The unsuccessful Airflow had a chilling effect on Chrysler styling and marketing, which remained determinedly conservative through the 1940s and into the 1950s, with the single exception of the installation of hidden headlights on the very brief production run of 1942 DeSotos.

A rush to production of the 1957 models led to quality control problems, including poor body fit and finish, resulting in significant and early rusting.

For the final production design of this antenna and its highly complex drive mechanism, the Army's Signal Corps Laboratories turned to Chrysler's Central Engineering Office.

Chrysler established the Missile Division to serve as the Redstone prime contractor, setting up an engineering operation in Huntsville and for production obtaining use from the U.S. Navy of a large plant in Warren, Michigan.

Critics of government regulations have claimed that U.S. anti-trust laws prohibited U.S. automakers from forming Japanese or European-style industry consortiums (which helped these foreign competitors to save costs).

The hurried introduction of the Dodge Aspen and Plymouth Volaré in 1976 brought enormous warranty costs to repair faulty design and shoddy construction, and destroyed the longstanding loyalty built up by the Dart and Valiant predecessors.

[45] The subcompact Horizon/Omni duo was reaching the US market as the second gas crisis struck, and although they sold well, selling over 300,000 units each in their first year, sales of Chrysler's larger cars were slowing, and the company had no strong compact line to fall back on.

L. 96–185 on December 20, 1979 (signed into law by President Jimmy Carter on January 7, 1980), prodded by Chrysler workers and dealers in every congressional district who feared the loss of their livelihoods.

Despite some marketing help from Iacocca's friend Frank Sinatra, including a special edition named after him, the revived Imperial sold poorly, selling only 12,000 cars out of the 25,000 that were originally planned for production.

[51][52] Chrysler CEO Lee Iacocca sought to minimize damage to the corporation's public image by calling a news conference in which he termed the action "dumb" and "unforgivable".

Chrysler was suffering a five-year product slump after the success with its small cars and minivans, and by the late 1980s was mainly making K-car derivatives that looked and drove alike.

Lamborghini became profitable, and a more efficient franchise with full service and spare parts support was established, replacing the loosely affiliated and disorganized private dealer network.

Although profits increased past the $1 million mark in 1991, the uptick in fortunes was to be brief; in 1992, sales crashed due to the early 1990s recession, and the $239,000 Diablo proved ultimately to be inaccessible to American enthusiasts.

With Lamborghini bleeding money, Chrysler decided that the automaker was no longer producing enough cars to justify its investment, and sold the company to Indonesian conglomerate SEDTCO Pty.

[55] At the time, Chrysler was losing millions, largely due to recalls of the company's Dodge Aspen and Plymouth Volare, cars that Iacocca would later claim should have been delayed until prototypes were fully tested.

In the early 1990s, Chrysler set up car production in Austria, and began producing right hand drive Jeep models in a 1993 return to the UK market after a 15-year hiatus.

[60] However, it proved to be a disaster for Daimler, which poured billions of dollars into Chrysler, draining management and resources, and repeatedly dragging down its Mercedes-Benz luxury vehicle subsidiary.

Chrysler President James P. Holden was responsible for misjudging the launch of the all-new 2001 minivan that resulted in an expensive surplus of 2000 models, losing considerable market share to rivals like Honda and Toyota (Chrysler had created and long dominated the minivan market), and also underestimated demand for the surprisingly popular PT Cruiser (originally planned to be a Plymouth vehicle), resulting in a $512 million third-quarter loss in 2000 that led to his firing later that year.

[61][64] Some suggest that Zetsche's tenure was a mixed success, with Chrysler still relying heavily on gas-guzzling SUVs and trucks, most of its product lineup was unsuccessful, despite using Mercedes-derived technologies.

A strike deadline of 11 am had been set by the United Auto Workers (UAW) union leadership pending successful negotiation of a new contract patterned after the pact with GM.

Jennifer Granholm announced that she, along with 5 other governors, sent a letter to Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke requesting emergency funding for the Detroit Big Three Automakers.

[79] Several days later, Chrysler together with Ford and General Motors, sought financial aid at a Congressional hearing in Washington D.C. in the face of worsening conditions caused by the automotive industry crisis.

On March 13, 2009, LaSorda told the House of Commons of Canada finance committee that the initial GM-CAW deal was insufficient and that Chrysler would demand an hourly wage cut of $20, breaking the Canadian Autoworkers's negotiating pattern set by GM.

[86] On March 30, 2009, the White House announced it would provide an additional $6 billion in further support to Chrysler contingent on the company finalizing an alliance with Fiat before the end of April.

[89] By mid-April, as talks intensified between the two automakers to reach an agreement by a government-imposed deadline of April 30, Fiat's initial stake was reported to be 20% with some influence on the structure of top management of the company.

[92][93] Both the White House and Chrysler expressed hope for a "surgical" bankruptcy lasting 30 to 60 days, with the result of reducing the company's liabilities and post-bankruptcy emergence in stronger financial shape.

Prior to the bankruptcy filing, Chrysler had received $US 4.5 billion in financing from the U.S. government, under a George W. Bush administration plan, in December 2008, after Congress declined to approve legislation to provide federal loans.

The United Auto Workers’ union retiree health care trust fund (Volunteer Employee Benefit Association) was the majority owner, with 55 percent when Fiat reached its target holding of 35%.

[105] In early 2009, Chrysler Group, based in Auburn Hills, Michigan, became majority owned by the United Auto Workers Voluntary Employee Beneficiary Association trust.

[112] Virgil Exner's radical "Forward Look" redesign of Chrysler Corporation's vehicles for the 1955 model year was underscored by the company's adoption of a logo by the same name.