chrysler

American automobile manufacturer founded in 1925 by Walter Chrysler. The orginal Chrysler Corporation existed from 1925 to 1998, when it was taken over (excused me, "merged") by Daimler, a German company. In the 1960s and early 70s, Chrysler was known for their sporty models through their 3 divisions: Chrysler, Dodge, and Plymouth. By the late 1970s however, Chrysler was falling on hard times as gas prices rose, and nearly went out of business. The subcompacts Dodge Omni and Plymouth Horizon changed that in 1978, and 3 years later The famous "K"-cars restored Chrysler completely. In 2007, Cerubus Management bought Chrysler from Daimler, and it seems that Chrysler is finally restoring itself to its pre-Daimler days. Chrysler suffered extensive quality problems throughout the 1980s and 90s, the most notorious being the switchover to low-quality "uniprime" 2-coat paint in 1985, which peeled off in sheets. Defective transmissions and poorly applied trim pieces were also a problem. With the Daimler takeover, the quality of Chrysler vehicles improved dramatically, but unfortunately the reputation has not. To this day, many people still see Chrysler vehicles as those POS throwaway cars that fall apart in 5 years. From 1963 to 1997, the Pentastar, a pentagon with a star in the middle, was Chrysler's logo, and appeared as badging on all cars from 1981 to 1993. The pentastar was retired in 1998 because Daimler thought it was too similar to their own logo, although it can still be found on the windows of all Chryslers and Chrysler parts, as well as dealer signage. As of 2007, Chrysler is apparently going to revive the pentastar, although it is not yet known if it will be used as car badging like it was in the 1980s and 90s, or just as the corporate logo, as it was until the takeover.