Yeah, there were basically 4 Chrysler units.
The main USA Chrysler which started in 1920 and is still running today
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chrysler_(brand)
They did your Dodge Chargers, Plymouth Barracudas, Chrysler Newports etc. They also had brands like DeSoto but they killed them off in the 60's
Then there was Chrysler Europe which was made up of Chrysler UK and Chrysler France. They started in 1967 when they brought out Rootes and ran till 1978 when they were brought out by Peugeot and Citroėn
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chrysler_EuropeThey made the Mighty Avenger, as well as all the Simca's in France and the rest of the Rootes groups cars in the UK and Europe. Interestingly they were sold for $1 to Peugeot. Peugeot kept the Linwood factory in scotland open till 1981 and when that closed it was the death of the Avenger.
And then there was the South American Chrysler which was called Chrysler-Fevre Argentina SA
https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chrysler-Fevre_Argentina_S.A.They made Chryslers and Dodges like the Dodge polara and Valiants and Dodge 1500 which was based on the Avenger. They started making Chryslers in 1960 and in 1979 they sold to Volkswagen and continued the sale of Avenger based cars as the Vlokswagen 1500
And lastly there was Chrysler Australia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chrysler_AustraliaThey ran from 1951 to 1980 and they made Valiants like my Chysler Valiant Charger and hunters, as well as the Simca 180 based Chrysler Centura. They also had ties with Mitsubishi and in 1980 the two merged and became Mitsubishi Motors Australia Limited, finally killing off the Valiant and Chrysler brands in 1981.
As an off shoot there was Todd Motors in New Zealand which wasn't part of Chrysler but they brought the franchise for both Chrysler and Mitsubishi. They made the Valiants, Avenger and Hunter up until around 1980, they also made Mitsubishi cars in the same plant and after Chrysler UK and Australia died they continued to make Mitsubishi until it was brought back by Mitsubishi in 1987
So a few interesting trends can be seen from these. In the 60's it looks like Chrysler rapidly expanded out to all these country's. They kept all the original names like the Valiant Charger and the Hillman Avenger. In 1976 there was pretty much a worldwide renaming to Chrysler, we saw this with the Chrysler Charger and the Chrysler Hunter in Aussie and the Chrysler Avenger and in NZ and UK. I suspect they were struggling at this stage and they probably figured a name change might help revitalise the brands, bring them all in under one name. This didn't work to well because during 1978-1980 all of the overseas branches were sold off to Volkswagen, Peugeot and Mitsubishi, then by 1981 the brands were all dead except back in the states.
It is an interesting story of expansion and collapse. I often wonder what it would be like with we still had Chrysler Australia or UK and we had some follow ups to the Avenger and Charger, what would an 80's or 90's Charger look like? Would it still be competing with the Commodores and Falcons? How about the successor to the Avenger, would that have evolved in to a modern Corolla type car.
I sort of think it is cool in a way and also sad that my cars are from a dead brand. Both my Charger and Avenger were the last of the Hillmans and Valiants, which is sort of cool, it is like they were the final evolution of a company. They sort of went out being still 70's cool without having boring follow ups in the 80's and 90's.
Anyway. I really like the history of the Chryslers. I have done a lot of reading in to it back in the day since all the cars I own are extinct Chryslers.
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