Chevrolet in India: The Early Years

Chevrolet, the great American car brand is one hundred years old and running with as much gusto as it did when its founder turned from racing cars for a living to making cars for the masses! Louis Chevrolet, who made his name racing cars of his own design, put together the marque which was, in the course of a few years, going to be the cornerstone of the huge General Motors group.  Ford, which was the then dominant car manufacturer in the US, had already set the ball rolling for the motorisation of the US with the Model T but Henry Ford’s obstinate obsession to persist with this design for more years than one could imagine gave Chevrolet the chance to offer much needed variety to the American masses.

From the mid-1920s onwards, GM launched Chevrolet as its mass market brand against Ford and since then it has always been a Chevy or a Ford as the best-seller in the US. And this holds true to this day though now it is the truck category (lifestyle pick-ups, mind you) that they fight for leadership in but that’s another story altogether.

Not many know that Chevrolet entered India in the middle of the second decade in the last century and the early going was by means of specialist importers in Bombay, Calcutta and Madras as these cities were then known, serving as the flag-bearers of the cars with the bow tie logo. The earliest models were no different from the Ford Model T, in configuration, but the Chevys were slightly robust and better structured and more importantly, they were the cheapest cars on the market then. Cheap didn’t necessarily translate into poor quality stuff but with a competitive price tag they represented good value considering the British and Ford rivals then selling in India.

The first Chevys featured a 22.5HP four-cylinder motor breathing via a Zenith carburettor and featuring a three-speed plus reverse gearbox. Mind you, reverse gear was just getting to be a big thing and the Chevrolet had it from day one in India. If that wasn’t all, it also did away with the crank handle and featured electric start, had proper drum brakes to scrub off speed, adjustable dual-stepped windscreen, an electric rather than a bulb horn plus also a speedometer. It was priced for the princely sum of Rs 3250/00 and it seemed that this competitive pricing allied to its performance quickly made it the car of choice for many motorists on a budget.

In fact, there is a small first drive report of this car in the July 7, 1916 issue of the Times of India where the writer cum tester was impressed with its performance: “It will climb any hill in Bombay with ease on top speed. It is of the well known valve in the head type, but of special design to give the maximum amount of power and is said to give over 25 miles to the gallon of petrol.” The report further added; “The car is simple to drive and has great powers of acceleration. For the price it appears to be remarkably good value and will doubtless create a large demand in India where the low price car has become popular.”

Was the writer clairvoyant or what but fast forward to the present and Chevy’s second thrust in India at the moment seems to have a larger range than what it started out with in 1916. However, this present day range also includes the smallest diesel-engined car on the market – the Beat Diesel, which incidentally is also very frugal in operation and initial cost but also peppy and delightful to drive.

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The success of the 1916 models seemed to give the brand just the right fillip to push forward. Two additional models came on to the market within the next three years – the Baby Grand and the Four Ninety and these were just as successful. If that wasn’t all, market acceptance of the Chevrolets spurred General Motors to set up a manufacturing operation in Bombay and in 1924 the die was set and Chevrolets began to roll out from the Sewree plant. By then the model range had swelled to four models which included the Chevrolet Sport, the Standard Tourer, the Sedan and a one-tonne truck. Makes one sit up and think that Chevrolet’s next models, due within the next few months will include light sub one-tonne CVs!

So while GM may have shut shop in the mid-1950s thanks to them not agreeing with the Tarriff Commission, in its second innings in the country, and especially in its second decade of this millennium, the ‘can do’ pioneering spirit the brand displayed almost a hundred years ago seems to be working again in India.