Chevy, at 100, Goes Global as Brand Celebrates American Roots

Chevrolet's future is increasingly global, as the brand chalks up big sales of its new Cruze compact sedan in China, for example, and as General Motors leadership plots ways to extend Chevy further in Europe, where Opel has always been its reigning small-car brand. But for right now, at least, Chevrolet is All-American.

A year after the whole "Chevy vs. Chevrolet" naming flap, GM is wrapping up a weeks-long celebration of the brand's centennial with the showing of a new documentary film, Chevy 100, An American Story, at the Detroit Institute of Arts in downtown Detroit.

The film premiered on the centennial, November 3rd, as Chevy celebrated selling its one millionth Cruze. The New York premiere is on November 14th, after which it will be shown on Discovery's new Velocity Channel.

In addition to its regular advertising — such as the "What's your story?" spot, above, featuring up-and-coming singer Chelsea Williams and the 2012 Cruze during the FOX telecast of The X Factor this week — Chevy has been tapping deeply into its treasure trove of historical images, iconic jingles and generational heartstrings in much of its TV advertising related to the centenary.

It's also been taking its revitalized "Chevy Runs Deep" tagline to all sorts of logical places to celebrate the brand's century of accomplishments. In its most prominent platform, the brand bought commercial time during Major League Baseball's World Series to remind Americans of what Chevrolet has meant to our culture, our industry and our lives.

The Chevy 100 feature-length documentary, which you can catch a glimpse of below, was produced by Roger Sherman, an Academy Award nominee whose previous films included Medal of Honor and a tribute to American artist Alexander Calder.

As part of the Chevy 100 marketing, a fan contest voted the 1969 Camaro the best Chevy model of all time. "Chevrolet is rooted in American values that are shared by many people around the world, such as an appreciation for expressive cars and trucks and a love of the freedom on the open road," said Chris Perry, Chevy's CMO.

And so while Chevrolet has wrapped up a great century largely in the United States, GM wants to see another 100 years of Chevy love around the world.