The 1973 oil embargo caused American "gas guzzler" sales to slump, prompting Chrysler to develop the Dodge Aries K platform compact and midsize cars for the 1981 model year.

"[11] The company garnered a reputation for the highest quality truck, transmission, and motor parts supplied to other successful vehicles, and Dodge Brothers cars were ranked second in U.S. sales as early as 1916.

Lt. George S. Patton led ten soldiers and two civilian guides in three Dodge Model 30 touring cars to conduct America's first motorized military raid at a ranch house in San Miguelito, Sonora.

After expanding production capacity, Haynes signed a contract in 1921 for Dodge's large dealer network to exclusively market trucks with bodies built by Graham Brothers of Evansville, Indiana.

That year, the Dodge Brothers company was sold by the widows to the investment group Dillon, Read & Co. for no less than US$146 million which at the time was the largest cash transaction in history ($2,536,576,850 in 2023 dollars[6]).

Dodge did not share the radical Airflow styling that was the cause of depressed sales of Chryslers and DeSotos from 1934 until 1937, as a passenger sedan, but it was used on commercial trucks for a short time.

Dodge (along with the rest of Chrysler) added safety features such as a smooth, flat dashboard with no protruding knobs, curved in-door handles, and padded front-seat backs for the benefit of the rear-seat occupants.

However, just after the 1942 models were introduced, Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor forced the shutdown of Dodge's passenger car assembly lines in favor of war production in February 1942.

The "seller's market" of the early postwar years, brought on by the lack of any new cars throughout the war, meant that every automaker found it easy to sell vehicles regardless of any drawbacks they might have.

With steadily upgraded styling and ever-stronger engines every year through 1960, Dodge found a ready market for its products as America discovered the joys of freeway travel.

The 880 continued into 1965, the year a completely new full-size body was put into production, the Polara entered the medium price class and the Monaco was added as the top series.

To offer a wider range of cars during the 1970s, Dodge partnered with Mitsubishi Motors to marketed their subcompact as the Colt positioned to compete with the AMC Gremlin, Chevrolet Vega, and Ford Pinto.

During the next model year (1977), the mid-size Dodge Coronet would be renamed Monaco, which would be given stacked rectangular headlights and other minor cosmetic changes, that would provide a prompt sales boost.

[37] Everything came to a head in 1979 when Chrysler's new chairman, Lee Iacocca, requested and received federal loan guarantees from the United States Congress to save the company from having to file for bankruptcy.

The Caravan not only helped save Chrysler as a serious high-volume American automaker, but also spawned an entirely new market segment that supplanted the role of the station wagon: the minivan.

Although sales were strong, Chrysler CEO Lee Iacocca held a low opinion of the M-body line as a relic of the pre-K car era and declined to invest any money in them.

Dodge would not market another truly full-size car (at least based upon United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) passenger volume statistics) until the Monaco debuted as a 1990 model.

However, its state-of-the-art manufacturing plant and the key executive from American Motors behind the Premier/Monaco design, François Castaing, would lead to the successful and highly rated "cab-forward" LH Dodge Intrepid, Chrysler Concorde, and Eagle Vision versions in late 1992 when production resumed at Brampton Assembly.

This was the first step in what was marketed as "The New Dodge", which was an aggressive advertising campaign with a litany of new models, with television ads narrated by Edward Herrmann that pointed out the innovations in the vehicles and challenged their competitors.

The Intrepid was available in two trim levels: base and the sportier, better-equipped ES, which added four-wheel disc brakes, 16-inch wheels with better tires, and stiffer "touring" suspension damping.

In 1994, the new second-generation Dodge Ram pickup was introduced with bold styling that departed radically from the boxy designs of trucks made by the Big Three for two decades prior.

[53] On July 8, 2020, FCA announced that Dodge will shift its focus to a performance marque offering three core brands, Charger, Challenger, and Durango, starting with the 2021 model year.

Following World War II and the successful application of four-wheel drive to the truck line, Dodge introduced a civilian version that it called the Power Wagon.

Dodge was among the first to introduce car-like features to its trucks, adding the plush Adventurer package during the 1960s and offering sedan-like space in its Club Cab bodies of the 1970s.

Dodge introduced what they called the "Adult Toys" line to boost its truck sales in the late 1970s, starting with the limited edition Lil' Red Express pickup (featuring, a 360 c.i.

Based on the Dodge Dart platform and using its proven six-cylinder or V8 engines, the A-series was a strong competitor for both its domestic rivals (from Ford and Chevrolet/GMC) and the diminutive Volkswagen Transporter line.

Offering the then-popular open body style and Dodge's powerful V8 engines, the Ramcharger was a strong competitor for trucks like the Ford Bronco, Chevrolet Blazer and International Scout II.

In Brazil, Dodge cars were produced between 1969 and 1981 with the models Dart, Charger, Magnum, LeBaron (all powered by the same 318 cid V8 engine), and the compact 1800/Polara, based on the British Hillman Avenger.

[68] During the Second World War, Dodge Kew was part of the London Aircraft Production Group, building fuselage sections for Handley Page Halifax bombers.

Following Chrysler Europe's collapse in 1977 and the sale of their assets to Peugeot, the van and truck range and the associated factories in Dunstable and Madrid were quickly passed on to Renault Véhicules Industriels.