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Content: Chrysler, officially known as DaimlerChrysler Motors Company LLC, is an American automobile manufacturer that has independently been producing automobiles since 1925. Chrysler and its subsidiaries are part of the German based DaimlerChrysler AG after an arduous deal dubbed a "Merger of Equals" with Daimler-Benz in 1998 [1]. Prior to the acquisition in 1998, Chrysler Corporation traded under the "C" symbol on the NYSE. The U.S. operations are generally referred to today as the Chrysler Group. Another popular term for all Chrysler cars is Mopar, the name for its parts operation. On May 14, 2007 DaimlerChrysler AG announced the sale of 80.1% of Chrysler Group to American equity firm Cerberus Capital Management, L.P. When the transaction completes, Chrysler will take on the name Chrysler Holding LLC.[2] // History Chrysler Model B-70 Touring 1924 Chrysler Series 60 2-Door Sedan 1926 Chrysler Series E-80 Phaeton 1926 Founding and early years The company was founded by Walter P. Chrysler on June 6, 1925, when the Maxwell Motor Company was re-organized into the Chrysler Corporation.[3] Walter Chrysler had originally arrived at the ailing Maxwell-Chalmers company in the early 1920s, having been hired to take over and overhaul the company's troubled operations (just after having done a similar rescue job at the Willys car company). In late 1923 production of the Chalmers automobile was ended. Then in January of 1924 Walter Chrysler launched the well-received Chrysler automobile. The Chrysler was a 6-cylinder automobile, designed to provide customers with an advanced, well-engineered car, but at a more affordable price than they might expect. (Elements of this car are traceable back to a prototype which had been under development at Willys at the time that Walter Chrysler was there). The Maxwell was then dropped after its 1925 model year run, although in truth the new line of lower-priced 4-cylinder Chryslers which were then introduced for 1926 were basically Maxwells which had been re-engineered and rebranded. It was during this period that Walter Chrysler assumed the presidency of the company, with the company then ultimately incorporated under the Chrysler name. Chrysler Series 66 Phaeton 7-Passenger 1930 Chrysler Series CM 4-Door Sedan 1931 Chrysler Series CA 4-Door Sedan 1934 Creation of the Plymouth brand In 1928 the Chrysler Corporation founded the Plymouth brand at the low priced end of the market (essentially by once again re-engineering and rebranding the 4-cylinder models), and it also introduced the DeSoto brand in the medium price field. Subsequently, Chrysler acquired 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 as well as 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 lineup Plymouth, Dodge, DeSoto, Chrysler, and Imperial. Chrysler Airflow Series CU 4-Door Sedan 1934 Chrysler Airstream Series C-7 4-Door Touring Sedan 1936 Chrysler Convertible Sedan 1937 Chrysler Royal Series C-18 4-Door Sedan 1938 Chrysler Airflow In 1934, the company introduced the Chrysler Airflow, featuring an advanced streamlined body which was among the first to be designed according to scientific aerodynamic principles. Chrysler also created the industry's first wind tunnel to develop them. Unfortunately, it was not well accepted by the public, and it was the humble Dodge and Plymouth divisions, which had not been given an Airflow model, which pulled the firm through the Depression years with its conventional but quite popular bodystyles. Plymouth was one of only a few marques that actually increased sales during the cash-strapped thirties. 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. The unsuccessful Airflow 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 V8s. In 1955, things brightened after the stodgy post-war styling with the introduction of Virgil Exner's successful Forward Look designs. With the inauguration of the second generation Forward Look cars for 1957, "Torsion-Aire" was introduced. This was not air suspension, but an indirect-acting, torsion-spring front suspension system which drastically reduced unsprung weight and shifted the car's center of gravity downward and rearward. This resulted in both a smoother ride and significantly improved handling. However, a rush to production of the 1957 models led to quality-control problems (mostly related to body fit and finish, resulting in major rusting). This, coupled with a national recession, found the company again in recovery mode. 1960s For the 1960 model year, Chrysler Monocoque built their passenger cars, excluding Imperial, with unibody (unitized body) construction. Chrysler products would be the only of the Big Three American automakers (General Motors Corporation, Ford Motor Company, and Chrysler) to offer unibody construction on the vast majority of their product lines. This gave the body more rigidity and fewer rattles and would soon become the 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 its own but would become adopted by Plymouth in 1961. Alternators would replace electrical generators in the 1960 Valiant and then 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 and the general neglect of the division. The same affliction plagued Plymouth as it also suffered when Dodge crept into Plymouth's price range. (This would eventually lead to the demise of Plymouth several decades down the road.) An ill-advised downsizing of the full-size Dodge and Plymouth lines in 1962 hurt sales and profitability for several years. Plymouth Barracuda In April 1964, the Plymouth Barracuda, which was a Valiant sub-series, was introduced. The huge glass rear window gave the impression of a hatchback with its "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 other division's models. In spite of better build quality than the Mustang, the Mustang still outsold the Barracuda 10-to-1 between April 1964 and August 1965. Expansion into Europe In the 1960s Chrysler expanded into Europe, attaining a majority interest in the British Rootes Group in 1964, Simca of France and Barreiros of Spain, to form Chrysler Europe. For the Rootes Group one outcome of this take over was the launch of the Hillman Avenger in 1970 (briefly sold in the US as the Plymouth Cricket), which sold in Britain alongside the rear-engined Imp and the Hunter. Due to the industrial unrest that was rife in Britain during the 1970s the former Rootes Group got into severe financial difficulties. The Simca and Barreiros divisions were more successful, but in the end the various problems were overwhelming and the firm gained little from these ventures. Chrysler sold in 1978 these assets to PSA Peugeot Citroën, which in turn sold quickly the British and Spanish truck production lines to Renault of France . Plymouth GTX 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. 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 gasoline prices reached a peak and large-car sales collapsed. 1974 would also mark the end of the Barracuda (and the similar Dodge Challenger) after the redesigned ponycars introduced for 1970 had failed to attract buyers in the shrinking market segment. At mid-decade, the company scored a conspicuous success with its first entry in the personal luxury car market, the Chrysler Cordoba. However, the introduction of the Dodge Aspen/Plymouth Volare twins in 1976 did not repeat the success of the discontinued Valiant/Dodge Dart line, and the company had delayed in producing a domestic entry in the now important subcompact market. Problems were multiplying abroad as well, as 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 had no strong compact line to fall back on. Later the Horizon was also produced and developed in Finland and marketed in Scandinavia as Talbot Horizon. After the Peugeot bought Talbot and the new version of Horizon was named as Peugeot 309. Government bailout Chrysler engine cross view In desperation, the Chrysler Corporation on September 7, 1979 petitioned the United States government for US$1.5 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, regularly appearing in advertisements to advise customers that "If you find a better car, buy it." He would also provide a rallying point for Japan-bashing and instilling pride in American products. His book, Talking Straight was a fitting reply to Akio Morita's Made in Japan. A somewhat reluctant Congress passed the "Chrysler Corporation Loan Guarantee Act of 1979" (Public Law 96-185) on December 20, 1979 (signed into law by President Jimmy Carter on January 7, 1980), 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. In February 1982 Chrysler announced the sale of Chrysler Defense Inc. , its profitable defense subsidiary to General Dynamics for $348.5 million. The sale was completed in March 1982 for the revised figure of $336.1 million.[4] 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. Chrysler acquired AMC in 1987, mostly for its Jeep brand although the failing Eagle Premier would be the basis for the later Chrysler LH platform sedans. This bolstered the firm further, although Chrysler was still the weakest of the Big Three. Dodge Viper 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 (badged as "Chrysler Viper" in Europe) sports car, and Plymouth Prowler hot rod, and new "cab forward" front-wheel drive sedans put the company in a strong position as the decade waned. Acquisition by Daimler-Benz In 1998 Daimler-Benz purchased Chrysler, forming DaimlerChrysler AG. Chrysler Corporation then was legally renamed DaimlerChrysler Motors Company LLC, while its total operations began doing business as Chrysler Group. This was initially declared to be a merger of equals, but it quickly became evident that Daimler-Benz was the dominant partner. Chrysler 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 a new CEO, Dieter Zetsche, to take charge in Auburn Hills. 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 new Chrysler 300 using this technology and a new Hemi V8 appeared and became a solid hit. Financial performance began to improve somewhat, with Chrysler now providing a significant share of DaimlerChrysler profits due to restructuring efforts at the Mercedes Car Group. The long-standing partnership with Mitsubishi was dissolved as DaimlerChrysler divested its stake in the firm due to diving Mitsubishi profits and sales worldwide. Sale This article documents a current event. Information may change rapidly as the event progresses. According to the April 2007 issue of the German magazine Der Spiegel, CEO Dieter Zetsche wants to dismantle Chrysler and sell off the majority stake and at the same time keep Chrysler "dependent" upon Mercedes-Benz after the sale. [5] On April 4, 2007 Dieter Zetsche said that the company was negotiating the sale of Chrysler, something which was rumored for weeks before the announcement. One day after this, Billionaire investor Kirk Kerkorian placed a 4.5 billion dollar bid for Chrysler. On 12 April Magna International of Canada announced it was searching for partners to place a bid for Chrysler. Wikinews has news related to: DamilerChrysler to sell Chrysler Group for $7.4 Billion On May 14, 2007 DaimlerChrysler AG announced that it will sell 80.1% of its stake in the Chrysler Group to Cerberus Capital Management for $7.4 Billion. After the transaction completes, Chrysler Group will officially become Chrysler Holding LLC, with two subsidiaries - Chrysler Corporation LLC (new name of DaimlerChrysler Corporation), which will produce Chrysler/Dodge/Jeep vehicles, and Chrysler Financial Services LLC (new name of DaimlerChrysler Financial Services Americas LLC), which will take over the current operations of Chrysler Financial. DaimlerChrysler AG plans to change its name to Daimler AG pending shareholder approval sometime this fall.[6] Logos The design shown at the top of the page is an adaptation of the original winged logo which Chrysler used on its cars at its inception in 1925. The logo was revived for the Chrysler division in 1994, and was surrounded by a pair of silver wings after the Daimler-Benz merger in 1998. In 1963, the company had switched over to a star design which became known as the Pentastar (right) and was extensively used on dealer signage, advertisements, and promotional brochures. Contrary to popular belief, it was not designed to symbolize the five divisions of the corporation at the time, Plymouth, Dodge, Chrysler, Imperial and Airtemp (Chrysler's HVAC division). By 1963 there were only two auto divisions in the United States: Chrysler-Plymouth and Dodge. There were over a dozen other divisions in the Chrysler Corporation family, and management desired a symbol that all divisions could use. Then-Chrysler head Lynn Townsend was looking for a symbol that could be used by all divisions on packaging, stationary, signage, advertising, etc. He wanted something that would be universally recognizable as "Chrysler" to anyone who saw it, from any perspective, from any culture. Chrysler's trademark symbol, the Pentastar, was simple and easily recognizable from any perspective, even in motion on revolving signs. The symbol also facilitated Chrysler's expansion in the international market by removing the need to translate any text that is commonly used on logos. Thus all divisions of Chrysler adopted the Pentastar in 1981. All car brands (Valiant, Plymouth, Dodge, Chrysler, Imperial, Hillman, Humber, Sunbeam, Singer, Simca), truck brands (Fargo, DeSoto, Dodge, Commer, Karrier), and all the other Chrysler divisions (air conditioning systems, heating, industrial engines, marine engines, outboard motors, boats, transmissions, four-wheel drive systems, powdered metal products, adhesives, chemical products, plastics, electronics, tanks, missiles) and services (leasing, finance and Mopar) were identified by the Pentastar. It united the firm's various products and services in the public's eye. Chrysler Headquarters at Auburn Hills The Pentastar appeared consistently but inconspicuously on the lower passenger-side fender of all Chrysler products, including foreign brands, from 1963 into the 1972 model year. It was placed on the passenger-side fender so it could be viewed by passers-by, a subtle method of getting the symbol ingrained in the public's mind. A nameplate has to be read, but a symbol is recognizable even to the illiterate. Thus North American and French cars had the Pentastar on the right fender and British on the left. The practice was revived in the 1990s. Beginning in 1981, the Pentastar replaced individual logos that had been used by Plymouth, Dodge and Chrysler and had in some cases identified individual models, such as the Chrysler New Yorker. The Chrysler brand used a gem-like version of the Pentastar to identify its more upscale status, and its Imperial models employed a combination of the Pentastar and winged icon. Dodge trucks and vans also used the ram hood ornament in place of the Pentastar. Chrysler began phasing out the Pentastar as vehicle badging in 1993, when the Dodge division adopted the ram logo beginning with the Dodge Intrepid. The Chrysler brand revived the original gold logo in 1994, eventually adopting the full winged logo it had used until the 1950s, in 1998. The full winged logo appeared on all cars by 1999, however the 2000 Chrysler Voyager used the plain one. In 1996, Plymouth debuted a new sailboat logo, which was a simplified version of the brand's pre-Pentastar ship logo. The Pentastar's last badging appearance was on the steering wheel, front fender side rub trim, and keys of the Chrysler NS minivans produced from 1996 through 2000 as well as on certain vehicles (although the word CHRYSLER appeared on the steering wheel on some vehicles). The Pentastar continued to represent Chrysler as a whole until the merge with Daimler in 1998, when it was officially retired. Among the few remaining traces of this motif, is a large, star-shaped window at DaimlerChrysler's American headquarters in Auburn Hills, Michigan, and Pentastar Aviation, a former DaimlerChrysler subsidiary which reverted to its original name after being purchased, ironically, by a member of the Ford family. Many dealerships still have signage and other traces still visually apparent to the Pentastar, where a five-Pentastar logo remains in use as the logo of the "Five Star Dealer" service rank [7]. Today, the Pentastar still makes a few relatively inconspicuous appearances on Chrysler Group cars and trucks in markings on window glass and on individual components and molded-plastic assemblies. As the Mopar parts division has also now changed its logo (to use a stylized 'M'), the Pentastar is a fading relic of the pre DaimlerChrysler years. On May 17th 2007 an internal email stated that Chrysler was going to revive the Pentastar logo after their split from Daimler. Alternative propulsion For many years, Chrysler developed gas turbine engines for automotive use. Turbines were common in many military vehicles, and Chrysler built many prototypes for passenger cars. In the 1960s, mass production seemed almost ready. Fifty specialty designed Ghia-bodied coupes were built in 1962 and placed in the hands of regular people for final testing. The turbine engines never saw production. Chrysler is currently planning two hybrid vehicles, the Chrysler Aspen hybrid and Dodge Durango hybrid, both including HEMI engines.