Chevrolet was started by William C. Durant and Louis Chevrolet.
Durant had been involved in the buggy business and by 1890 was producing about 50,000 horse-drawn vehicles a year with Durant-Dort Carriage Company. His first venture into automobiles was becoming manager of Buick bringing their sales from 34 cars in 1904 to the #1 automobile in sales in 1908. In 1908 he started General Motors, buying up multiple companies until he overextended and was taken over by the banks.