 | |
 The first GM Argentine factory located inSan Telmo, c. 1925 | |
| Company type | Subsidiary |
|---|---|
| Industry | Automotive |
| Founded | 1925 |
| Founder | Hampton and Watson[note 1] |
| Headquarters | , |
Area served | Argentina |
| Products | Automobiles Pickups Trucks |
| Brands | Chevrolet |
| Parent | General Motors |
| Website | chevrolet.com.ar |
General Motors de Argentina S.R.L.[1] is theArgentinesubsidiary of the US-based companyGeneral Motors. The company is currently headquartered inVicente López, Buenos Aires,[2] with its factory located inAlvear,Santa Fe Province.[1]
The seal of GM itself arrived in Argentina in 1922, through two importers that brought to the country the first models ofChevrolet. The company was founded in 1925, almost 17 years after the US plant was created, initially settling inSan Telmo and then moving to the neighborhood ofBarracas. Years later it would have its definitive installation in the historic site of the Buenos Aires town ofSan Martín. During this period the company manufactured models of the brandsChevrolet,Oldsmobile,Cadillac,Pontiac,LaSalle,Oakland,Marquette,Buick andOpel, the first having success.
With the installation of the San Martín factory production of the first 100% national Chevrolets began, among which the400,Chevy (both versions derived from the Chevrolet Nova) and theC-10pickup truck and theOpel K 180. Despite having led the market for quite some time, the sharp fall in sales of the company forced the closure of this in 1978.
Despite this closure, companies such asSevel andRenault Argentina got licenses to manufactureChevroletpickup trucks in Argentina until 1994, when General Motors re-started operations in the country. From then on, GM has been producing Chevroletsedans such as theCorsa,[3]Agile,[4] andCruze.[5]
The history of GM in Argentina can be traced to 1922 when Hampton and Watson (that commercialised in Argentina cars bought and imported fromGeneral Motors signed an agreement with the parent company to begin assembling the firstChevrolet models in Argentina, importing the majority of their components from the US, then assembling the cars in the country, only adding the seat covers and some minor parts.[6] The first model (a Doble Phaeton) was released in 1924, produced in the Chevrolet factory near Dársena Sur ofport of Buenos Aires. In 1924, H&W ceased their representation of Chevrolet in Argentina, selling their contract to GM USA which took over the local subsidiary, therefore "General Motors de Argentina" was established. The company rented a warehouse on Ingeniero Huergo Avenue inSan Telmo, supplying it with modern machinery so the new plant was established.
The first Chevrolet assembled in Argentina was the Doble Phaeton,[7][8] consisted of local and imported materials to reduce cost and help local entrepreneurs develop their business. The car, namedCampeón was released in 1925 atm$n2,085.[6] GMA expanded its business to 400 representatives, selling more than 6,000 units in Argentina. That first Chevrolet model had five versions, including 2 and 4-door sedan, voiturette, and a light truck.[9] Only two weeks after its release, GMA received 2,000 orders. By then, Argentina had a population of 10 million inhabitants and only 180,000 automobiles so the demand for those vehicles would increase in subsequent years. At the end of 1925, 7,930 cars and 521 trucks had been sold through 100 official dealers.[6]
Apart from Chevrolet, GMA expanded its range of brands in Argentina, with the addition ofOldsmobile (assembled),Cadillac, andLaSalle (imported). In February 1926, the company reached 10,000 units produced.[9]
GMA sales increased considerably.Pontiac andOakland brands were added to the local production. The company sold 8,000 cars and 500 trucks a year, reaching 10,000 units in 1926. As the demand grew, the capacity of the factory was overloaded so the company was in search of a new location to move its production. Three years later, the new 48,000 m2 plant in the barrio ofBarracas was inaugurated. During those times, theBuick, Cadillac, Marquette, LaSalle andOpel GM's brands were added to produce their vehicles in Argentina. Production reached 27,000 vehicles a year.
By 1931, GMA manufactured in Argentina products from its complete list of brands. Three years later the company produced 120 vehicles a day, with Chevrolet also supplying "colectivos" (buses) for passenger public transport. In 1939, GMA acquired a 190,000 m2 (2,000,000 sq ft) site inGeneral San Martín Partido ofGreater Buenos Aires to establish another factory. Those lands were the property of theCentral Argentine Railway. The factory opened in 1940, producing not only vehicles but refrigerators (under the "Frigidaire" brand), and automobile components such asbatteries.
The birth of the racing car seriesTurismo Carretera (that would become very popular) encouraged GMA to compete with its models, with some legendary drivers likeJuan Manuel Fangio being sponsored by Chevrolet. Fangio's run on TC was relatively short, but he won its first title in the category in 1940, the "Gran Premio Internacional del Norte", a 9,500-km length race between Buenos Aires andLima. Fangio's victory on board a green Chevrolet coupe was also the first title won by the brand.[10]
When theUnited States enteredWorld War II, operations in Argentina became complicated. The interruption of imports to Argentina caused a lack of components to assemble vehicles. As a result, the Barracas factory ceased operations temporarily until the war finished. When production restarted, the first models released by GMA were Oldsmobile and Pontiac, with the addition ofBedford trucks from England. Chevrolet cars were later added to production.[11]
.JPG)
In 1959 GMA refurbished the San Martín factory to produce fully-manufactured models, with the intention of develop local production and ceasing the import of components. One year later, the company released theC/K "Apache" pickup, becoming the first GM vehicle totally produced in the country.
Following that, the first GMA sedan came in 1962, when the subsidiary released theChevrolet 400, a compact car based on the AmericanNova. This model lasted –with modest sales– until 1974.[12] Apart from those models, GMA produced truck chassis and Bedford buses. In 1969, the "Chevy" (the third generation of US Nova) was launched in Argentina, originally as a 4-door sedan, then adding a 2-door version in 1971. GMA thought that car as a competitor ofFord Falcon andIKA-Renault Torino, similar-sized vehicles in the local market. TheChevy became the most acclaimed model of GMA until then, with 65,970 units produced (1969–78).[12] while in 1970 the firm reached 75,000 vehicles produced.
By 1971, GMA exported 11,719 vehicles to several countries. Three years later, the company introduced a mid-size car, theOpel K 180 (derived from GermanOpel Kadett, but equipped with an engine fully-produced in Argentina). Nevertheless, the market share of the company began decreasing considerably from 9% to 2% within two years. In 1978 GMA produced only 5,876 vehicles. GMA reported loss ofUSD30 million and the parent company decided to close the factories and the immediate cessation of activities in Argentina in 1978. By the time of its closure, GMA had produced a total of 195,000 cars and 207,000 pickups.
.jpg)
In 1985, Argentine companySevel (that had manufacturedFiat andPeugeot in its factory ofEl Palomar) signed an agreement with General Motors to produce the C-10 pickup under license. The pickup was manufactured in Estación Ferreyra, a city in Córdoba Province. The C-10 was equipped with an Indenor XDII engine by Peugeot. Production ceased in 1991, when the agreement expired.
Finally, GMA returned in 1994 to build theD-20 pickup, a replacement for the C-10 series. The original project also included the production of 25,000 within a year, apart from exporting 19,000 toMercosur affiliates. At a cost of near USD300 million, a new factory was built in Alvear, nearRosario, Santa Fe. It opened in 1997, where the first model, the Chevrolet Corsa (rebranded from the originalOpel model). That same year, production ofSilverado pickup also began in Alvear. By October 2007, 500,000 Corsa had been produced in Argentina, reaching to 650,000 in March 2009.[13]
In late 2008, GMA came up with a project to a new vehicle fully developed in the region. As a result, "GM Mercosur" (a new company that amalgamated Argentine andBrazilian GM subsidiaries) was established. The model, named "Chevrolet Agile", was a subcompact car produced in Alvear.
The second generation of the Chevrolet Corsa appeared in 2010 and was namedClassic, with two versions, sedan and wagon. The 3-door Corsa was discontinued, being replaced by theChevrolet Celta, imported from Brazil. The Classic wagon was produced until 2012 while the 4-door lasted until 2016. The Agile was also discontinued in 2016. They were replaced byChevrolet Prisma andChevrolet Onix respectively, both produced in Brazil.[14]
As of August 2020,Chevrolet Cruze was the only sedan fully-produced in Argentina. In April 2022 theTracker, asubcompact crossover SUV which had been imported from Brazil, began to be produced in Argentina at the General Alvear factory in Santa Fe Province.[15] Nevertheless, GMA did not officially announce this until June 2022.[16]
List of fully-manufactured models by General Motors Argentina. In case the country of origin's marque differs from the Argentine model, it is indicated.
| Marque | Name | Origin | Type | Release | Image |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chevrolet | Tracker |  BRA | SUV | 2022–present | .png) |
| Marque | Local name | Orig. name | Origin | Type | Produced | Image |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chevrolet | C-10[n 1] | C/K series |  USA | Pickup truck | 1960–1978 | .jpg) |
| Chevrolet | 400 | 1962Chevy II | USA | Sedan | 1962–1974 |  |
| Chevrolet | Chevy[n 2] | 1968Nova | USA | Sedan | 1969–1978 |  |
| Opel | K 180[n 3] | Opel Kadett C |  GER | Sedan | 1974–1978 |  |
| Chevrolet | D-20 | D-20 | BRA | Pickup truck | 1993–1997 |  |
| Chevrolet | Silverado | Silverado | USA | Pickup truck | 1997–2000 |  |
| Chevrolet | Corsa / Classic | Opel Corsa | GER | Sedan | 1997–2016 | .jpg) |
| Chevrolet | Grand Blazer | Tahoe | USA | SUV | 1999–2000 |  |
| Chevrolet | Grand Vitara | Suzuki Vitara[n 4] |  JPN | SUV | 2000–2011 |  |
| Chevrolet | Agile | Agile | BRA | Sedan | 2009–2016 |  |
| Chevrolet | Cruze | Cruze | USA | Compact | 2016–2023[19] |  |
All of theChevrolet brand, except where indicates:
The departure of the General Motors company from Argentina left its brands without official representation in the country. By 1980, the General Motors Overseas Distribution Corporation (GMODC) imported some of the brands it produced in different parts of the world.
| Automobiles |
| ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Other vehicles |
| ||||||||||
| Related topics | |||||||||||
