Julio Fevre

Julio Fevre was the Argentine-based businessman who built the firm that grew into Chrysler Fevre Argentina, the local arm of the United States car maker Chrysler. In 1890 he founded Julio Fevre y Cia, which began by importing machinery and chemical products for the tanning industry, and in 1910 he took control of the company. Under his direction it moved into the vehicle market, importing cars from French marques such as Mors, Delage, Delahaye, Citroen and Berliet; he and later his son Pablo also raced Mors cars. In 1916 he travelled to the United States and obtained the exclusive rights to sell Dodge Brothers vehicles in Argentina. In 1922 he built the Buenos Aires headquarters building on Leandro N. Alem avenue, and in 1935 the firm took the name Fevre y Basset as a partnership between Fevre and the driver Diego Basset. After Fevre y Basset agreed with Chrysler International in 1959 to form Chrysler Argentina, the companies merged in 1965 as Chrysler Fevre Argentina, which built cars and trucks at San Justo until it closed in 1979.