2017 & 2018 Chevrolet Cars, Trucks & SUVs Reviews & Ratings

Chevrolet, or Chevy for short, as it's commonly known, is an American automobile manufacturer owned by General Motors. W.C. Durant of Detroit, Michigan and Louis Chevrolet began the company in 1911, and it was acquired shortly after by General Motors in 1918. Originally slated to produce mainstream automobiles that would challenge Ford's Model T in the 1920s, the first Chevy produced were first showcased by racecar driver, Louis Chevrolet. Chevrolet first used its famous bowtie logo in 1913, and many stories circulate around its origin, from wallpaper W.C. Durant saw in a French hotel to a similar logo he saw in a newspaper ad on the same day he designed it. The logo could also be a stylized Swiss cross, representing Chevrolet's homeland.

In any case, Louis Chevrolet left the company in 1915 due to design conflicts with Durant, but not before designed a 6-six cylinder 4.9-liter vehicle which retailed for $2150. This vehicle wasn't put into mass production, however. The first Chevy to conquer the market was the 1914 Baby grand. It was originally priced at $875 and was a 5-passenger, 4-door touring car. This was almost four hundred dollars above the 1914 Model T's price with which it was competing. Electrics were optional on Chevrolets until 1917 when Chevy was acquired by General Motors. Up to this point, Chevy's only competitors were Ford and Dodge, but this quickly changed with the growing automobile market.

Chevrolet had its big break with the 1925 Superior. The company had began to experiment with new types of power, technology, and styles, and it began to pay off. The Superior sold for only $650 and had disc wheel and a ducco cellulose finish. This allowed the company to beat Ford for the first time in its history. Another popular new vehicle was 1929's $595 "Cast Iron Wonder" which sold over one million units in its premier year. In 1933 Chevrolet presented the Standard Six, which was advertised in the United States as the cheapest six-cylinder vehicle available at that time. The Chevrolet brand continued to have a major impact on the U.S. automobile market during the 1950s and 1960s. By 1963 one out of every ten cars sold in America was a Chevrolet.

Chevrolet competes with several other Americans companies, but it has an especially tough rivalry with U.S. brand Ford. These two have always tried to "outdo" one another in terms of style, sales, pricing, and innovation, and truthfully, both have been ahead at one time or another. For instance, in the 1920s-1940s, Chevy faced competition from Ford as one of the "Low-Price Three"- with now-dead Plymouth in the third slot. Chevrolet also competes with the American-made Dodge brand, especially in terms of pickup trucks. Deep-seated ties connect owners with each of these American brands, and true enthusiasts rarely move to across the market to a different U.S. auto manufacturer. Non-U.S. automakers in competition with Chevy include South Korean company Kia Motors and Japanese company Honda, which it has been known to face in stiff competition.