If you’re not completely up-to-date on Chrysler’s recent name changes, you can be forgiven because there have been many over the years. Originally founded by Walter Chrysler in 1925, the company now known as Stellantis is still referred to as part of the Big Three – the three biggest American automakers – also including General Motors and Ford.
Over the last century, however, the automaker has teetered repeatedly on the edge of financial ruin. To survive, the company has continually sought out government subsidies and mergers with foreign automakers as a source of support. It was first saved from bankruptcy in the late 1970s by government loan guarantees.
DaimlerChrysler Failed Merger
In 1998, in a deal worth $36 billion, Chrysler was acquired by German automaker Daimler-Benz, and its name was changed to DaimlerChrysler. The merger was not a success, and Daimler sold Chrysler in 2007 to Cerberus, a private equity firm in the U.S., for $7.4 billion. Just a year later, the financial collapse proved devastating for Chrysler and the other Big Three automakers, forcing yet another restructuring for the beleaguered company.
FCA is Formed
Chrysler cut thousands of jobs and closed factories, and work on future products was mostly curtailed. On April 30, 2009, Chrysler filed for bankruptcy. General Motors filed for bankruptcy later that year, and while everyone seemed to agree that GM was too big to fail, officials were divided as to whether the government should save the smaller Chrysler corporation.
In the end, the government came to the rescue again, providing loans totaling more than $10 billion, and when Chrysler exited bankruptcy, it had a patchwork of owners including both the U.S. and Canadian governments, the United Auto Workers pension fund, and the Italian-owned Fiat corporation. By 2014, Fiat had acquired Chrysler, which then became a full subsidiary and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) was born.
Stellantis
In 2021, FCA completed a merger with the French PSA Group and changed its name (again) to Stellantis. The company is now the fourth-largest automaker worldwide. While profitable brands such as Jeep and Ram are assured of their place in the manufacturer’s future plans, the oldest and more recognized brands of Chrysler and Dodge may eventually be retired. So despite the fact that Walter Chrysler’s original company remains alive in some form, the namesake brand may soon fade from the American lexicon completely.
Read more details about the formation of Stellantis in Car and Driver magazine, and in MotorTrend magazine.
