#2: Chrysler – K-Car (1981)
Chrysler entered the 1980s fighting for survival after years of financial problems, inefficient products, and growing pressure from foreign competition. The company secured federally guaranteed loans and placed enormous responsibility on CEO Lee Iacocca to engineer a turnaround. Central to that recovery were the compact, front-wheel-drive automobiles built on Chrysler’s K platform, beginning with models such as the Dodge Aries and Plymouth Reliant for the 1981 model year. Compared with many older American cars, the K-cars were smaller, more fuel-efficient, and relatively inexpensive to manufacture, characteristics that aligned much better with the post-oil-crisis market. Their shared platform also allowed Chrysler to reduce development and production costs while using the architecture across numerous vehicles. Consumers responded, giving the financially endangered automaker a reliable source of volume at precisely the moment it needed one. Minivans would soon become another crucial part of Chrysler’s revival, but the K-car provided an essential foundation.
