Automotive WI: George Besse, Renault's CEO, not murdered and a survived AMC

Let's suppose George Besse survives his assassination: the AMC brand could certainly continue to belong to Renault. Perhaps the French brand imports the Espace, the R19 and the Alpine V6 under AMC. In consequence, Chrysler will never get the Jeep brand,and will never have François Castaing, who's not only the father of the jeep, but also the Viper and the 300c. I saw on an article which supposed that if Besse survived, it would make move up Renault and relocate the Clio and Twingo to the Dacia factory in Romania, and that Alpine would be popular in the US thanks to his appearances in the game " Need for Speed ". Therefore (in yhis article), Chrysler accepts the purchase by Mitsubishi and only builds rebadged Japanese cars. But in reality: could Renault continuing in the US continue to succeed? Would we still have rebadged AMC Renault in North America? What happens to Chrysler without Jeep? A buyout by a foreign car manufacturer?

This the article, but it's in french: https://www.leblogauto.com/2013/01/uchronie-et-si-renault-etait-reste-aux-etats-unis.html

PS: I didn't want to say "survived AMC" but I wanted to say "surviving AMC".
 
Last edited:
In the event that George Besse survives his assassination or does not get assassinated would definitely result in a different outcome for AMC and Renault.

What likely happens to AMC in the immediate aftermath of the POD - The Renault brand would not disappear so quickly at the end of CY (Calendar Year) 1987 (Which happened IOTL after AMC got sold to Chrysler), The Allure (Premier/R25 based) coupe that AMC was working likely makes it into production (Although it likely bows out sometime in the mid to late 1990's), A U.S. Market Renault Espace eventually makes it onto the market in the early 1990's when the Espace II (Second generation Espace) is launched likely as a 1992 model at the earliest, The Jeep Grand Cherokee hits the market around the end of the 1980's (Likely a 1989 model year Launch), The Alliance would have lasted beyond 1987 for sure but it would likely get replaced by the end of the 1980's for sure.

Notes from OTL - The Jeep Grand Cherokee was planned for a late 1980's launch but Lee Iaccoca pushed for Chrysler's Minivan line to be redesigned which delayed the Grand Cherokee's launch until early 1992 for the 1993 model year (But the Grand Cherokee did well for Jeep anyway), Plans to launch the Allure got scuttled by Chrysler after the AMC buyout.

The likely fate of AMC post POD

1. - AMC could get sold off at a later date (Although it would likely be after Besse steps down from Renault years later) although it would be a real higher price unlike the OTL price.
2. - Renault buys up the remaing shares of AMC that they don't own and AMC likely gets renamed Renault North America or somewhere along the lines with Jeep ending up as a division of Renault.

What happens with Chrysler post POD (A Chrysler that doesn't buy AMC)

Chrysler would run into real financial trouble due to them being overdependent on the K platform and without Jeep they might possibly lack the sufficent funds needed to redesign it's Minivan line (Unless they can secure some Bank Loans) and the product lines they launched in the 1990's IOTL will get butterflied away for sure.

The likely fates of Chrysler in this ATL

1. - Chrysler collapses by the mid to late 1990's and goes under which would result in long term butterflies (Ford and GM's either remains in the Minivan market or exits at a much later date ITTL for example).
2. - Chrysler is forced to depend on Mitsubishi and other automakers for the platforms to build a substantial amount if not all of it's product line on.
 
Top