by Marcus Amick
For New Pittsburgh Courier
(Real Times News Service)—As vice president of Global Design for General Motors, Ed Welburn is not only charged with shaping the future look of Chevrolet, but also making sure that the heritage of the 100-year-old brand stays intact for future generations.
It’s a responsibility that Welburn revels in as a car aficionado who grew up with a passion for Chevrolet.
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| GENERAL MOTORS DESIGN VP Ed Welburn with a 1953 Chevrolet Corvette. |
“It’s an amazing history and you kind of find yourself when you celebrate that really taking a look at the history,” said Welburn. “I feel like I’ve grown up with the Chevrolet brand.”
Created in 1911 by auto pioneer and industrialist William C. Durant and Swiss-born race car driver Louis Chevrolet, Chevy was founded on building affordable cars and trucks with style, value and features not offered by competitors.
Over the past ten decades that history has given birth to some of the coolest designs in the world ranging from the 1960 Chevrolet Corvette to the new Chevy Camaro, making the brand a cultural icon that has transcended into more than 700 popular songs and dozens of films.
Under Welburn’s leadership, Chevrolet has captured the 2011 North American International Auto Show Car of the Year award with Volt, the 2010 World Car Design of the Year Award at the New York International Auto Show with the Camaro, and the 2008 North American Car of the Year with the Chevrolet Malibu.
Welburn said the spirit of American design continues to be more part of the brand as it becomes more global, expanding from its traditional markets in North and South America into China, Russia, Uzbekistan and India.
“The history of brand can hold it back if not managed properly or it can be something that can make a brand so successful,” said Welburn. “To build on that history in very contemporary way is very powerful.”
Today, Chevrolet sells more than 60 percent of its vehicles outside the United States. Last year, Chevrolet sold a record 4.26 million cars and trucks, and was the only Top Five global auto brand to grow its market share.
This year, Chevrolet is on track to post its best sales in its 100-year history. In Brazil, where Chevy has been a popular nameplate since the 1920s, the brand’s sales grew 78 percent in the five years between 2005 and 2010.
Welburn said a major contributor to Chevrolet’s growth globally has been a more consistent design language with the brand around the globe. The design chief has created a network of nine Design Centers in seven countries around the world that collaborate on GM designs for Chevrolet and the automakers other brands.
He and his team of over 1,800 men and women are responsible for the design development of every GM concept and production car and truck globally from the Design Centers, which are located in the United States, Germany, Korea, China, Australia, Brazil and India.
“Historically, its roots have always been here in America, but it’s been sold all over the planet and in many cases they were Buicks with a Chevy badge or they may have been a Daewoo,” said Welburn discussing the Chevrolet brand.
“There wasn’t a distinctive design language that was consistent around the world.”
The focus on a more global design strategy, explained Welburn, has spawned the development of vehicles like the Cruze, now the nation’s best-selling compact car, an all-new Malibu sedan that will launch this fall in South Korea, and an all-new Sonic subcompact (Aveo in global markets) goes on sale this fall in the United States, followed by the Spark mini-car in 2012.
It’s a product mix that builds on Chevrolet’s global appeal as an American brand, said Welburn.
“In Thailand, where we unveiled an all new mid-sized Chevrolet pick-up (Colorado) the love for Chevy is amazing,” Welburn.
“It’s unbelievable. There is a Chevrolet pick-up club there, trucks from the ’30s, ’40s and ’50s and they all came rolling in to the unveiling. Some were customized, some were stock right hand drive. Route 66 signs everywhere. It made me feel really good for America.
“I left there and went to Korea and they had a similar kind of celebration of Detroit and America with Chevrolet. I went to Argentina and Brazil and they had a similar kind of thing.
No matter where I go on this planet, Chevrolet is there and it is celebrated.”
The success Chevy is having around the world says a lot about the future of the brand, said Welburn.
“It’s been so much a part of our culture and today you couldn’t write a better story for a brand on its 100th birthday than what is happening with Chevrolet in America and globally.”