Chrysler Corporation

The Chrysler Corporation is a United States-based luxury automobile manufacturer, which was purchased in 1998 by Daimler-Benz to become DaimlerChrysler.

History

The company was formed by Walter Percy Chrysler on June 6, 1925, with the remaining assets of Maxwell Motor Company.

Related Topics:
Walter Percy Chrysler - June 6 - 1925 - Maxwell Motor Company

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In 1928 Chrysler founded the Plymouth brand at the low end, the DeSoto brand at the low-medium end and purchased the Dodge Brothers automobile company; all of this was in order to set up a full range of brands similar to that of the General Motors corporation. This process reached its logical conclusion in 1955, when the Imperial was made a brand of its own and Chrysler marketed a GM-like five-brand lineup. Well before then, though, Chrysler Corporation had become noted both for its engineering features and its periodic financial crises. By the end of the 1930s, the DeSoto and Dodge divisions would flip-flop spots in the corporate pecking order making the line-up Plymouth, Dodge, DeSoto, Chrysler and Imperial. Well before then, though, Chrysler Corporation had become noted both for its engineering features and its periodic financial crises.

Related Topics:
1928 - Plymouth - DeSoto - Dodge Brothers - General Motors - 1955 - Imperial - 1930s - Dodge

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In the 1930s, the company introduced a radical series of cars called the Airflow models, featuring advanced streamlined bodies which were among the first to be designed according to scientific aerodynamic principles. Chrysler created the industry's first wind tunnel to develop them. Unfortunately, they were not well accepted by the public, and it was the humble Plymouth division, which had not been given an Airflow model, which pulled the firm through the Depression years with its conventional but quite popular bodystyles. It was during this decade that the company created a formal parts division under the Mopar (Motor Parts) brand, with the result that Chrysler products are still often called Mopars.

Related Topics:
1930s - Aerodynamic - Wind tunnel - Depression

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The unsuccessful Airflows had a chilling effect on Chrysler styling and marketing, which remained determinedly unadventurous through the 1940s and into the 1950s, with the single exception of the installation of hidden headlights on the very brief production run of the 1942 DeSotos. Engineering advances continued however, and in 1951 the firm introduced the first of a long and famous series of Hemi V-8s. In 1955, things brightened after the questionable designs of the 1953-54 Chryslers with the introduction of Virgil Exner's successful Forward Look style. With these cars, Chrysler seized the industry's design leadership and produced several genuine classics, most notably the 1956 Plymouth Fury and the 1957 Chrysler 300C. With the inauguration of the second generation Forward Look cars for 1957, Torshion-Aire was introduced. This was a front stabilizer bar which gave the vehicles better and safer steering characteristics. However, a rush to production led to quality-control problems, and coupled with a national recession, soon the company was once again in financial recovery mode.

Related Topics:
1940s - 1950s - 1942 - 1951 - Hemi - V-8 - 1953 - Virgil Exner - 1956 - Plymouth Fury - Chrysler 300C

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As the 1960s opened, the firm made both good and bad moves. In 1960, Chrysler's Uni-body construction was introduced, the first to offer it of the Big Three. This gave the body more rigidity and less rattles and would soon become an industry standard. Its new compact line, the Valiant, opened strong and continued to gain market share for well over a decade. Valiant was introduced as a division of it's own but would become adopted by Plymouth in 1961. Alternators would replace generators in all of the 1961 models as standard equipment, an industry first. The DeSoto marque was axed after the introduction of the 1961 models due in part to the broad array of the Dodge lines being marketed. Plymouth would also suffer in the long run for Dodge division's creeping into Plymouth's price range. An ill-advised downsizing of the full-size Dodge and Plymouth lines in 1962 hurt sales and profitability for several years.

Related Topics:
1960s - 1960 - Big Three - Valiant - 1961

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In April of 1964, the Plymouth Barracuda, which was technically a Valiant sub-series, was introduced. The huge glass backlite (rear window) gave the impression of a hatchback with it's love-it-or-hate-it styling. Beating the Ford Mustang to the market by almost two weeks, it could be argued that the Barracuda was really the first pony car. However, unlike the Mustang, it did not rob sales of it's maker's other models. In spite of better build quality than the Mustang, Mustang still outsold the Barracuda 10 to 1 between April 1964 and August 1965.

Related Topics:
April - 1964 - Hatchback - Ford Mustang - Pony car - August - 1965

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In 1966, Chrysler expanded into Europe, by taking over the British Rootes Group, and Simca of France to form Chrysler Europe. The former purchase unfortunately turned out to be a major mistake for the company, inheriting a major industrial relations problem which afflicted the British motor industry at the time, coupled to the archaic factories and outdated product range that Rootes manufactured. Chrysler retired all of the Rootes marques in favor of the Chrysler name. The Simca division was more successful, but in the end the various problems were overwhelming and the firm gained little from these ventures.

Related Topics:
1966 - Rootes Group - Simca - Chrysler Europe

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More successfully, at this same time the company helped create the muscle car market in the U.S., first by producing a street version of its Hemi racing engine and then by introducing a legendary string of affordable but high-performance vehicles such as the Plymouth GTX, Plymouth Road Runner, and Dodge Charger. The racing success of several of these models on the NASCAR circuit burnished the company's reputation for engineering.

Related Topics:
Muscle car - Plymouth GTX - Plymouth Road Runner - Dodge Charger - NASCAR

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The 1970s brought both success and crisis. The aging but stalwart compacts saw a rush of sales as demand for smaller cars crested after the first gas crisis of 1973. However, an expensive investment in an all-new full-size lineup went largely to waste as the new 1974 vehicles appeared almost precisely as gas prices reached a peak and large-car sales collapsed. At mid-decade, the company scored a conspicuous success with its first entry in the personal luxury car market, the Chrysler Cordoba. However, redesigned compacts in 1976 did not repeat the success of the discontinued Valiant/Dodge Dart line, and the company had delayed in producing an entry in the now all-important subcompact market. Problems were mutliplying abroad as well, and Chrysler Europe essentially collapsed in 1977. It was offloaded to Peugeot the following year, ironically just after having helped design the new Plymouth Horizon and Dodge Omni, on which the increasingly-desperate company was pinning its hopes. Shortly thereafter, Chrysler Australia, which was now producing a rebadged Japanese Mitsubishi Galant, was sold to Mitsubishi Motors. The subcompact Horizon was just beginning to reach the U.S. market when the second gas crisis struck, devastating sales of Chrysler's larger cars and trucks, and the company now had no strong compact line to fall back on.

Related Topics:
Personal luxury car - Chrysler Cordoba - 1977 - Peugeot - Plymouth Horizon - Dodge Omni - Chrysler Australia - Japan - Mitsubishi Galant - Mitsubishi Motors

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In desperation, the Chrysler Corporation on September 7, 1979 petitioned the United States government for $1 billion in loan guarantees to avoid bankruptcy. At the same time, Lee Iacocca, a former Ford executive, was brought in to take the position of CEO, and proved a capable public spokesman for the firm. A somewhat reluctant Congress authorized the guarantees, prodded by Chrysler workers and dealers in every congressional district who feared the loss of their livelihoods. With such help and a few innovative cars (such as the K-car platform), especially the invention of the minivan concept, a market where Chrysler brands are still important, Chrysler avoided bankruptcy and slowly fought its way back up. By the early 1980s, the loans were being repaid at a brisk pace and new models based on the K-car platform were selling well. A joint venture with Mitsubishi called Diamond Star Motors strengthened the company's hand in the small-car market. The acquisition of AMC by Chrysler in 1987, mostly for its Jeep brand, bolstered the firm further, although Chrysler was still the weakest of the Big Three American auto makers.

Related Topics:
September 7 - 1979 - United States - Bankruptcy - Lee Iacocca - Ford - CEO - K-car - Minivan - Joint venture - Mitsubishi - Diamond Star Motors - AMC - 1987 - Jeep

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In the early 1990s, Chrysler made its first tentative steps back into Europe, setting up car production in Austria, and beginning right-hand drive manufacture of certain Jeep models in a 1993 return to the UK market. The continuing popularity of Jeep, bold new models for the domestic market such as the Dodge Ram pickup, Dodge Viper sports car, and Plymouth Prowler hot rod, and new "cab forward" front-drive sedans put the company in a strong position as the decade waned.

Related Topics:
1990s - 1993 - Dodge Ram - Dodge Viper - Plymouth Prowler

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Chrysler merged in 1998 with Daimler-Benz to form DaimlerChrysler AG. This was initially touted as a merger of equals but within a couple of years the truth had been leaked; it was effectively a buyout of Chrysler by Daimler-Benz, with the latter very much the dominant partner. As if on cue, the company went into another of its financial tailspins soon after the merger, greatly depressing the stock price of the merged firm and causing serious alarm at headquarters in Germany, which sent new CEO Jurgen Schremp to take charge. The Plymouth brand was phased out in 2001 and plans for cost-cutting by sharing of platforms and components began. The strongly Mercedes-influenced Chrysler Crossfire was one of the first results of this program. A return to rear wheel drive was announced, and in 2004 a redesigned Chrysler 300 using this technology and a new Hemi V-8 appeared and gave early indications of being a solid hit. Financial performance began to improve somewhat, but the long-standing partnership with Mitsubishi appeared to be unraveling as Daimler-Chrysler declared its intent to divest its stake in that firm.

Related Topics:
1998 - Daimler-Benz - DaimlerChrysler AG - Chrysler Crossfire - Rear wheel drive - Chrysler 300

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On April 7, 2005 a conclusion was announced by U.S. District Judge Joseph Farnan Jr. presiding over a bench trial in Wilmington, Del. between Kirk Kerkorian and DaimlerChrysler AG regarding allegations that Jürgen Schrempp of Daimler Benz AG prior to the 1998 merger lied and manipulated the Security Exchange Commission and Chrysler Corporation's shareholders (largest of which was Kirk Kerkorian's Tracinda Corporation) by touting the 1998 merger as a merger of equals and not an outright acquisition. The Judge was found to be in favor of DaimlerChrysler's position by rejecting Kerkorian's case. However another case (based on the same merit) was settled in 2003 for $300 million to other shareholders. The Kerkorian case called for many more causes of action that undoubtably needed to be carefully dealt with and took over one year to decide on.

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