CHRYSLER CORPORATION

American automotive company first incorporated in 1925 and reorganized and newly incorporated in 1986. It has long been the third largest automaker in the United States (after General Motors and the Ford Motor Company). Founded by Walter P. Chrysler, it took over the business and properties of Maxwell Motor Company, Inc. (first formed in 1913). Today its major subsidiaries include Chrysler Automotive Operations, Inc., which manufactures Plymouth, Dodge, and Chrysler passenger cars, Dodge trucks, and auto parts and accessories; and the Chrysler Financial Corporation. Headquarters are in Highland Park, Mich., U.S. The first Maxwell car was made in 1904 by Jonathan Maxwell and Benjamin Briscoe, who in 1909 joined the short-lived United States Motor Company. With the collapse of this combine in 1913, Maxwell continued on alone until the postwar recession, when Walter P. Chrysler was brought in to revitalize the company (1920). In 1922 the Maxwell company took over Chalmers Motor Car Co. (founded 1908). In the following year Chrysler bought control, and in 1924 he produced the first car to bear his name, the six-cylinder Chrysler "70." In 1925 Maxwell Motor became the Chrysler Corporation, with Chrysler as president. With the purchase of Dodge Brothers, Inc. (founded 1914), in 1928, the Chrysler Corporation became a major company in the American automotive industry. In the 1950s Chrysler began absorbing other companies in and out of the automotive industry. In 1966-67 it acquired control of Simca in France, Rootes Motors Ltd. in Britain, and Barreiros Diesel in Spain-which were renamed Chrysler France, Chrysler United Kingdom, and Chrysler Espaa. In 1979 these were sold to P.S.A. Peugeot-Citron in exchange for minority shares in Peugeot-Citron. In 1970 Mitsubishi Motors Corporation of Japan began producing subcompact cars sold in the United States under the Chrysler label. In 1987 Chrysler purchased an Italian company, Nuova Automobili F. Lamborghini, maker of expensive, high-performance sports cars, and in 1987, American Motors Corporation, maker of the Jeep brand of four-wheel-drive vehicles. From 1985 to 1989 Chrysler formed joint-venture companies with Mitsubishi Motors Corp. (Japan) and with Renault (France) to manufacture small cars. In serious financial straits during the 1970s, the Chrysler Corporation sought and acquired U.S. government-secured loans in 1980; under the leadership of Lee A. Iacocca, the company repaid the loans by the end of 1983.