The company was founded by Walter P. Chrysler (1875-1940), a former railroad engineer and manager who rose through the rank at General Motors Corporation, first as a production manager and then as president and general manager of Buick Motor Company. However, in 1920 he fell out with William C. Durant and left his job with GM.
In 1921, he was a chairman of Maxwell-Chalmers Company, the title given by the creditors of Maxwell Motor Company. He used the time to take over and reorganize the Maxwell Motor Company into what became the Chrysler Corporation.
Chrysler changed considerably the nature of the company, and the cars, trucks and later vans that they made. The design team developed the new car, the Chrysler Six, and unveiled it in January 1924. The car was an immediate sensation an Chrysler was able to capitalize on its publicity to obtain the capital he needed to mass produce the Chrysler Six.
In 1928, Chrysler has earned $46 million in profit and was the country’s third largest car manufacturer.
By the early 1990s, the Chrysler management was sufficiently confident to start making new inroads into the European market, with a factory established in Austria.
After flourishing during the 1990s, and early 2000s, there was a downturn in demand. On April 3, 2009, Chrysler filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and established a partnership with Fiat, the Italian automaker.
Chrysler Corporation
