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Fiat-Chrysler Automobiles (FCA)

During the period of 1920-1924,Chrysler teamed up with three ex-Studebaker engineers, Fred Zeder, Owen Skelton and Carl Breer, to design a revolutionary new car. They defined what the products of the Chrysler brand would be  affordable "luxury" vehicles known for innovative, top-flight engineering.

The first of those vehicles was the 1924 Chrysler Six, an all-new car priced at $1,565 that featured two significant innovations: a light, powerful, high-compression six-cylinder engine and the first time four-wheel hydraulic brakes were standard on a passenger car. The well-equipped Chrysler Six also featured aluminum pistons, replaceable oil and air filters, full-pressure lubrication, tubular front axles, shock absorbers and indirect interior lighting.

Within a decade of its founding, Chrysler Corp.s leadership in innovation had earned for it the label of Detroit's "engineering company." Chrysler's list of early automotive firsts included Floating Power (a new method of mounting engines to isolate vibration), replaceable oil filters, downdraft carburetors and one-piece curved windshields.

The company is generally credited with producing the first minivan. In the late 1970s, Chrysler began a six-year development program that bore fruit in 1983, when Chrysler introduced the front-wheel-drive 1984 Dodge Caravan and Plymouth Voyager.

Chrysler acquired American Motors Corporation (AMC) in 1987 — a move that gave the company the profitable Jeep brand.

In 1998, Chrysler merged with German automaker Daimler-Benz AG to form DaimlerChrysler. By 2007, investors convinced management to sell Chrysler to Cerberus Capital Management. It was renamed Chrysler LLC in 2007.

In 2000, the new millennium ushered in a decade of innovation and design accomplishments for Chrysler, most notably the launch of the iconic Chrysler 300C, the latest generation in a long pedigree of champion 300s built for excitement since 1955.

The introduction of the PT Cruiser in 2001 fused modern amenities with a retro sensibility, romanticizing an era of hot rod Model A wagons. And the decade was one of remarkable reinvention of the minivan.

On Aug. 30, 2009, Chrysler filed for Chapter 11 reorganization as a result of the automotive industry's crisis that lasted from 2008 to 2010, and participated in a U.S. government bailout. Through the bankruptcy, Fiat S.p.A. acquired a stake.

On Jan. 1, 2014, Fiat acquired the remainder of the company from the U.S. and Canadian governments and the autoworkers union. In May, the company established parent Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV. Chrysler Group LLC remained a subsidiary until Dec. 15, when it was renamed FCA US LLC.

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