Chrysler Becomes FCA US LLC

Print this Article | Send to Colleague

Just two months after Chrysler completed its merger with Italy’s Fiat, the U.S. side of the company will abandon the familiar Chrysler Group LLC to become FCA US LLC. The name is meant to better reflect that of the new parent company, the global Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV.

Founder Walter P. Chrysler first lent his name to an automobile in January 1924, an affordable 6-cylinder model that went up against such tough competitors as the Model T. The Chrysler name was placed on the corporate masthead a year later, following the reorganization of the earlier Maxwell Motor Co. The company quickly became known for innovations that included the first mass-market use of hydraulic brakes and the first all-transistor car radio.

In 1998, Chrysler became the lesser half of a so-called "merger of equals" with Germany’s Daimler-Benz. That alliance, the renamed DaimlerChrysler, collapsed in 2007, what was left of the renamed Chrysler LLC was sold to a New York investment fund, Cerberus. But the venture collapsed as the economy entered its worst recession in decades, and two years later Chrysler was forced to file for bankruptcy.

New U.S. President Barack Obama was ready to let Chrysler file until Fiat came along as a white knight. The Italian automaker was given a 20 percent stake in the reborn Chrysler Group, increasing its holdings until it was able to buy out the remaining stake held by the United Auto Workers Union last January.

In October, Fiat and Chrysler completed their merger, the new, global automaker basing itself out of the Netherlands, with a corporate headquarters in London – and a new listing on the New York Stock Exchange. However, for all practical purposes, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles maintains two major hubs – at the old Chrysler headquarters in the Detroit suburb of Auburn Hills, and Fiat’s ancestral home in Turin, Italy.

The Chrysler name will remain part of the parent company’s nomenclature. And it will continue to be used as one of the various brands the maker offers, along with Jeep, Dodge, Ram and various former Fiat names including Alfa Romeo and Maserati. 

Back to NAFA Connection