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Chrysler Europe was the American automotive company
Chrysler Stellantis North America (officially FCA US and formerly Chrysler ()) is one of the " Big Three" automobile manufacturers in the United States, headquartered in Auburn Hills, Michigan. It is the American subsidiary of the multinational automot ...
's operations in Europe from 1967 through 1978. It was formed from the merger of the French Simca, British
Rootes Rootes may refer to: People *Baron Rootes, a peerage in the United Kingdom *Jamey Rootes (1966-2022), American sports executive *Maurice Rootes (1917–1997), British film editor *William Rootes, 1st Baron Rootes (1894–1964), founder of the ...
and Spanish Barreiros companies. In 1978, Chrysler divested these operations to
PSA Peugeot Citroën The PSA Group (), legally known as Peugeot S.A. (Peugeot Société Anonyme, trading as Groupe PSA; formerly known as PSA Peugeot Citroën from 1991 to 2016) was a French Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive ma ...
. PSA rebadged the former Chrysler and Simca models with the revived Talbot marque, but abandoned the brand for passenger cars in 1987, although it continued on commercial vehicles until 1994. Among the remaining Chrysler Europe assets still in existence are the former Simca factory in
Poissy Poissy () is a Communes of France, commune in the Yvelines Departments of France, department in the Île-de-France region in north-central France. It is located in the western suburbs of Paris, from the Kilometre Zero, centre of Paris. Inhabitan ...
, the former Barreiros plant in the Madrid suburb Villaverde, which both serve as major Peugeot-Citroën assembly plants, and the Rootes Group research and development complex in Whitley, Coventry, which is now the headquarters of
Jaguar Land Rover Jaguar Land Rover Automotive PLC is the holding company of Jaguar Land Rover Limited (also known as JLR), and is a British multinational automobile manufacturer which produces luxury vehicles and sport utility vehicles. Jaguar Land Rover is ...
.


History


Formation

Chrysler Corporation had never had much success outside North America, contrasting with Ford's worldwide reach and General Motors' success with
Opel Opel Automobile GmbH (), usually shortened to Opel, is a German automobile manufacturer which has been a subsidiary of Stellantis since 16 January 2021. It was owned by the American automaker General Motors from 1929 until 2017 and the PSA ...
,
Vauxhall Vauxhall ( ) is a district in South West London, part of the London Borough of Lambeth, England. Vauxhall was part of Surrey until 1889 when the County of London was created. Named after a medieval manor, "Fox Hall", it became well known for ...
, Holden, and
Bedford Bedford is a market town in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 Census, the population of the Bedford built-up area (including Biddenham and Kempston) was 106,940, making it the second-largest settlement in Bedfordshire, behind Luton, whilst ...
brands. Chrysler first established an interest in the French-based Simca in 1958, buying 15% of the Simca stocks from Ford. In 1963 Chrysler increased their stake to a controlling 63% by purchasing further stock from
Fiat Fiat Automobiles S.p.A. (, , ; originally FIAT, it, Fabbrica Italiana Automobili di Torino, lit=Italian Automobiles Factory of Turin) is an Italian automobile manufacturer, formerly part of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, and since 2021 a subsidiary ...
. Chrysler acquired a 35% share of the Spanish Barreiros in 1963, and it became part of Chrysler Europe in 1969. After failing to acquire an interest in the British-based Leyland Motors in 1962, Chrysler bought a 30% share in Rootes Group in 1964. Rootes was formally taken over by Chrysler following purchase of the remaining shares in 1967. In 1970 Rootes was formally named "Chrysler (UK) Ltd." and Simca became "Chrysler (France)", with the Hillman marque finally being replaced by Chrysler on the UK market in 1976 and Simca surviving until after the PSA takeover in 1979.


Branding

Although the original marques were retained at first, from 1976 British-built cars were badged as 'Chryslers', while the Simca badge appeared on French versions, though with the Chrysler pentastar, in some markets the cars were sold as Chrysler-Simca. Chrysler used the
Dodge Dodge is an American brand of automobiles and a division of Stellantis, based in Auburn Hills, Michigan. Dodge vehicles have historically included performance cars, and for much of its existence Dodge was Chrysler's mid-priced brand above P ...
marque on commercial vehicles produced by both Simca and Rootes ( Commer and Karrier, but in addition using
rebadging In the automotive industry, rebadging is a form of market segmentation used by automobile manufacturers around the world. To allow for product differentiation without designing or engineering a new model or brand (at high cost or risk), a ma ...
to sell vehicles overseas under the
Fargo Fargo usually refers to: * Fargo, North Dakota, United States * ''Fargo'' (1996 film), a crime film by the Coen brothers * ''Fargo'' (TV series), an American black comedy–crime drama anthology television series Fargo may also refer to: Othe ...
and DeSoto brands). In addition, in some countries, such as
Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' ( Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , ...
, the Dodge and Simca marques would be used for other vehicles, mostly Spanish-designed (ex-Barreiros) trucks and buses and locally-built versions of US-market vehicles or local versions of Simca cars. The company systematically retired the previous marques from Rootes, including Hillman,
Humber The Humber is a large tidal estuary on the east coast of Northern England. It is formed at Trent Falls, Faxfleet, by the confluence of the tidal rivers Ouse and Trent. From there to the North Sea, it forms part of the boundary betw ...
, and
Sunbeam A sunbeam, in meteorological optics, is a beam of sunlight that appears to radiate from the position of the Sun. Shining through openings in clouds or between other objects such as mountains and buildings, these beams of particle-scattered sunl ...
in favour of the Chrysler name. The Simca brand was retained in its native France, but the Simca vehicles themselves were usually branded as either Chrysler-Simca or simply Chrysler outside France. In 1969, Chrysler Europe closed a deal with French engineering group Matra Automobiles to jointly develop the Matra
sports car A sports car is a car designed with an emphasis on dynamic performance, such as handling, acceleration, top speed, the thrill of driving and racing capability. Sports cars originated in Europe in the early 1900s and are currently produced by ...
s and subsequently sell them through the Simca dealer network (as Matra-Simca). Following the introduction of the 1970
Avenger Avenger, Avengers, The Avenger, or The Avengers may refer to: Arts and entertainment In the Marvel Comics universe * Avengers (comics), a team of superheroes **Avengers (Marvel Cinematic Universe), a central team of protagonist superheroes o ...
, Chrysler showed little investment or interest in the technologically conservative Rootes line-up, concentrating instead on the advanced front wheel drive Simca models instead.


Decline and sale to Peugeot

Confused branding resulted from trying to concurrently sell the mismatched pairing of the Simca and Rootes product families, contrasting heavily with the fortunes of arch rivals Ford and General Motors – who had both successfully managed to weave together their previously independent British and German subsidiaries. Chrysler Europe profits failed to materialize, although Simca on its own had been consistently profitable during its tenure under Chrysler ownership. It was the ailing former Rootes Group operations which were to prove to be the ultimate downfall of the company. Chrysler was already in serious financial trouble back home in America, and were on the brink of bankruptcy. The company's incoming CEO, Lee Iacocca had shown little interest in the European market from the outset (just as he had done during his period in charge of Ford), and wasted no time in wielding the axe almost immediately. In 1978, Chrysler Europe was sold for a nominal US$1 () to
PSA Peugeot Citroën The PSA Group (), legally known as Peugeot S.A. (Peugeot Société Anonyme, trading as Groupe PSA; formerly known as PSA Peugeot Citroën from 1991 to 2016) was a French Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive ma ...
, who took on the liability for its huge debts as well as its factories and product line, with the former Chrysler models in Britain and Simca models in France both using the revived Talbot marque from August 1979. The Linwood factory in
Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to th ...
was closed by Peugeot in 1981 after just 18 years in use, marking the end of Avenger and Sunbeam production. The Sunbeam was replaced by the Peugeot 104 derived, French-built Talbot Samba, but the demise of the Avenger left the Horizon as the only car of its size in the Talbot range. The Alpine spawned a saloon version, the Solara, in 1980, filling the gap left in the range by the demise of the Hunter, and recognising that there was still a high demand for traditional family saloons. But by 1987, the French giant had scrapped the Talbot marque on passenger cars due to falling sales – though retaining it for commercial vehicles until 1992. The car designed to succeed the Horizon became Peugeot 309 on its launch at the end of 1985, and in 1983, Peugeot sold its share in Matra together with the Chrysler-initiated design of an MPV to
Renault Groupe Renault ( , , , also known as the Renault Group in English; legally Renault S.A.) is a French multinational automobile manufacturer established in 1899. The company produces a range of cars and vans, and in the past has manufacture ...
, where the design lived on as
Renault Espace The Renault Espace is a five-door car manufactured by the French carmaker Renault since 1984 for five generations. It is classified as a large Multi-purpose vehicle, MPV/Minivan#Europe, minivan within the M-segment. The first three generations o ...
. Production of the Samba and Alpine/Solara finished in May 1986, while the Horizon remained in production in
Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' ( Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , ...
and
Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bo ...
until 1987; French and British production had finished during 1985 when the Peugeot 309 went into production. American versions of this car were produced until 1990. Peugeot took little interest in heavy commercial vehicles and the production of former British and Spanish Dodge models passed to Renault Trucks. The Rootes factory in Dunstable, England ceased manufacture of trucks, ending with the Renault Midliner in the mid-1990s. In 2009 the staff of Renault Trucks (RVI), part of the Volvo Group since 2001, relocated from the former Rootes site to a new building. The former factory has since been demolished. Chrysler, on the other hand, retained the design rights to the
Avenger Avenger, Avengers, The Avenger, or The Avengers may refer to: Arts and entertainment In the Marvel Comics universe * Avengers (comics), a team of superheroes **Avengers (Marvel Cinematic Universe), a central team of protagonist superheroes o ...
and those of the US-version Horizon. Peugeot was therefore compelled to retain the Chrysler "Pentastar" badge on the Avenger, whilst allowing Chrysler to sell the design along with its entire operations in
Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, t ...
to Volkswagen which continued production until 1991 under the Volkswagen 1500 name. Meanwhile, European sales of the Avenger ended in 1981. The American version of the Horizon continued to be produced in the United States as the Plymouth Horizon and Dodge Omni until 1990, three years after the last European model was made. The former Simca and Rootes assembly plants in
Poissy Poissy () is a Communes of France, commune in the Yvelines Departments of France, department in the Île-de-France region in north-central France. It is located in the western suburbs of Paris, from the Kilometre Zero, centre of Paris. Inhabitan ...
and Ryton-on-Dunsmore, respectively, continued under the ownership of Peugeot, but Rootes' Linwood plant in
Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to th ...
was a casualty of the takeover – closing its doors in 1981. The former Rootes Ryton plant was closed in December 2006, with the production of the Peugeot 206 (made there since the summer of 1998) moved to
Slovakia Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the ...
. Since 1985, it had also produced Peugeot's
309 __NOTOC__ Year 309 ( CCCIX) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. In the Roman Empire, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Licinianus and Constantius (or, less frequently ...
, 405 and 306 ranges. It has since been demolished to make way for new factories. The former Rootes research and development site in Whitley was sold to
Jaguar The jaguar (''Panthera onca'') is a large cat species and the only living member of the genus ''Panthera'' native to the Americas. With a body length of up to and a weight of up to , it is the largest cat species in the Americas and the thi ...
in 1986, and continues as the headquarters of
Jaguar Land Rover Jaguar Land Rover Automotive PLC is the holding company of Jaguar Land Rover Limited (also known as JLR), and is a British multinational automobile manufacturer which produces luxury vehicles and sport utility vehicles. Jaguar Land Rover is ...
to the present day. The former Simca site in
Poissy Poissy () is a Communes of France, commune in the Yvelines Departments of France, department in the Île-de-France region in north-central France. It is located in the western suburbs of Paris, from the Kilometre Zero, centre of Paris. Inhabitan ...
has also thrived, and is now one Peugeot's most important assembly plants. Decades after the sale, in 2021 Peugeot and Chrysler (the latter of which became part of
Fiat Fiat Automobiles S.p.A. (, , ; originally FIAT, it, Fabbrica Italiana Automobili di Torino, lit=Italian Automobiles Factory of Turin) is an Italian automobile manufacturer, formerly part of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, and since 2021 a subsidiary ...
in 2009 after another financial crisis led to its bankruptcy) fell under the same corporate umbrella when the now-Groupe PSA merged with
Fiat Chrysler Automobiles Fiat Chrysler Automobiles N.V. (FCA) was an Italian-American multinational corporation primarily known as a manufacturer of automobiles, commercial vehicles, auto parts and production systems. The Italian holding company Exor was the largest s ...
to form Stellantis.


Models


Cars

CKD assembly of various American Dodge, Plymouth and Chrysler models took place at Chrysler's own Rotterdam factory until its closure in 1970, and Barreiros (later part of Chrysler Europe) assembled the
Dodge Dart Dodge Dart is a line of automobiles marketed by Dodge from the 1959 to 1976 model years in North America, with production extended to later years in various other markets. The Dart name originally appeared on a 1956 Chrysler show car featurin ...
in Villaverde (Madrid) from 1965-70, followed under Chrysler ownership by the revised Dodge 3700 (1970-77). In Switzerland
AMAG AMAG may stand for: * American Mission for Aid to Greece, Cold War mission established under the Truman Doctrine * Austria Metall AG, an Austrian metal manufacturer. * AMAG Automobil- und Motoren AG, a Swiss automobile importer. * Asian Martial Ar ...
had also assembled various American Chrysler and Dodge models between 1948 and 1972, the most popular model being the Chrysler Valiant. None of these models sold in large quantities because even 'compact' American cars of that period were too large and fuel-thirsty to sell well in the European market. Inherited Rootes and Simca car models still in production beyond 1967 were: *
Hillman Imp The Hillman Imp is a small economy car that was made by the Rootes Group and its successor Chrysler Europe from 1963 until 1976. Revealed on 3 May 1963, after much advance publicity, it was the first British mass-produced car with the engine ...
(1963-76) and its various badge-engineered derivatives the Hillman Husky, Singer Chamois/Imp/Sport, Sunbeam Imp/Stiletto and Commer Imp van * Hillman Hunter (1966-76) and its derivatives Hillman Minx, Humber Sceptre, Singer Gazelle/ Vogue and Sunbeam Vogue. Latterly rebadged as Chrysler Hunter (1976-79) * Sunbeam Rapier/ Alpine
coupé A coupe or coupé (, ) is a passenger car with a sloping or truncated rear roofline and two doors. The term ''coupé'' was first applied to horse-drawn carriages for two passengers without rear-facing seats. It comes from the French past parti ...
(1967-76) * Sunbeam Alpine roadster (1959-68) * Simca 1000 (1961-78) * Simca 1000 Coupé/1200S (1962-71) * Simca 1100/1200/1204 (1962-82, vans to 1985). Van and pick-up versions were rebadged as Dodges for the British market 1976-79, and all models were badged as Talbots for Britain after 1979. * Simca 1301/1501 (1963-75) The first new European Chrysler was the large
Chrysler 180 The Chrysler 180 was the base name for a series of large saloon cars produced by Chrysler Europe. Resulting from joining the development efforts of Rootes Group and Simca, the car was produced from 1970 to 1975 in Poissy, France, and later in ...
range (1970-82), including the 160 and 2 Litre. The 180 was the result of combining two projects that were previously being developed independently by Rootes and Simca as successors to their largest models (the Humber Hawk/Super Snipe and Simca Vidette, which had been discontinued in 1967 and 1961 respectively). This was the flagship model in the Chrysler Europe range, and it was the first European designed model to use the Chrysler name, which it was intended to establish as a premium marque above Simca and Humber. The 180 was intended to rival the likes of Audi 100 and Ford Granada during the 1970s, although unlike its competitors it was only available with 4-cylinder engines and lacked a prestige image. It was initially built in France, but due to disappointing sales its assembly was transferred to Spain as a successor to the Dodge 3700 in a market where protectionist trade policies guaranteed it some domestic sales. From 1977 the 180 was sold as a 'Chrysler-Simca' in most European markets (except Britain), and after the sale of Chrysler Europe to PSA it was rebadged again as a Talbot. Also launched in 1970 was the Hillman Avenger (1970-81), a medium-sized family car which fitted between the Imp and the Hunter in Chrysler's British range. The model sold well in Britain but was less successful in export markets, where it was sold under a variety of names including Sunbeam/Sunbeam Avenger/Chrysler Sunbeam (Europe) and Plymouth Cricket (North America). The Avenger was originally assembled at the Ryton plant (displacing the Hunter to Linwood), but a mid-life facelift in 1976 coincided with Avenger assembly moving to Linwood as the Chrysler Avenger. from 1979 it was renamed the Talbot Avenger following the sale of Chrysler Europe to PSA. The British car designer Roy Axe, who originally started his career with Rootes, was responsible for unifying the designs of the new European range starting with the Simca 1307 (1975-86) family hatchback, which was sold in the UK as the Chrysler Alpine. The new pan-European model was assembled in France, Spain and Britain, and was voted
European Car of the Year The European Car of the Year ("ECOTY") award is an international Car of the Year award established in 1964, by a collective of automobile magazines from different countries in Europe. The current organising companies of the award are '' Auto'' ( ...
for 1976. Other influential designers who worked for the company in the 1970s and had a significant impact in car design in the 1980s were
Geoff Matthews Geoffrey Leonard Matthews (widely known as Geoff Matthews) (September 1946 – 24 January 2015) was an English car designer who designed cars for manufacturers, including Chrysler, Talbot and Citroën. Early life Matthews was born to Joan, who ...
and
Fergus Pollock Fergus Pollock is a British car designer. He is a ''Vehicle Design'' graduate of the British Royal College of Art, London. In 1975, he joined Rootes, which was Chrysler UK from 1971 to 1978, in Coventry, later working at Chrysler in the United ...
. From this '70s period two outstanding projects were the
Matra Matra (an acronym for Mécanique Aviation Traction) was a French industrial conglomerate. During its years of operation, it was engaged in a wide range of business activities, primarily focused around automobiles, bicycles, aeronautics and wea ...
P18 prototype, which would later be developed into the MK1
Renault Espace The Renault Espace is a five-door car manufactured by the French carmaker Renault since 1984 for five generations. It is classified as a large Multi-purpose vehicle, MPV/Minivan#Europe, minivan within the M-segment. The first three generations o ...
, and the
Matra Rancho The Matra Rancho is a leisure activity vehicle created by the French engineering group Matra, in cooperation with the automaker Simca, to capitalize on the off-road trend started by the Range Rover. The Rancho provided an "off-road look" at a l ...
which influenced the styling of the 1989 Land Rover Discovery. The 1307/Alpine was a five-door hatchback with front-wheel drive, in a market sector which was still almost exclusively populated by rear-wheel drive saloons like the
Ford Cortina The Ford Cortina is a medium-sized family car that was built initially by Ford of Britain, and then Ford of Europe in various guises from 1962 to 1982, and was the United Kingdom's best-selling car of the 1970s. The Cortina was produced in fi ...
/
Taunus The Taunus is a mountain range in Hesse, Germany, located north of Frankfurt. The tallest peak in the range is ''Großer Feldberg'' at 878 m; other notable peaks are ''Kleiner Feldberg'' (825 m) and '' Altkönig'' (798 m). The Taunus range spans ...
and Opel Ascona/ Vauxhall Cavalier. Therefore, although the new 1307 replaced the conventional Simca 1301 model, in the UK Chrysler decided to keep the Hillman Hunter (a rear-wheel drive range of saloons and estates) in limited production as a traditional alternative to the Alpine. Introduction of the Alpine in 1976 required a complicated reorganisation of Chrysler's British assembly operations, with the Alpine replacing the Avenger at Ryton, Avenger assembly moving to Linwood replacing the Imp, Hunter, Sceptre and Rapier, and the residual Hunter assembly moving to a CKD operation in Ireland. The Avenger and Hunter were both facelifted at this time and re-badged as Chryslers. Production of the Chrysler Hunter finished in 1979 just after Peugeot took over, although the tooling was subsequently sold to Iran as the Paykan, which was built until 2005. To replace the small Hillman Imp at the under-utilised Linwood plant, the British Government provided grants for the development of the Chrysler Sunbeam (1977-81), a three-door supermini hatchback based on a shortened Avenger floorplan. In contrast to the advanced Alpine the Sunbeam was rear-wheel drive and therefore somewhat dated compared to contemporary superminis such as the Ford Fiesta and Volkswagen Polo, and it was rarely seen outside the UK. It was renamed the Talbot Sunbeam in 1979. The
Matra Rancho The Matra Rancho is a leisure activity vehicle created by the French engineering group Matra, in cooperation with the automaker Simca, to capitalize on the off-road trend started by the Range Rover. The Rancho provided an "off-road look" at a l ...
(1977-84) was a leisure activity vehicle version of the Simca 1100 developed by the independent French automotive engineering firm
Matra Matra (an acronym for Mécanique Aviation Traction) was a French industrial conglomerate. During its years of operation, it was engaged in a wide range of business activities, primarily focused around automobiles, bicycles, aeronautics and wea ...
in partnership with Chrysler Europe. Although a low-volume niche model based on an ageing car, it proved to be a sales success and can be viewed as a very early example of what would now be classified as a crossover vehicle. The last new model launched before the demise of Chrysler Europe was the Chrysler Horizon (1978-87), which was also sold as the Chrysler-Simca Horizon and soon renamed the Talbot Horizon in 1979. Like the larger Alpine, the Horizon was another pan-European model built simultaneously in France, Spain and the UK (Ryton, from 1980), and it also won the European Car of the Year Award for 1979. The Horizon was a five-door front-wheel drive hatchback similar in concept to the
Volkswagen Golf The Volkswagen Golf () is a compact car/ small family car ( C-segment) produced by the German automotive manufacturer Volkswagen since 1974, marketed worldwide across eight generations, in various body configurations and under various namepla ...
. Chrysler continued to make its own versions of the Horizon in its American factories after withdrawing from Europe, and production continued there until 1990. Although the preceding Simca 1100 was front-wheel drive, at the time the Horizon was launched many comparable cars were still sold as rear-wheel drive saloons, so the Chrysler/Talbot Avenger was kept in production alongside to cater for more traditional buyers. Prior to the sale of Chrysler Europe to Peugeot in 1978, Chrysler had begun development of a large flagship saloon as a replacement for the slow-selling 180/2 Litre range, to compete with cars like the Ford Granada and raise the image of the Chrysler brand. This car would eventually be launched in 1980 as the
Talbot Tagora The Talbot Tagora is an executive car developed by Chrysler Europe and produced by Peugeot Société Anonyme (PSA). The Tagora was marketed under the Talbot marque after PSA took over Chrysler's European operations in 1979. PSA presented the fi ...
under Peugeot's ownership. However this model was not a strong seller either, and finished production after just three years and less than 20,000 sales. Peugeot added a saloon version of the Alpine - the Talbot Solara (1980-86) - to the former Chrysler range, and also made use of its own Peugeot 104 underpinnings to develop the Talbot Samba (1981-86) supermini as the Sunbeam's replacement. However, thereafter there would be no new Talbot models. The rear-drive Talbot Sunbeam and Avenger and were axed when the Linwood plant closed in 1981. Peugeot continued production of the Talbot Samba, Alpine and Solara until 1986, and the Horizon until 1987, but then phased out the Talbot brand in favour of expanding its own brand by producing new Peugeot models in the former Rootes factory near
Coventry Coventry ( or ) is a city in the West Midlands, England. It is on the River Sherbourne. Coventry has been a large settlement for centuries, although it was not founded and given its city status until the Middle Ages. The city is governed ...
and the former Simca plant at
Poissy Poissy () is a Communes of France, commune in the Yvelines Departments of France, department in the Île-de-France region in north-central France. It is located in the western suburbs of Paris, from the Kilometre Zero, centre of Paris. Inhabitan ...
. File:Chrysler 160.jpg,
Chrysler 180 The Chrysler 180 was the base name for a series of large saloon cars produced by Chrysler Europe. Resulting from joining the development efforts of Rootes Group and Simca, the car was produced from 1970 to 1975 in Poissy, France, and later in ...
(1970) File:Simca 1307 GLS 1978.jpg, Chrysler Alpine (1975) File:Talbot sunbeam lotus.jpg, Chrysler Sunbeam (1977) File:Chrysler Horizon on dockside.jpg, Chrysler Horizon (1978)


Vans and Trucks

Chrysler had developed its own line of British-built trucks which were assembled at its Kew (London) factory until 1967, when the former Chrysler and Rootes commercial vehicle ranges were merged, with production consolidated at the former Rootes plant at Dunstable. Chrysler also inherited a separate truck range from Barreiros in Spain. The naming of Chrysler Europe's commercial vehicles was particularly complicated due to the proliferation of badge-engineering. Chrysler's own range of British trucks were sold as Dodges (or Dodge Kew, to differentiate from American models) in Britain, but in some export markets they were badged DeSoto or
Fargo Fargo usually refers to: * Fargo, North Dakota, United States * ''Fargo'' (1996 film), a crime film by the Coen brothers * ''Fargo'' (TV series), an American black comedy–crime drama anthology television series Fargo may also refer to: Othe ...
. Rootes principal commercial vehicle brand was Commer, but the Karrier name was also used, especially for lighter trucks and for vehicles sold to municipal customers. After Chrysler acquired Rootes, some former Commer models became available as Dodges and Fargos, while the Dodge 500 also became available as a Commer. Outside France, the van and pick-up derivatives of the Simca 1100 were also marketed under the Dodge brand. From 1976 all of the commercial vehicles were marketed as Dodges, apart from a few municipal vehicles which were still branded as Karriers. After sale of the commercial vehicle operations to Renault the Dodge name continued to be used until 1987, when the remaining Dodge models were re-branded as Renaults. Excluding badge-engineered derivatives, Chrysler Europe's British-built commercial vehicle range comprised: * Commer 1500/Dodge SpaceVan (1960-83), van/minibus/pickup/chassis-cab * Commer/Dodge Walk-Thru (1961-79), delivery van/chassis-cab *
Dodge 50 The Dodge 50 Series, later known as the Renault 50 Series, were light commercial vehicles produced in the UK by Chrysler Europe and later Renault Véhicules Industriels between 1979 and 1993 as a replacement for the earlier Dodge Walk-T ...
(1979-92), successor to Walk-Thru (launched after sale of Chrysler Europe) * Karrier Bantam, light truck * Commer V-series/Karrier Gamecock, light/medium truck * Commer C-series, medium truck * Commer Commando/Dodge 100 (1970-89), successor to previous Karrier/Commer light/medium trucks *
Dodge 500 The Dodge 500 was a heavy duty truck introduced in 1964 and built in the United Kingdom by Dodge. It replaced Dodge UK's earlier 300 series cab over trucks. History and development Popular in Britain, and also used in some export markets, the ...
/K-series, medium/heavy truck The Spanish-built heavy truck range inherited from Barreiros were rebranded Dodge 300 in the 1970s, and continued in production until re-branded as Renaults in the 1980s.


Locations

Chrysler UK had several plants in Coventry, including the
Ryton Ryton may refer to: Places in England * Ryton, Gloucestershire, a location *Ryton, North Yorkshire *Ryton, Shropshire *Ryton, Tyne and Wear *Ryton, Warwickshire (in Bulkington) *Ryton-on-Dunsmore, Warwickshire *Great Ryton, Shropshire People ...
assembly plant, the Stoke Aldermoor engine plant, the design, engineering and development site at Whitley and Hills Precision, the plastics factory in Canterbury Street, as well as the vehicle manufacturing plant at Linwood in Scotland.


References


External links


Rootes Chrysler.uk resources
{{British Car Industry Chrysler Stellantis Renault Defunct motor vehicle manufacturers of France Defunct motor vehicle manufacturers of the United Kingdom Coventry motor companies Poissy British companies established in 1967 French companies established in 1967 Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 1967 Vehicle manufacturing companies disestablished in 1982 1982 disestablishments in France 1967 establishments in England 1982 disestablishments in England British companies disestablished in 1982