Let’s not forget about the Cadillac Catera, which was a pimped-out Opel. What was essentially the standard RR station taxi in Germany was passed-off as a luxury car in The US after GM added all sorts of extraneous trim features that were superficial, and that added nothing of real substance to the car.
Years ago my wife owned a 1991 Ford Escort, which was about half Mazda Protege. She used to joke about her “Mazda/Ford.” Another time, I nearly bought a 1992 Geo Prizm, which was essentially a rebadged Corolla. I bought a 1993 Chevrolet Corsica instead and regretted it for years.
As for the Chrysler name, I wonder if other factors will enter into it? GM axed Oldsmobile as opposed to Buick because Buicks are extremely popular in Asia for some reason. Anyway, it won’t be the first time Chrysler Corp. has eliminated a brand. Who else remembers Eagle?
But this time, Chrysler’s not driving the same bus that ran over Eagle.
They are standing on the street corner hoping Stellartis doesn’t run the bus over THEM! 
My sister in-law taught at an American school on an Army base in Germany for a year. Her father told her that he’d always loved Mercedes Benz, and asked her to buy a light yellow sedan for him and bring it back with her. He got a great deal on the price, and Uncle Sam paid for transportation. She never told him that it looked exactly like the taxis she saw around town, down to the color. He was thrilled driving his diesel taxi all around Houston, and that’s all that mattered.
Also, the Catera got excellent reviews in the US automotive press. Many of them were sad to see it discontinued. It’s problem was that traditional Cadillac owners weren’t going to buy a European luxury sedan, and European sedan buyers weren’t going to buy what they saw as a Detroit 3 imitation, especially so soon after the Cadillac Cavalier, um, Cimmaron.
I spent a lot of miles driving Cimarrons and Cateras as well as the Opel Omega it was based on. They were all pretty nice to drive. I wouldn’t pay the money for one… but they were nice to drive.
The Opel Omega was a pretty competitive Euro car when it was redesigned about 1988 but was long in the tooth by the time the Catera was built.
I Remember Eagle, we looked at the Summit sedan in '90 for my mom but after having to try 4 on the lot to get one that didn’t need a jump start and failing to impress on the test drive compared to the Toyota Corolla and the Mazda Protoge (which she ended up buying) only looked at it because the Eagle’s were on the other side of the lot at the same dealer.
The ''91 Escorts were just starting to come out but we couldn’t wait any longer for the dealer to get more 5dr hatchbacks. Proved to be good cars for others. Still see them around town.
The Cadillac Catera had an image problem here in the US
No matter how GM tried, it was seen as an “old people’s car”
Problem being . . . that’s not the image GM was going for
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I found a Car&Driver test where they gave positive reviews for the sport trim models but still not at the level of the BMW and other rivals.
Their advertising didn’t help.
Almost all of their ads featured a cartoon duck, telling us that “the Catera is the Caddy that zigs”. Traditional Cadillac buyers had almost zero interest in a smaller car–even if it “zigs”, and younger buyers weren’t interested in that brand at all.
That’s surprising. I remember reading positive reviews of the Mitsubishi-built Summit back in the day. Of course, I don’t think any one vehicle, no matter how great, could have saved the Eagle division.
The Eagle division was just the death throes of AMC.
The Eagle Summit did get some positive reviews, it just felt cheap in not so good way, particularly compared to the other cars we looked at.
AMC “came along for the ride” when Chrysler acquired the Jeep brand. Some Eagle vehicles were also rebranded Renaults, along with the Dodge versions.
Maybe there is no Chinese symbol for “Oldsmobile”.
Frankly, I’d be surprised if there were a Chinese symbol for “Buick” either. I wonder what it would look like?
