1979 in motoring

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Last updated May 16, 2019

1979 in motoring deals with developments in the automotive industry that occurred in 1979, listed by country. The automotive industry designs, develops, manufactures, markets, and sells motor vehicles.

The automotive industry comprises a wide range of companies and organizations involved in the design, development, manufacturing, marketing, and selling of motor vehicles. It is one of the world's largest economic sectors by revenue. The automotive industry does not include industries dedicated to the maintenance of automobiles following delivery to the end-user, such as automobile repair shops and motor fuel filling stations.

United Kingdom

The Ford Cortina MK4 was facelifted and became the MK5, with its three-year-old design receiving a major makeover.

The Ford Cortina is a car that was built by Ford of Britain in various guises from 1962 to 1982, and was the United Kingdom's best-selling car of the 1970s.

British Leyland updated the Austin Allegro, with the intention of keeping it in production until the launch of an all-new model to replace the Allegro and Maxi around 1982.

British Leyland was an automotive engineering and manufacturing conglomerate formed in the United Kingdom in 1968 as British Leyland Motor Corporation Ltd (BLMC), following the merger of Leyland Motors and British Motor Holdings. It was partly nationalised in 1975, when the UK government created a holding company called British Leyland, later BL, in 1978. It incorporated much of the British-owned motor vehicle industry, which constituted 40 percent of the UK car market, with roots going back to 1895.

The Austin Allegro is a small family car that was manufactured by the Austin-Morris division of British Leyland from 1973 until 1982. The same vehicle was built in Italy by Innocenti between 1974 and 1975 and sold as the Innocenti Regent. In total, 642,350 Austin Allegros were produced during its ten-year production life, most of which were sold on the home market.

The Austin Maxi is a medium-sized 5-door hatchback car that was produced by Austin and later British Leyland between 1969 and 1981. It was the first British five-door hatchback to be fitted with a five-speed transmission.

Sales began in November of the Opel Kadett, which would also be sold as the Vauxhall Astra from early 1980 - as General Motors entered the growing front-wheel drive hatchback market, replacing the long-running Viva nameplate.

The Opel Kadett is a small family car produced by the German automobile manufacturer Opel from 1962 until 1991, when it was succeeded by the Opel Astra.

The Vauxhall Astra is a small family car that has been built by Vauxhall since 1979. For its first two generations, the nameplate was applied to right-hand drive versions of the Opel Kadett for use in the UK. Since 1991, Opel has used the Astra nameplate on its B/C-platform. General Motors' Saturn division in the United States of America also offered a Belgian-built version of the Astra as a captive import from late 2007 until Saturn was discontinued following GM's 2010 bankruptcy.

General Motors Company, commonly referred to as General Motors (GM), is an American multinational corporation headquartered in Detroit that designs, manufactures, markets, and distributes vehicles and vehicle parts, and sells financial services, with global headquarters in Detroit's Renaissance Center. It was originally founded by William C. Durant on September 16, 1908 as a holding company. The company is the largest American automobile manufacturer, and one of the world's largest. As of 2018, General Motors is ranked #10 on the Fortune 500 rankings of the largest United States corporations by total revenue.

France

Peugeot launched a new large family saloon - the 505 - that would eventually replace the long-running and popular 504. It was a more modern-looking car than its predecessor, though it inherited the boxy styling with which Peugeots had been associated for the last decade. 504 production would continue in Europe until 1983 but would last much longer in Egypt.

Peugeot is a French automotive manufacturer, part of Groupe PSA.

The Peugeot 505 is a large family car produced by the French manufacturer Peugeot from 1979 to 1992 in Sochaux, France. It was also manufactured in various other countries including Argentina, China, Indonesia and Nigeria. The 505 was Peugeot's last rear-wheel drive car.

The Peugeot 504 is a mid-size, front-engine, rear wheel drive automobile manufactured and marketed by Peugeot from 1968 to 1983 over a single generation, primarily in four-door sedan and wagon configurations — but also with two-door coupe, convertible and pickup truck variants.

Financially troubled American car giant Chrysler sold its European operations to Peugeot, with British Chrysler and French Simcas now wearing Talbot badges.

Chrysler is one of the "Big Three" automobile manufacturers in the United States, headquartered in Auburn Hills, Michigan. The original Chrysler Corporation was founded in 1925 by Walter Chrysler from the remains of the Maxwell Motor Company. In 1998, it was acquired by Daimler-Benz, and the holding company was renamed DaimlerChrysler. After Daimler divested Chrysler in 2007, the company existed as Chrysler LLC (2007–2009) and Chrysler Group LLC (2009–2014) before merging in 2014 with Italian holding company Fiat S.p.A. and becoming a subsidiary of its successor Fiat Chrysler Automobiles. In addition to the Chrysler brand, FCA sells vehicles worldwide under the Dodge, Jeep, and Ram nameplates. Furthermore, the subsidiary includes Mopar, its automotive parts and accessories division, and SRT, its performance automobile division.

Chrysler Europe was the American automotive company Chrysler's operations in Europe from 1967 through 1979. It was formed from the merger of the French Simca, British Rootes and Spanish Barreiros companies. In 1979, Chrysler divested these operations to PSA Peugeot Citroën.

Simca was a French automaker, founded in November 1934 by Fiat and directed from July 1935 to May 1963 by Italian Henri Théodore Pigozzi. Simca was affiliated with Fiat and, after Simca bought Ford's French activities, became increasingly controlled by the Chrysler Group. In 1970, Simca became a subsidiary and brand of Chrysler Europe, ending its period as an independent company. Simca disappeared in 1978, when Chrysler divested its European operations to another French automaker, PSA Peugeot Citroën. PSA replaced the Simca brand with Talbot after a short period when some models were badged as Simca-Talbots.

Renault launched an estate version of its R18 saloon as well as a 5-door version of the R5.

Italy

Lancia withdrew its Montecarlo sporting coupe from production following criticism of its sub-standard braking system. But the big news of the year was the launch of its Delta family hatchback, which was voted European Car of the Year ahead of the Opel Kadett and Peugeot 505.

Sweden

Saab bolstered its range with the launch of the 900, a medium-sized range of three- and five-door hatchbacks which were of a similar size to the Ford Cortina, but offered more in the way of style and refinement. There was also a turbocharged version of the car which was aimed at enthusiasts.

West Germany

Opel launched its new front-wheel drive Kadett in the autumn, in hatchback and estate form. It is also launched a new rear-wheel drive flagship saloon, the Senator.

Related Research Articles

The Vauxhall Chevette supermini or compact car was manufactured by Vauxhall in the United Kingdom from 1975 to 1984. It was Vauxhall's version of the "T-Car" small car family from Vauxhall's parent General Motors (GM). The family included the Opel Kadett in Germany, the Isuzu Gemini in Japan, the Holden Gemini in Australia, the Chevrolet Chevette in the United States, Canada, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador and Argentina, and in the U.S. and Canada was re-badged as Pontiac Acadian/Pontiac T1000. GRUMETT: uruguayan made by AUTOPIEZAS S.A.in a fiberglass body. Versions: SPORT (COUPE) 1980/1982; 250M "rural"(station wagon) prod. 1979/1982, restyling and renamed "Color" in 1982 derivated version double cabin in 1984 until 1986; all versions powered by 1400cc Chevette engine brazilian made.

The Vauxhall Cavalier was a large family car sold primarily in the UK by Vauxhall from 1975 to 1995. It was based on a succession of Opel designs throughout its production life, during which it was built in three incarnations. The first generation of Cavalier, launched in 1975 and produced until 1981, was based on the existing Opel Ascona with a few minor visual differences.

The Simca 1307 was a large family car produced by Chrysler Europe and latterly PSA Peugeot Citröen from 1975 to 1986. Codenamed C6 in development the car was styled in the United Kingdom by Roy Axe and his team at Whitley and the car was engineered by Simca at Poissy in France.

The Peugeot 305 is a medium sized saloon produced by the French automaker Peugeot from 1977 to 1989. It was offered as a four-door saloon, five-door estate, and as a three-door van body derivative.

The C-segment is the third smallest of the European segments for passenger cars, and is described as "medium cars". It is equivalent to the Euro NCAP "small family car" size class, and the compact car category in the United States and Great Britain

1980 in motoring deals with developments in the automotive industry that occurred in 1980, listed by country. The automotive industry designs, develops, manufactures, markets, and sells motor vehicles.

1981 in motoring deals with developments in the automotive industry that occurred in 1981, listed by country. The automotive industry designs, develops, manufactures, markets, and sells motor vehicles.

1982 in motoring includes developments in the automotive industry throughout the year 1982 by various automobile manufacturers, grouped by country.

This article 1983 in motoring deals with developments in the automotive industry throughout the year 1983 by various automobile manufacturers, grouped by country. The automotive industry designs, develops, manufactures, markets, and sells motor vehicles, and is one of the Earth's most important economic sectors by revenue.

This article 1984 in motoring deals with developments in the automotive industry throughout the year 1984 by various automobile manufacturers, grouped by country. The automotive industry designs, develops, manufactures, markets, and sells motor vehicles, and is one of the Earth's most important economic sectors by revenue. The first practical automobile with a petrol engine was built by Karl Benz in 1885 in Mannheim, Germany.

This article 1985 in motoring deals with developments in the automotive industry throughout the year 1985 by various automobile manufacturers, grouped by country. The automotive industry designs, develops, manufactures, markets, and sells motor vehicles, and is one of the Earth's most important economic sectors by revenue. The first practical automobile with a petrol engine was built by Karl Benz in 1885 in Mannheim, Germany.

1986 in motoring includes developments in the automotive industry throughout the year 1989 by various automobile manufacturers, grouped by country. The automotive industry designs, develops, manufactures, markets, and sells motor vehicles.

1988 in motoring includes developments in the automotive industry throughout the year 1988 by various automobile manufacturers, grouped by country. The automotive industry designs, develops, manufactures, markets, and sells motor vehicles.

1989 in motoring includes developments in the automotive industry throughout the year 1989 by various automobile manufacturers, grouped by country. The automotive industry designs, develops, manufactures, markets, and sells motor vehicles.

1992 in motoring includes developments in the automotive industry that occurred throughout the year 1992 by various automobile manufacturers, grouped by country. The automotive industry designs, develops, manufactures, markets, and sells motor vehicles.

Ford of Europe AG is a subsidiary company of Ford Motor Company founded in 1967 in Cork, Ireland with headquarters in Cologne, Germany.

1978 in motoring deals with developments in the automotive industry that occurred in 1978, listed by country. The automotive industry designs, develops, manufactures, markets, and sells motor vehicles.

The automotive industry in Germany is one of the largest employers in the world, with a labor force of over 857,336 (2016) working in the industry.

France was a pioneer in the automotive industry and is the 11th-largest automobile manufacturer in the world by 2015 unit production and the third-largest in Europe. It had consistently been the 4th-largest from the end of World War II up to 2000.

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