Louis. The first C prototype was ready months before Chevrolet was actually incorporated. However, the first actual production was not until the 1913 model. So in essence there were no 1911 or 1912 production models, only one pre-production model was made and fine tuned throughout the early part of 1912. Then in the fall of that year the new 1913 model
9191-507: Was ended and Naza was taking over Chevrolet's dealership as Naza Quest Sdn Bhd in 2010. The lineup of Chevrolet cars available were Chevrolet Sonic , Chevrolet Cruze , Chevrolet Malibu , Chevrolet Captiva , Chevrolet Orlando and Chevrolet Colorado . In 2018, Naza Quest Sdn Bhd ceased to distribute new Chevrolet vehicles in Malaysia, but continues to provide warranty support and aftersales service for existing Chevrolet customers. In
9292-420: Was explaining to Smith how they felt GM's plan was inferior, when Smith lost his temper. " People in the room later would remember Smith's angry explosion as being wondrous and terrifying at the same time: wondrous for the extreme colors and sounds it brought to the room, terrifying because none of them had ever seen someone lose his temper so completely in a business meeting. The EDS officers stared in disbelief as
9393-411: Was for seven GM plants that would each assemble 250,000 of the cars, or 21% of the total U.S. car market. It was badly executed from the start, but GM's 1984 reorganization, combined with changing market dynamics, wrought havoc with the program and it never recovered. In 2008, prominent shareholder activist Robert A. G. Monks noted that GM had lost $ 2000 on every car it produced in 1989, the year before
9494-587: Was gone and the Chevette was about to be discontinued. Lacking a line of competitive small cars, Chevrolet imported several Japanese models and re-badged them as Chevrolets. The Suzuki-sourced Chevrolet Sprint and the Isuzu-supplied Chevrolet Spectrum were a better match to compete against the popular Toyota Corolla and Honda Civic . The Chevrolet Citation was the division's first compact sized front-wheel-drive car along with
9595-540: Was introduced at the New York auto show . Chevrolet first used the "bowtie emblem" logo in 1914 on the H series models (Royal Mail and Baby Grand) and The L Series Model (Light Six). It may have been designed from wallpaper Durant once saw in a French hotel room. More recent research by historian Ken Kaufmann presents a case that the logo is based on a logo of the "Coalettes" coal company. An example of this logo as it appeared in an advertisement for Coalettes appeared in
9696-494: Was introduced in 2010. Many global-market Chevrolet vehicles are designed and manufactured by GM Korea of South Korea, but they had been sold under the Daewoo Motors brand in South Korea until February 2011. The Daewoo brand was fully replaced by Chevrolet in March 2011. All Daewoo products relaunched under the Chevrolet brand, with the release of the Chevrolet Camaro , Chevrolet Orlando and Chevrolet Aveo . In 2015,
9797-539: Was larger and classified as a full-size passenger car. In 2005, General Motors re-launched the Chevrolet marque in Europe , using rebadged versions of the Daewoo cars produced by GM Korea . The Chevrolet division largely recovered from the economic downturn of 2007–2010 through launching new vehicles and improving existing lines. GM began developing more fuel efficient cars and trucks to compete with foreign automakers . In late 2010 General Motors began production of
9898-524: Was part of the team. ” Nonetheless, the W-body platform that sprouted from the GM10 program lasted in production in some form until 2016. A defining theme of Smith's tenure was his vision to modernize GM using advanced technology. Some have suggested he was ahead of his time in attempting to create a 21st-century organization in a company not ready for the technology. "Lights out" factories were envisioned, where
9999-482: Was relaunched in Europe , primarily selling vehicles built by GM Daewoo of South Korea with the tagline "Daewoo has grown up enough to become Chevrolet", a move rooted in General Motors' attempt to build a global brand around Chevrolet. With the reintroduction of Chevrolet to Europe, GM intended Chevrolet to be a mainstream value brand, while GM's traditional European standard-bearers, Opel of Germany and Vauxhall of
10100-481: Was represented by Holden Special Vehicles , having returned to the region in 2018 after a 50-year absence with the launching of the Camaro and Silverado pickup truck (HSV was partially and formerly owned by GM subsidiary Holden , which GM retired in 2021). In 2021, General Motors Specialty Vehicles took over the distribution and sales of Chevrolet vehicles in Oceania, starting with the Silverado. In 2005, Chevrolet
10201-467: Was the opportunity to modernize and automate GM to fulfill Smith's goals; second, it was an effort to broaden out of its manufacturing base and into technology and services. As a result of the EDS acquisition, Perot became GM's largest single shareholder, joined its board of directors, and immediately became a source of friction to Smith and a vocal and public critic of Smith and GM's management. In 1986 Smith and
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