• by Karl Greenberg , November 3, 2011

Chevrolet was a century old on Thursday.

The division of GM started as a catalog ordering program at local gas stations and now has some 3,000 dealerships in 50 states -- one at least having been around since near the beginning, when William Durant and Louis Chevrolet joined forces to create the brand and market the Series C car, the "Classic Six," which could be had for about two grand.

The brand has been running programs to celebrate the centennial at various points this year. In August, it held a parade at the famed Woodward Dream Cruise (of which the brand was presenting sponsor) to tout the Chevrolet Volt electric car and Chevy heritage.

Last month, Chevrolet launched a TV campaign celebrating the company's history, and is prepping a Chevrolet Centennial documentary, which was produced by renowned documentarian Roger Sherman. Called “Chevy 100, An American Story,” the film focuses on owners of Chevrolet vehicles, collectors, journalists and historians. It premiered this week at the Detroit Institute of Arts and then will air nationally Nov. 21 at 8 p.m. on the Velocity Channel and will then be available on DVD from chevymall.com.

Chevrolet also launched chevy100.com this year, with new elements added last month, “The Road We’re On” and “The Ride of Your Life.” On social media, Chevy let fans Twitter questions for Alan Batey, vice president, Chevrolet sales, service and marketing. He answered them on Thursday on the Chevrolet YouTube page.

Also on tap are dealer promotions commemorating the centennial, a feature-length documentary, and an online program where fans of the "bow tie" can upload Chevy content. The Detroit automaker says Chevrolet dealers nationwide are sponsoring open houses and running promotions.

Upcoming introductions include the Chevrolet Volt extended-range electric vehicle in Europe and China, as well as the Chevrolet Spark in the United States and Canada in 2012 and its electric sibling in select global markets in 2013. They join new global introductions such as the 2013 Chevrolet Malibu sedan and new Chevrolet Colorado mid-size truck.

Chevrolet has also revamped its car lineup, had a major hit with its Cruze compact, will likely have one with Sonic, and is about to roll out the new Malibu. Any problems? Yes, writes Dale Buss with edmunds.com. He notes that although the division is getting some velocity with cars now, "it hasn’t been able to develop a modern brand presence for Chevy to match its vehicles."

A source at a competing automaker talked about this issue with me last week and mentioned that he thinks GM marketing chief Joel Ewanick may be overextended.

Says Buss: "[Ewanick] has waxed about someday making Chevrolet set consumer hearts aflutter like Apple already does; but, in the meantime, Chevy’s here-and-now advertising and brand development has been so hit-and-miss that Ewanick ordered all of Chevrolet’s global advertising accounts into an overall agency review."

The observer argued that the timing couldn't be worse to make big changes in marketing allies given the critical 2012 calendar of Chevrolet programs hitting the tarmac: in addition to the 2013 Malibu, there's the new Colorado mid-sized truck, global launches of Volt, and the Chevrolet Spark in the United States and Canada, plus an electric version of the Spark.

Chevy's U.S. lead AOR is Goodby, Silverstein & Partners. Interpublic's McCann Erickson handles Latin America, China and India. In August the company launched a global media review. Starcom handles GM's U.S. media business, while Carat handles Europe.