Chevrolet: The European US Brand

2023 Author: Eric Donovan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-11-27 05:39

Chevrolet is the epitome of American vehicles. The company's history is closely linked to Europe and at times also to Berlin.

Hardly any car brand is more American than Chevrolet, they say. But if you take a closer look you realize that Chevy is more European than you think. Company founder and namesake Louis Chevrolet (1878-1941) was a Swiss citizen who emigrated to the USA at the age of 22 and founded the "Chevrolet Motor Car Company of Michigan" there in 1911 together with William Durant. Only 13 years later, the first vehicles with the famous "Bowtie" logo were produced in Europe.

Four years of production in North Berlin

Between 1924 and 1960 it is estimated - there are no exact figures - around 228,350 units from European production lines. The first plant outside of North America was located in Copenhagen, Denmark, where just under 59,000 units with the golden bow tie on the front were manufactured.

There was also a Chevy factory in Germany: in 1927, more than 5,000 cars rolled out of the factory halls in Berlin-Wittenau, and from 1928 to 1931 the Americans had their vehicles manufactured in Berlin-Borsigwalde. At the end of October 1931, production had to close due to the consequences of the global economic crisis. There were also plants in Belgium, Poland and Switzerland.

Difficult situation in Europe

In general, the American brand did not have it easy in Europe, which was mainly due to the model range. While American drivers loved large and powerful vehicles, European audiences wanted smaller and more economical cars. In order to expand its own product portfolio to include such cars, General Motors bought the insolvent Korean, but well-established small car specialist Daewoo in 2005 and from then on shipped the vehicles to Europe under the Chevy logo. This enabled the manufacturer to double its sales within three years.

With the presentation of the Chevrolet Cruze in 2008, a new era began for the US automaker. Developed by international engineers and built worldwide, the compact class aimed at the global market from the start.