an Alliance-based station wagon, who pointed them toward the larger Renault 18 Sportwagon. By 1985, the U.S. automobile market was starting to move away from the subcompact Alliance and Encore as the gasoline crisis ended and consumers were buying larger cars. Increasing competition in the subcompact market segment from imported vehicles meant that total Alliance and Encore sales fell to 150,000 for 1985. 1986 Improving economic conditions and lower gasoline prices meant total sales dropped to 65,000 in 1986. American Motors had already stopped production of the Concord and Spirit in 1983 (the four-wheel drive AMC Eagle continued to be built), while the larger Medallion (to replace the Renault 18) was not going to be ready until 1987. The automaker offered zero-interest financing on the Alliance and Encore models in the fall of 1986. By mid-December 1986, around 2,000 hourly employees at its Kenosha factory were put on temporary layoff through the first week of January to balance inventory with sales of the Alliance. 1987 A separate model was added for the 1987 model year, the GTA that offered higher performance and its name recalled the Alpine GTA. All models received a front end facelift and featured new headlamps. The remainder of the Alliance line was carried over, but the two Encore hatchback body variants were renamed the Alliance Hatchback. The government of French President François Mitterrand was concerned with an upcoming election at a time when Renault not only lost its number one automaker spot in Europe, but was also losing money. Moreover, while Georges Besse championed the opportunities in the North American market, Renault executives and labor leaders perceived AMC as a bottomless pit. On 9 March 1987, Chrysler agreed to buy Renault's share in AMC, plus all the remaining shares, for about US$1.5 billion (US$ in dollars) and AMC's operations became the new Jeep-Eagle division of Chrysler. The focus of Chrysler's acquisition was on the highly profitable Jeep vehicles and the brand-new Brampton Assembly plant that was just built in Ontario, Canada. In the first five months of 1987, only 13,390 Alliances were sold while inventory levels increased. Nevertheless, press kits were prepared for the 1988 models and early media reports of upcoming 1988 cars stated "with the buy-out of American Motors, Chrysler will continue to market the subcompact Renault Alliance..." Alliance production at the Kenosha plant closed out as of Friday, 5 June 1987. The Alliance