The corporation was established by January 2012, when Fiat acquired a 58.5% stake of the Chrysler Group (which from 1998 to 2007 was part of DaimlerChrysler) and thus became, at that time, the 7th largest automaker (behind Toyota, General Motors, Volkswagen, Hyundai, Ford and Nissan).

[8] Starting in late 2019, FCA merged with the PSA Group (owner of the Peugeot and Citroën brands among others) on a 50-50 all-stock basis[9] in a $50 billion merger.

Executive members of the FCA Board of Directors as of March 2019 were John Elkann (chairman) and Mike Manley (Chief Executive Officer), with non-executive directors Ronald L. Thompson, John Abbott, Andrea Agnelli, Tiberto Brandolini d'Adda, Glenn Earle, Valerie A. Mars, Ruth J. Simmons, Michelangelo A. Volpi, Patience Wheatcroft, and Ermenegildo Zegna, CEO of Ermenegildo Zegna.

[18] FCA US included the US-based brands Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, and Ram, plus the Mopar service and parts organization.

In early 2019, FCA sold auto-parts maker Magneti Marelli for €6.2 billion to Calsonic Kansei, a Japan-based company owned by American buyout firm KKR.

On 10 June 2009, Chrysler emerged from the bankruptcy proceedings with the United Auto Workers pension fund, Fiat, and the US and Canadian governments as principal owners.

On 21 January 2014, Fiat completed the acquisition of the remaining 41.5% from the United Auto Workers, making Chrysler Group a wholly owned subsidiary.

[19] Fiat S.p.A. and Chrysler Group LLC merged into FCA on 12 October 2014 following approvals of the board on 15 June 2014 and shareholders on 1 August 2014.

Chrysler would be re-positioned as the company's mainstream North American brand to compete with Ford, Chevrolet, Toyota, and Volkswagen, while Dodge would focus on performance-based vehicles.

It had a 6.2L V8 HEMI mated to a 2.7L supercharger, which produced 840 horsepower and 770 lb-ft of torque at the crank—and made the Dodge Demon the world's quickest production vehicle at the time.

[32] In 2015, FCA refreshed the Jeep Grand Cherokee with celebrities Fan Bingbing, Tina Fey, Sandra Bullock, Julia Roberts, and Cate Blanchett promoted as brand ambassadors.

In 2021, FCA launched a luxury Grand Wagoneer to compete with the likes of Mercedes-Benz G-Class and Range Rover, Cadillac Escalade, and Lincoln Navigator.

[33] Jeep also launched the Wagoneer to compete with the likes of the Ford Expedition, Chevrolet Suburban, and GMC Yukon.

[25] Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV chief executive Sergio Marchionne and Dennis Williams, President of the United Auto Workers (UAW), entered into contract negotiations on 14 July 2015.

As negotiations between the UAW and US automakers began, Marchionne leaned in to embrace Williams in a hug seen "round the world," shocking some union members.

[35][36] On 13 January 2017, the company came under investigation by the US Justice Department due to allegedly failing to disclose software that violated emissions standards and allowed vehicles to exceed pollution limits.

[37] On 23 May 2017, the Justice Department filed a civil lawsuit alleging that FCA "used a 'defeat device' to circumvent emission controls" in more than 100,000 vehicles between 2014 and 2016.

In March 2017, FCA was a stakeholder in the creation of Italy's largest media group GEDI Gruppo Editoriale, created by the merger of Gruppo Editoriale L'Espresso publishing L'espresso and La Repubblica with Italiana Editrice (ITEDI), of which FCA held 77% of the shares and which publishes the Torino daily La Stampa and Il Secolo XIX.

Subsequently, FCA divested from publishing by distributing its shares to its own shareholders, again mainly Exor, so to concentrate on the automobile business.

[51][52] In July 2018, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV's European chief Alfredo Altavilla resigned after being passed over to replace Marchionne.

In July 2020, authorities from Germany, Italy and Switzerland raided the offices of Fiat-Chrysler Automobiles as part of the investigation over the use of defeat devices in emissions testing.

[55] Additionally Fiat-Chrysler is facing a £5 billion class-action lawsuit in the United Kingdom in relation to allegations of diesel emissions manipulation in select Alfa Romeo, Fiat, Iveco, and Jeep models.

[60] In March 2020, the Detroit United Auto Workers union announced that after discussion with the leaders of General Motors, Ford, and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, the carmakers would partially shut down factories on a "rotating" basis to mitigate the COVID-19 pandemic.