[10] Various imported and domestic-built vehicles were marketed, primarily by former AMC dealers along with Jeep products, until the brand was discontinued in 1998.

[15] A press release by then Chrysler Chairman Lee Iacocca indicated that the company was working on a car that would be known as the "Liberty" which aimed to achieve significant cost savings.

However, Popular Mechanics soon reported that the AMC-developed Premier would replace Chrysler's Liberty project attempts at using the K-car platform.

[18] The main objective of Chrysler acquiring American Motors was the long-established Jeep vehicles, but Renault forced the company to take on the contractual obligations of the passenger car models as part of the deal.

[19][21] Under new ownership, Chrysler quickly discontinued the domestic-built front-wheel drive Alliance and Encore that were developed under Renault (plans by AMC to import the Renault Espace minivan and the Alpine GTA halo car were also scrapped), but continued to build the four-wheel drive AMC Eagle crossover.

[22] To consolidate the marketing and maintain distribution through AMC dealerships following the 1987 acquisition, the Jeep/Eagle division of Chrysler Corporation was formed.

A limiting factor is that almost all states "have dealership-friendly franchise regulations" that do not allow manufacturers flexibility because the laws provide dealerships territorial exclusivity, including protection from new competition, as well as limit dealership franchise termination to the point that even "gross inefficiency and poor financial condition are not legitimate grounds for termination.

[29] Throughout its history, the Eagle brand needed more product recognition, although its Premier was technically more advanced than anything offered by Chrysler.

Their sales and service expertise was primarily in the four-wheel drive Jeeps and AMC's Eagle all-wheel-drive models.

Still, it caused the nascent Eagle division and its largely derivative models to compete unfavorably for attention with Chrysler's and Plymouth's often similar, but longer-established and better-recognized lines of passenger cars.

"[33] Those Eagle cars failed because the automaker did not have a coherent marketing strategy for the mix of models and they also lacked effective promotional efforts in the automotive marketplace.

[1] In the end, "Chrysler wasn't fully committed to the nameplate and also left consumers confused about what an Eagle was -- if they knew the name at all.

[37] It was a four-door sedan that used cab forward design and was powered by an experimental, 32-valve all-aluminum V8 engine with all-wheel drive.

[38] The Optima was on the show circuit to judge consumer reaction to the thinly disguised version of the LH platform sedans that were to be introduced for the 1993 model year.

[39] Two earlier concept cars emphasizing the cab-forward designs that lead to the LH-based 1993 Eagle Vision were the 1987 Lamborghini Portofino and the 1989 Chrysler Millennium.