Chrysler, founded in 1925, has had a tumultuous history as the third-largest of Detroit’s auto companies. Known in the years after World War II for its well-engineered cars, it has spent the last three decades bouncing between highs and lows.The company encountered financial turbulence in the late 1970s that prompted it to seek a Congressional bailout, a process that vaulted its chief executive, Lee A. Iacocca, to national prominence. Chrysler paid off the loans early in the 1980s, when it enjoyed success thanks to its minivans and a family of fuel-efficient autos called the K-cars.
In 1987, Chrysler bought the No. 4 automaker, American Motors, but the subsequent consolidation prompted another financial crisis that led to a restructuring of the company. In the 1990s, Chrysler came back again, with vehicles like the powerful Dodge Viper sports car and its Jeep lineup. In 1998, Chrysler was acquired by Daimler-Benz of Germany and spent the next eight years as part of DaimlerChrysler.
But its inconsistent financial results and pressure from German shareholders prompted Daimler to seek a buyer in 2007. It sold the company to Cerberus Capital Management, an investment fund, which installed Robert L. Nardelli, the former chief executive of Home Depot, as its chief executive. Mr. Nardelli vowed that Chrysler would make a comeback as an American-owned company, yet the automaker, like others in Detroit, was battered by a deep sales slump last year as a recession took hold.
In November, Chrysler joined General Motors in seeking assistance from Congress, which rejected the company’s bid, forcing the Bush administration to step in with a financial lifeline. In January, Chrysler announced it had reached a tentative deal with Fiat, and in March, President Obama gave the companies 30 days to conclude the transaction.
That effort culminated in a restructuring plan in which Fiat would take a major role in the company’s management and the United Automobile Workers and major lenders agreed to concessions. But with the Obama administration unable to get support from all of the bondholders for the plan, it is now up to a federal bankruptcy court to determine the details of Chrysler’s immediate future.
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