How it started
Formation
Chrysler Corporation had never had much success outside North America, contrasting with Ford's worldwide reach and General Motors' success with its Opel, Vauxhall, Bedford and Holden brands. Chrysler first established an interest in the French-based Simca in 1958, buying 15% of the company's stock from Ford. In 1963, Chrysler increased their stake to a controlling 63% by purchasing further stock from Fiat.
Chrysler acquired a 35% share of the Spanish Barreiros in 1963, and it became part of Chrysler Europe in 1969. Barreiros was renamed Chrysler España, S.A. in 1970. Also in 1963, Chrysler acquired the Greek company FARCO (founded in 1961 by the Kontogouris brothers to produce the Farmobil), which it renamed Chrysler Hellas S.A. after the acquisition. However, production there ended in 1967 without much success.
After failing to acquire an interest in the British-based Leyland Motors in 1962, Chrysler bought a 30% share in Rootes Group in 1964. Rootes was formally taken over by Chrysler following purchase of the remaining shares in 1967.
In 1970, Rootes was formally named "Chrysler (UK) Ltd." and Simca became "Chrysler (France)", with the Hillman marque finally being replaced by Chrysler on the UK market in 1976 and Simca surviving until after the PSA takeover in 1979.
Branding
From Wikipedia’s article on Chrysler Europe, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.2