Only a few years later would Fiat Chrysler Automobiles look to find another partner to merge with. In 2019, the company hoped to go into a 50–50 merger with the French motor company Renault, but FCA pulled out of the deal due to unease with the French government at the time. It then set its sights on Peugeot, and in December 2019, the two companies agreed to enter into that evenly split merger.
It would take until December 2020 before the European Commission approved the merger, which happened to be at the heart of the COVID-19 pandemic. Fiat Chrysler Automobiles may have been already looking for a new partner, but considering the adverse effects of the pandemic, which happened to be the time when people least required the use of cars, the company definitely could use some help.
After government approval, the shareholders of FCA and Peugeot approved the merger in the first week of 2021. The new company would keep its financial home in Amsterdam and be called Stellantis, finally scrubbing the company of the Chrysler name.
Chrysler still exists as a subsidiary. Going back to the list of the best-selling cars of 2023 so far, the Chrysler Pacifica minivan lands at 24, making it the best-selling minivan. That is available in both a gas-powered version and a hybrid, and it still makes its signature Chrysler 300 sedan. However, that is the extent of its line. For a name that was once right in line with Ford and General Motors as the “Big Three” of American cars, it is now just a small section of a much larger company that isn’t even fully American. Maybe it’s just a “Big Two” now.
