With that challenge, Chrysler Chairman Iacocca signaled the rebirth of the company in 1980.

The 1970s were not kind to Chrysler or the auto industry in general. Oil prices skyrocketed, catching the industry and its gas-hungry cars off guard. Sales of import cars climbed. Chrysler Corporation neared the brink of financial collapse in 1979, when Congress provided $1.5 billion in federal loan guarantees.

The United Auto Workers joined Chrysler in its fight for survival. The union joined the company in successfully lobbying members of Congress to award the loan guarantee package. The UAW membership also sacrificed wages and benefits, a critical concession that helped keep Chrysler in operation.

By the start of the '90s, Chrysler was a new company. Its federal loans had long been paid off, it had acquired the American Motors Company, and it has restructured vehicle development into 'platform teams,' a mode of operation that saved money and increased productivity and reliability. The company's management and technology operations moved into a gleaming new complex in Auburn Hills, Michigan.

Iacocca wasted no time in reviving the company, promoting the 1981 Dodge Aries and Plymouth Reliant - fuel-efficient K-cars designed to combat foreign competition. Said Iacocca: 'The K-car was the last train at the station. If we failed here, it was all over.'

It wasn't over. The Aries was named Motor Trend

In 1998, Chrysler Corporation merged with Daimler-Benz AG to become DaimlerChrysler AG. The company's North American operations are known as DaimlerChrysler Corp.

Today and the future present the challenges of improved safety controls and greater environmental stewardship.

Engineers are using cutting-edge technology to develop next-generation airbags and seatbelts, as well as design vehicles that can better withstand collisions. Child safety is at the forefront of the company's commitment to developing safe cars and trucks.

DaimlerChrysler also continues to advance environmentally friendly vehicles and manufacturing processes. Cleaner painting operations are in use, and assembly plants are releasing far fewer toxins than in past decades. Alternative vehicles, powered by electricity, methanol or hydrogen, are in the developmental stages.