Chrysler Group LLC has officially changed its name to FCA US LLC, marking the end of a seven year stint where the company’s famous pentastar logo came back in to use.
The first period in which the pentastar logo adorned corporate headquarters, as well as many generations of cars, ended in 1998 when the disastrous “merger of equals” took place with Daimler to form DaimlerChrysler.
In 2007 Daimler decided to rid itself of its troublesome American arm, and sold the company to private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management. Under the troubled leadership of former Home Depot CEO Bob Nardelli, the company was rebranded as Chrysler LLC with the pentastar as the group’s corporate symbol.
During the global financial crisis, Chrysler filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. With the help of Fiat and a government-sanctioned expedited bankruptcy process, the “new Chrysler” or Chrysler Group LLC emerged with key stakes held by Fiat, the pension fund of the United Auto Workers, and the US and Canadian governments.
In 2014, Fiat finally managed to purchase the remaining portions of Chrysler that it didn’t already own, and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) was registered in the Netherlands. Now, just ahead of the holiday season, FCA’s American arm has ditched the Chrysler name, and the pentastar logo, to become FCA US.
