Chrysler History

Since 1925, Chrysler has been manufacturing automobiles. Walter P. Chrysler founded the Chrysler Corporation upon the re-organization of the Maxwell Motor Company. The first Chrysler automobile was a 6-cylinder car, designed to be an afford-ably priced and well-engineered auto. The original model included features unheard of in most cars of the day, such as a high compression engine, full-pressure lubrication, and an air filter on the carburetor.

The Plymouth brand came out in 1928 from the Chrysler Corporation as an option for lower priced automobiles, while the Chrysler name was after the medium priced vehicles. Dodge was soon added to the product line-up and the creation of this diversified vehicle offering was likened to the company formation of General Motors. In 1987, American Motor Company was acquired and the Eagle brand was born. Eagle was discontinued in 1998, and Plymouth made it until 2001, leaving only Dodge, Jeep, and Chrysler brands.

By 1936, Chrysler Corporation was second place in the United States car sales and maintained this position until 1949. Many innovations in design and engineering helped keep Chrysler among the top of the heap. The first mass-produced four-wheel hydraulic brake system developed by Chrysler and Lockheed was one of the developments as well as rubber engine mounts that helped to reduce vibrations. The Unibody construction was established in 1960 with the exception of the Imperial model, which continued with the body-on-frame style until 1967.

The Plymouth Barracuda was introduced in 1964 and included extreme design features such as a massive rear window and a sloping roof. Since the Ford Mustang was not released until two weeks after, the Barracuda is technically the world's first pony car. This fact does not change the fact that the Ford Mustang outsold the Barracuda by a long shot.

In 1992, Chrysler produced its first electric auto, the Dodge EPIC minivan. In 1993, the TEVan came out, but never became popular. The second generation of the EPIC was released in 1997, but was discontinued in 1999. Hybrid vehicles such as the Dodge Durango and Aspen have been designed with the typical gas and electric system, but the engine is a Hemi.

Current Chrysler brands include Dodge, Ram, Jeep and Global Electric Motorcars (GEMCAR) which are battery electric low-speed vehicles. Chrysler was the sixteenth largest automobile manufacturer in 2009, offering only cars and light commercial vehicles.

In 1988, Daimler-Benz AG purchased Chrysler and its subsidiaries. The new name of the corporation became DaimlerChrysler Motors Company LLC. In 2007, DaimlerChrysler sold over 80% of the Chrysler Group to Cerberus Capital Management, L.P., and became known as Chrysler LLC. The Chrysler LLC group filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization in 2009. The purchase of the Old Chrysler group to the New Chrysler was financed by the federal government. Old Cargo LLC was set up to be responsible for the assets and liabilities sitting in Chapter 11. Many of the manufacturing locations, leases and contracts with the United States auto dealerships were not transferred to Old Cargo LLC.

Fiat now has a stake in Chrysler and is hoping to re-establish the Chrysler image and market it as an upscale brand.