title: Firewatch

text: "Firewatch" is the first video game from Campo Santo and was created by Jake Rodkin and Sean Vanaman, who were the creative leads on "The Walking Dead"; Nels Anderson, the lead designer of "Mark of the Ninja"; and artist Olly Moss. Chris Remo was involved in many aspects of the design and also composed the score. Development for "Firewatch" began with a single painting by Moss. Jane Ng, lead environmental artist at Campo Santo, was tasked with translating Moss' work into 3D environments while maintaining his stylized artistic vision. Moss, who had previously been known primarily for his graphic design work, had joined Vanaman and Rodkin to found Campo Santo after spending many years working on the periphery of game development. In creating the painting, Moss emulated National Park Service posters from the New Deal era in both color palette and iconography. The development team went on a camping trip to Yosemite National Park for inspiration for the game, where they visited a lookout tower built with the same design as its video game counterpart. Further inspiration for the game came from Vanaman and Anderson's experiences growing up in rural Wyoming.


title: Firewatch

text: "Firewatch" runs on the Unity game engine. Ng disapproved of the tools for creating trees and therefore hand-modeled the 23 kinds of trees that would be placed within the game 4,600 times. A custom shader was also employed to produce more stylized and simplified foliage. The in-game fire lookout towers were built in accordance with government specifications, utilizing standard lumber size, after Ng's first attempt was unsatisfactory.


title: Firewatch

text: The walkie-talkie interaction in "Firewatch" is inspired by the relationship in "BioShock" between the player character and Atlas, as well as the dialog system from "The Walking Dead". At one point in the development, it was intended that the protagonist would be able to communicate with multiple characters, such as hikers, but the idea was discarded due to its expense and the schedule requirements with which the team were working. The team hoped to avoid lip syncing and minimize the amount of animation needed due to the limited team size and resources. The developers cast Cissy Jones, who appeared in "The Walking Dead", as the voice of Delilah in 2014. It took longer to find a voice actor for Henry whom the developers felt jibed with Jones; they ultimately cast Rich Sommer. Jones and Sommer recorded their lines in separate studios, but while on conference calls with each other to achieve a more natural rapport. The actors made a decision not to meet during production to maintain the distance between their characters.


title: Firewatch

text: The game's opening chapter features the song "Push Play" from Joy Chun and Nate Bosley's 2014 synthwave album "Let's Get Electric", which depicts a fictitious 1980s synthpop act known as Cheap Talk. Taylor Dayne's "Tell It to My Heart" was used as a placeholder in the scene, but Vanaman conceded that the song was too overwhelming and would cost too much to license. Upon the realization that it would also be too costly to commission a song, Remo sought a song in the style of the 1980s by an unsigned, independent artist, leading to the use of "Push Play". The score features a combination of electric and acoustic guitar, bass and electric piano, with samples of Fender Rhodes as a substitute for the actual piano. Remo played all of the instruments himself.


title: Firewatch

text: The game was announced in March 2014 with a tentative release date of 2015. At GDC, Campo Santo housed a public playtest, and Ng hosted a panel on the design and aesthetic of the game entitled "The Art of Firewatch". In June 2015, the team visited E3. There, they confirmed that they would be bringing the game to PlayStation 4, but that this would be the only console version. However, an Xbox One version was later released in North America on September 21, 2016, featuring an audio tour and a free roam mode. Due to ratings issues, the version was delayed in Europe until September 30 and in Australia and New Zealand until October 14.


title: Firewatch

text: Users of the HTC Vive and Oculus Rift virtual reality headsets can tour Henry's lookout tower using the Steam application Destinations. For this purpose, the scene was rebuilt on the Source game engine. "Firewatch" was made compatible with PlayStation 4 Pro on its November 10 launch, with enhanced performance through 4K resolution and high-dynamic-range imaging. The free roam mode was enabled for PlayStation 4 Pro and Steam shortly thereafter. Partnering with Limited Run Games, Campo Santo distributed under ten thousand physical copies of the game on PlayStation 4. 4,800 copies were made available for order on the Limited Run Games website on December 16, 2016, while 2,500 were sold through the Campo Santo online store starting January 16, 2017. In April 2018, Campo Santo announced the game would be released for Nintendo Switch later in the year. It was later clarified that the Nintendo Switch port would be a heavily optimised version of the game, and the update would also be available for other platforms. Additionally, the Nintendo Switch version featured some exclusive elements. Campo Santo later confirmed, via Twitter, the worldwide release date for the Nintendo Switch port as December 17, 2018.


title: Firewatch

text: "Firewatch" received "generally favorable" reviews, according to review aggregator Metacritic. The game sold more than five hundred thousand copies within a month of its release and over one million copies by the end of its first year. As of 2018, "Firewatch" has sold over 2.5 million copies across all platforms.


title: Firewatch

text: Steven Hansen at "Destructoid" welcomed the choice-based dialogue tree gameplay, going on to praise the dialog itself, as well as the voice performances. The game's most impressive achievement, as stated by Hansen, was the "thematic cohesion", which was said to revolve around self-imposed isolation. The sound design was lauded to have evoked a Hitchcockian sense of fear. Reviewing "Firewatch", Game Informer's Jeff Cork wrote, "I was immediately drawn into the game's world, partly because of the power of its simple text intro, and also because of the novelty of taking part in something so mundane". Cork observed that its interactive dialog, though simple, "breathes life into the game" and called the conversations "natural" and "engaging". He enjoyed exploring the forest environment, yet felt the ending was unsatisfactory.


title: Firewatch

text: Scott Butterworth of "GameSpot" thought that the analog navigation tools – a hand-held compass and paper map – were "immersive" but "occasionally frustrating". He found that the visual beauty of the setting allowed for a more rewarding form of exploration and noted that the sound design complemented the depth of its atmosphere. Judging the development of the characters through dialog to be "bold" and "admirable", he opined that it served as "a patient, reflective examination of how two people grow to trust and care for each other". According to Butterworth, the voice acting was brilliant and layered with emotional nuance, as he had evolved a strong attachment to the characters. GamesRadar's Justin Towell described "Firewatch" as "one of the most enthralling slices of entertainment I've ever experienced". He commended the voice acting for having successfully defined each character's personality traits. Towell added that the music, alongside the sound design, worked well in service of the atmosphere. However, he disparaged a few noticeable continuity problems that left him disillusioned.


title: Firewatch

text: Ryan McCaffrey at "IGN" hailed the sense of realism elicited by the setting, despite the stylized level design and artwork. He also approved of the script, saying that voice acting enhanced it further. Of the writing, McCaffrey said, "It's tense, scary, and funny – sometimes all within a few minutes of each other. Not a lot of games can successfully claim that". He deemed the ending polarizing because of the story's promising escalation. "Polygon"s Colin Campbell appreciated the use of humor and empathy to develop the characters, considered the game's mystery to be successful and the story to be "elegant" and "satisfying". He criticized the conclusion, regarding it as "not entirely successful".


title: Firewatch

text: On August 17, 2020, it was announced that Campo Santo was partnering with production company Snoot Entertainment (Keith Calder and Jess Wu) to adapt the game into a feature film.


The 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference, more commonly referred to as COP26, was the 26th United Nations Climate Change conference, held at the SEC Centre in Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom, from 31 October to 13 November 2021. The president of the conference was UK cabinet minister Alok Sharma. Delayed for a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it was the 26th Conference of the Parties (COP) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the third meeting of the parties to the 2015 Paris Agreement (designated CMA1, CMA2, CMA3), and the 16th meeting of the parties to the Kyoto Protocol (CMP16).


title: 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference

text: The conference was the first since the Paris Agreement of COP21 that expected parties to make enhanced commitments towards mitigating climate change; the Paris Agreement requires parties to carry out a process colloquially known as the 'ratchet mechanism' every five years to provide improved national pledges. The result of COP26 was the Glasgow Climate Pact, negotiated through consensus of the representatives of the 197 attending parties. Owing to late interventions from India and China that weakened a move to end coal power and fossil fuel subsidies, the conference ended with the adoption of a less stringent resolution than some anticipated. Nevertheless, the pact was the first climate deal to explicitly commit to reducing the use of coal. It included wording that encouraged more urgent greenhouse gas emissions cuts and promised more climate finance for developing countries to adapt to climate impacts.


text: In the midst of the conference, on 6 November 2021, a march against inadequate action at the conference, as well as for other climate change-related issues, became the largest protest in Glasgow since anti-Iraq War marches in 2003. Additional rallies took place in 100 other countries.


text: The United Kingdom holds the presidency of COP26 until the start of COP27. Initially, the Minister of State for Energy and Clean Growth, Claire Perry, was appointed as president of the conference, but she was removed on 31 January 2020, several months after she had stepped down as an MP. Former Prime Minister David Cameron and former Foreign Secretary William Hague declined to take the role. On 13 February 2020, Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Secretary Alok Sharma was appointed. On 8 January 2021, Sharma was succeeded by Kwasi Kwarteng as Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Secretary and moved to the Cabinet Office, in order to focus on the presidency full-time.


text: Nigel Topping, the former CEO of climate change action organization We Mean Business, was appointed the UK Government's High Level Climate Action Champion for COP26.


text: Italy partnered with the UK in leading COP26. For the most part, their role was in preparatory work such as the hosting of a pre-COP session and an event for young people called Youth4Climate 2020: Driving Ambition. These events took place between 28 September and 2 October 2020 in Milan.


text: Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, in April 2020 the conference was postponed to 31 October–12 November 2021. Both host countries, Italy and the UK, were heavily affected by the pandemic, and the venue of the conference, the SEC Centre in Glasgow, was converted in May 2020 into a temporary hospital for COVID-19 patients in Scotland.


text: Convention Secretary Patricia Espinosa tweeted that "in light of the ongoing, worldwide effects of COVID-19, holding an ambitious, inclusive, COP26 in November 2020 is not possible." She also indicated that economies restarting would be an opportunity to "shape the 21st century economy in ways that are clean, green, healthy, just, safe and more resilient." The rearranged date was announced in May 2020. Earlier in 2021, the UK and Italy hosted summits of the G7 and G20 respectively.


text: Independent observers noted that though not directly related, the postponement gave the international community time to respond to the outcome of the United States presidential election, held in November 2020. President Donald Trump had withdrawn the United States from the Paris Agreement, although this could not take effect until the day after the election; while his Democratic challengers pledged to immediately rejoin and increase ambition to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Joe Biden did so upon being elected as president. At the conference, Biden apologized for Trump's withdrawal from the agreement.


text: Previous summits have been sponsored by fossil fuel companies. To reduce this influence, the UK government decided that sponsors "have to have real commitments in place to help them reach net zero in the near future". The first principal partners included three British energy companies and a banking and insurance company.


text: Before the summit councils in and around Glasgow pledged to plant 18 million trees during the following decade: the Clyde Climate Forest (CCF) is projected to increase tree coverage in the urban areas of the Greater Glasgow region to 20%.


text: In September 2021, the conference was urged by Climate Action Network to ensure attendees would be able to attend in spite of travel restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic. In the months before the conference, the British government had restrictions on travel from certain countries in place, and COVID passports were required in certain venues. Critics suggested unequal deployment of COVID-19 vaccines worldwide could exclude the participation of representatives of poorer countries most affected by climate change. The UK subsequently relaxed travel rules for delegations. Only four Pacific Islands nations sent delegations due to COVID-19 travel restrictions, with most island nations compelled to send smaller teams than they otherwise would have. Organizers have in place numerous COVID-19 rules for attendees, dependent on vaccination status.


text: On 4 June 2021, a nighttime light projection onto the Tolbooth Steeple was installed, under the Climate Clock initiative. The projected Deadline and Lifeline statistics count the time window before 1.5 °C warming would become inevitable, and the percentage of global energy delivered through renewables, respectively. The Scottish Events Campus (SEC), known as the Blue Zone, temporarily became United Nations territory: the other main venue is the Green Zone at Glasgow Science Centre.


text: The summit was described as receiving "the cleanest electricity in the UK", as 70% was supplied from low-carbon nuclear power from plants in Torness and Hunterston B, while the rest mostly came from wind power.


text: The provision of medical services for the event was provided by BASICS Scotland, Amvale Medical and the Scottish Ambulance Service. The medical centre was visited by both Scottish National Clinical Director Jason Leitch and Scottish Health Secretary Humza Yousaf during the conference.


text: Twenty-five thousand delegates from nearly 200 countries were expected to attend, and around 120 heads of state came. Among the attendees were UN secretary-general António Guterres, American president Joe Biden, Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau, Dutch prime minister Mark Rutte, Egyptian president Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen, French president Emmanuel Macron, German chancellor Angela Merkel, Spanish prime minister Pedro Sánchez, Indian prime minister Narendra Modi, Indonesian president Joko Widodo, Israeli prime minister Naftali Bennett, Japanese prime minister Fumio Kishida, Nigerian president Muhammadu Buhari, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, Swedish prime minister Stefan Löfven, and Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky Former American president Barack Obama and English broadcaster and natural historian David Attenborough, who was named COP26 People's Advocate, spoke at the summit.


text: Czech prime minister Andrej Babiš denounced the proposed European Union Fit for 55 laws, part of the European Green Deal, saying that the bloc "can achieve nothing without the participation of the largest polluters such as China or the USA".


text: Prince Charles addressed the opening ceremony in person. Queen Elizabeth, having been advised to rest by doctors, addressed the conference by video message. Bill Gates called for a "green industrial revolution" to beat the climate crisis.


text: In October 2021, China's leader Xi Jinping announced he would not be attending the conference in person and instead delivered a written address as the organizers did not provide an opportunity for a video address. With greenhouse gas emissions by China being the world's largest, "Reuters" said this made it less likely the conference would result in a significant climate deal. However, a Chinese delegation led by climate change envoy Xie Zhenhua did attend. The 2021 global energy crisis intensified pressures on China ahead of the summit. The prime ministers or heads of state of South Africa, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Mexico, Brazil, Turkey, Malaysia and Vatican City also did not attend the meeting.


text: Russian president Vladimir Putin said his non-attendance was due to concerns relating to the COVID-19 pandemic. Iranian president Ebrahim Raisi did not attend; a formal request had been made by Struan Stevenson and Iranian exiles of the National Council of Resistance of Iran to the Scotland police, to arrest Raisi for crimes against humanity if he attended based on the legal concept of universal jurisdiction. Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman also did not attend the summit. Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro, who faced international condemnation over rising deforestation of the Amazon rainforest, also decided not to attend the summit personally.


text: The non-attendance of both Putin and Xi received criticism from U.S. president Joe Biden and former American president Barack Obama.


text: Myanmar and Afghanistan were entirely absent; both countries had their UN-recognized governments ousted militarily in 2021. The Myanmar military junta was blocked from entry to the summit. Six exiled Afghan climate experts had their applications rejected by the UNFCCC. Additionally, the island nation of Kiribati did not send participants, while fellow island nations Vanuatu and Samoa registered but did not send a delegation.


text: Under the Paris Agreement, countries submitted pledges called nationally determined contributions, to limit their greenhouse gas emissions. Under the framework of the Paris Agreement, each country is expected to submit enhanced nationally determined contributions every five years, to ratchet up the ambition to mitigate climate change. When the Paris Agreement was signed at COP21, the conference of 2020 was set to be the first ratcheting up. Even though the 2020 conference was postponed to 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, dozens of countries still had not updated their pledges by early October 2021. Collective progress towards implementation of the Paris Agreement in mitigation, adaptation and finance flows and means of implementation and support will be measured by global stocktakes, the first of which is due to be completed in 2023.


text: On 13 November 2021, the participating 197 countries agreed a new deal, known as the Glasgow Climate Pact, aimed at staving off dangerous climate change.


text: The pact "Reaffirms the Paris Agreement temperature goal of holding the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2 °C above pre-industrial levels and pursuing efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5 °C above pre-industrial levels" and "Recognizes that limiting global warming to 1.5 °C requires rapid, deep and sustained reductions in global greenhouse gas emissions, including reducing global carbon dioxide emissions by 45 per cent by 2030 relative to the 2010 level and to net zero around midcentury, as well as deep reductions in other greenhouse gases." However, achieving the target is not ensured, as with existing pledges the emissions in the year 2030 will be 14% higher than in 2010.


text: The final agreement explicitly mentions coal, which is the single biggest contributor to climate change. Previous COP agreements have not mentioned coal, oil or gas, or even fossil fuels in general, as a driver, or major cause of climate change, making the Glasgow Climate Pact the first ever climate deal to explicitly plan to reduce unabated coal power. The wording in the agreement refers to an intention to "phase down" use of unabated coal power, rather than to phase it out. From this wording it implicitly follows that utilizing coal power with "abation" (net-zero emission), e.g. by neutralizing the resulting carbon dioxide via the CO-to-stone process, need not be reduced. However this carbon capture and storage is too expensive for most coal fired power stations.


text: The final text of the Glasgow Climate Pact include a call to: "accelerating efforts towards... phase-out of inefficient fossil fuel subsidies". 34 countries with several banks and financial agencies pledged to stop international funding for "unabated fossil fuel energy sector by the end of 2022, except in limited and clearly defined circumstances that are consistent with a 1.5°C warming limit and the goals of the Paris Agreement" and increase financing of more sustainable projects, including Canada – the main provider of such finances, France, Germany, Italy and Spain – the biggest financers in European Union.


text: The United States and China reached an agreement about cooperation on measures to stop climate change, including lowering methane emissions, phasing out the use of coal, and forest conservation.


text: India promised to draw half of its energy requirement from renewable sources by 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality by 2070.


text: Governments of 24 developed countries and a group of major car manufacturers such as GM, Ford, Volvo, BYD Auto, Jaguar Land Rover, and Mercedes-Benz have committed to "work towards all sales of new cars and vans being zero emission globally by 2040, and by no later than 2035 in leading markets". Major car manufacturing nations like China, the US, Japan, Germany, and South Korea, as well as Toyota, Volkswagen, Nissan-Renault-Mitsubishi, Stellantis, Honda, and Hyundai had not signed up to the pledge.


text: Climate Action Tracker on 9 November 2021, described the results as follows: the global temperature will rise by 2.7 °C by the end of the century with current policies. The temperature will rise by 2.4 °C if only the pledges for 2030 are implemented, by 2.1 °C if the long-term targets are also achieved and by 1.8 °C if all the announced targets are fully achieved.


text: The Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero (GFANZ) announced that financial institutions controlling $130 trillion were now signed up to ‘net zero’ emissions pledges by 2050.


text: An important goal of the conference organizers is to keep a temperature rise within reach. According to the BBC, negotiators who may be key to the dealmaking include Xie Zhenhua, Ayman Shasly, Sheikh Hasina and Teresa Ribera.


text: China said it aims to peak emissions before 2030 and to become carbon neutral by 2060. It was asked to set a clear earlier date as this would have a very large "positive impact" on the Paris Agreement targets. Officials later said the 2030 target was something to "strive to" and not something to be ensured.


text: Leaders of more than 100 countries with around 85% of the world's forests, including Canada, Russia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the United States, agreed to end deforestation by 2030, improving on a similar 2014 agreement by now including Brazil, Indonesia, businesses and more financial resources. Signatories of the 2014 agreement, the New York Declaration on Forests, pledged to half deforestation by 2020 and end it by 2030, however in the 2014-2020 period deforestation increased.


text: Indonesia's environment minister Siti Nurbaya Bakar stated that "forcing Indonesia to zero deforestation in 2030 is clearly inappropriate and unfair".


text: Article 6 of the Paris Agreement, which describes rules for an international carbon market (such as for trees in the deforestation agreement) and other forms of international cooperation, is being discussed as it is the last piece of the rulebook remaining to be finalized. Although the parties have agreed in principle to avoid double counting of emission reduction across more than one country's greenhouse gas inventory, exactly how much double counting will actually occur remains unclear. Carrying forward pre-2020 Kyoto carbon credits will be discussed, but is highly unlikely to be agreed. Therefore, Article 6 rules could make a big difference to future emissions.


text: Climate finance for adaptation and mitigation was one of the principal topics of negotiation. Poor countries want more money for adaptation, whereas donors prefer to finance mitigation as that has a chance of making a profit. Appointed to the role of Climate Finance Adviser was Mark Carney, former Governor of the Bank of England. The Paris agreement included US$100 billion annually in finance by 2020 for developing countries. However, wealthy countries failed to live up to that promise, with members of the OECD behind in their commitments and unlikely to reach the agreed amount before 2023. A group of large finance companies committed to net zero portfolios and loan books by 2050. Scotland became the first country to contribute to a loss and damage fund.


text: South Africa is set to receive $8.5 billion to end its reliance on coal, details are sparse regarding capping mines, exports and local community support for the workers in the industry. Countries including Chile, Poland, Ukraine, South Korea, Indonesia and Vietnam also agreed to phase out coal in the 2030s for major economies, and the 2040s for poorer nations. These nations include some of the world's most intensive users of coal. However they do not include the world's largest users of the fuel, China, India, and the United States of America.


text: Japan is to invest $100 million in the transformation of fossil-fired plants into ones based on ammonia and hydrogen fuel.


text: The US and many other countries agreed to limit methane emissions. More than 80 countries signed up to a global methane pledge, agreeing to cut emissions by 30% by the end of the decade. The US and European leaders say tackling the potent greenhouse gas is crucial to keeping warming limited to . Australia, China, Russia, India and Iran did not sign the deal, but it is hoped more countries will join later.


text: Russia demanded sanction relief on green investment projects for energy companies such as Gazprom. Russia's climate envoy Ruslan Edelgeriyev accused Western countries of hypocrisy for urging Russia "to reduce methane leakages and yet we have Gazprom under sanctions".


text: Many attendees committed to net-zero carbon emissions, with India and Japan making specific commitments at the conference. India, the third-largest emitter of carbon dioxide by jurisdiction, set the latest target date planning to be net-zero by 2070. Japan is to offer up to $10 billion in additional funding to support decarbonization in Asia. Earlier in October, China – the largest emitter of carbon dioxide by jurisdiction – had committed to net-zero carbon emissions by 2060, and it was believed by the British government that India would issue a similar commitment. However, this was the first time that a date for carbon neutrality had been given as part of India's climate policy. Green hydrogen has emerged as one of the major areas where companies can collaborate to help decarbonize hard to abate industries.


text: Big city mayors concerned about climate – the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group – such as Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, called for more urban climate adaptation, especially in low-income countries.


text: 45 countries, including the UK, U.S., Japan, Germany, India, Indonesia, Morocco, Vietnam, Philippines, Gabon, Ethiopia, Ghana and Uruguay, pledged to give more than $4 billion for transition to sustainable agriculture. The organization "Slow Food" expressed concern about the effectivity of the spendings, as they concentrate on technological solutions and reforestation in place of "a holistic agroecology that transforms food from a mass-produced commodity into part of a sustainable system that works within natural boundaries".


text: The conference placed electric vehicles and pledges for vehicle electrification at the centre, including the electric OX truck, while, according to activists, better investment and political will for sustainable transport modes have not been forced through with the focus not being on public transport and cycling.


text: A draft text published on 10 November asked governments to accelerate phase-outs and desubsidization of fossil fuels, the largest source of (anthropogenic) global greenhouse gas emissions, but was opposed by several countries with large fossil fuels based economic sectors.


text: Business leaders and politicians including Jeff Bezos, Prince Charles, Boris Johnson, Joe Biden and Angela Merkel who travelled to Glasgow in private airplanes were accused of hypocrisy by commentators and campaigners. Event planners, however, insisted that the conference would be carbon-neutral. Around 400 private jets arrived at Glasgow for the talks.


text: In October 2021, the "BBC" reported that a huge leak of documents revealed that Saudi Arabia, Japan and Australia were among countries asking the UN to play down the need to move rapidly away from fossil fuels. It also showed that some wealthy nations (including Switzerland and Australia) were questioning paying more to poorer states to move to greener technologies. The BBC reported that the lobbying raised questions for the COP26 climate summit. The Australian government has been criticized for hosting a fossil fuel company at the summit, not enhancing its ambitions closer to its capacities, not pledging to reduce methane emissions and not pledging to phase out coal.


text: In an interview shortly before the conference, Greta Thunberg, asked how optimistic she was that the conference could achieve anything, responded "Nothing has changed from previous years really. The leaders will say 'we'll do this and we'll do this, and we will put our forces together and achieve this', and then they will do nothing. Maybe some symbolic things and creative accounting and things that don't really have a big impact. We can have as many COPs as we want, but nothing real will come out of it." Queen Elizabeth II voiced concerns in a private conversation overheard via a hot mic, saying: "It's really irritating when they talk, but they don't do."


text: By 1 November, at the outset of the conference, the climate change activist Greta Thunberg criticized the summit at a protest in Glasgow with members from the organization Fridays for Future, saying "This COP26 is so far just like the previous COPs and that has led us nowhere. They have led us nowhere."


text: On 5 November, a Fridays for Future protest at which Thunberg spoke gathered thousands of people, largely schoolchildren. Attendees supported more immediate and far-reaching action on climate change. Glasgow City Council and most neighbouring councils stated that students would not be punished if parents informed their schools of the absence. On 6 November—the Global Day of Action for Climate Justice—around 100,000 people joined a march in Glasgow, according to BBC News, with coaches and group cycle rides organized for participants to travel from around the United Kingdom. The protests were the largest in Glasgow since anti-Iraq War marches in 2003. A London march drew 10,000 people according to police and 20,000 according to organizers. "The Times" anticipated that total participants would number over two million. An additional 100 marches took place elsewhere in the country, with a total of 300 protests across 100 countries, according to "The Guardian". On 8 November, Fridays for Future activists including Dominika Lasota and Nicole Becker held a protest prior to a speech by former US president Barack Obama, arguing that he had failed to fulfill his promise to provide billion in climate funding to developing countries. The protestors held banners stating, "Show us the money".


text: Vanessa Nakate and indigenous activists gave speeches at Glasgow. Issues highlighted by protesters included putting corporate interests at the forefront and politicians' failure to address the climate emergency with the required urgency as well as its underlying causes. Kahnawake Mohawk people, ecology scientists, vegan activists, trade unionists and socialists were present at marches.


text: One intended participant, the Israeli energy minister Karine Elharrar, was unable to attend on 1 November due to wheelchair accessibility issues.


text: The sustainability of the COP26 menu was criticized by the animal and climate justice group Animal Rebellion, with almost 60% of the menu being meat and dairy based, and dishes labelled as high-carbon being served at food stands. The head of catering at COP26, Lorna Wilson, said that staff had been "working towards" a catering strategy of 95% food from the UK and 5% from abroad. Wilson said the menu was 40% plant-based and 60% vegetarian overall. The event eliminated single-use cups and plastics.


text: There was concern about the inclusion and influence of large delegations of industries, particularly big polluting companies, and financial organizations involved in the causes of greenhouse gas emissions at the conference.


text: Further criticisms of the results include that it needs not only commitments but also clear directions for mitigation and adaptation and robust mechanisms put in place for the relevant parties to be held accountable to their commitments. CNBC, BBC, Axios, and CBS News found that financial firms are not prevented from making private investments in fossil fuels, that there is a lack of focus on and transparency of the quality – rather than quantity or amounts – of pledges, that ending deforestation by 2030 is too late, that countries need to publish comprehensive policy-plans on how they will achieve their targets, and that the pledges are not mandatory, with no punishment mechanisms getting established at the conference and apparent content with a "self-regulation" approach for relevant organizations. According to critics, such issues could turn the conference into a "greenwashing" event of empty promises.


text: There is a criticism about the lack of people from most affected people and areas. Kaossara Sani becames one of the person who cames from this place and send her criticism by sending her manifesto to Forbes about what happened in Sahel and her criticism to COP26.


text: Academicians and practitioners on the field have floated several missing links of COP26 particularly the approach to climate change, disasters and public health consequences stemming from the meeting and how the neglect of healthcare will impact the Asia Pacific Region as a whole.


text: According to the Institute for Strategic Dialogue and a network of journalism organizations, the COP meeting became a target for climate misinformation, prominently "narratives of delay".


text: On 9 November, Climate Action Tracker reported that the global human civilization is on track for a 2.7 °C temperature increase in the Earth system by the end of the century with current policies. The temperature will rise by 2.4 °C if the pledges for 2030 will be implemented, by 2.1 °C if the long-term targets will be implemented also and by 1.8 °C if in addition all the targets in discussion will be fully implemented. Current targets for 2030 remain "totally inadequate". Coal and natural gas consumption are the main cause for the gap between pledges and policies. They assessed pledges by 40 countries that account for 85% of pledged net-zero emissions cuts and found that only polities responsible for 6% of global greenhouse gas emissions – EU, UK, Chile and Costa Rica – have pledged a set of targets that they rated to be "acceptable" for comprehensiveness and for having a published detailed official policyplan that describes the steps and ways by which these targets could be realized.


text: On 10 November, it was reported that the United States and China agreed on a framework to reduce carbon emissions by cooperating on measures to lower the use of methane, phase out the use of coal and increased protection of forests.


text: On 11 November, the Like-Minded Developing Countries (LMDC), a group of 22 countries including China and India, asked for the commitment to mitigation to be entirely removed from the draft text, as they apparently argue that developing countries should not be held to the same deadlines as wealthier nations. The request was criticized as illogical and self-defeating as it would end up harming people in developing countries the most and an article in the "Daily Beast" described the request as an attempt by China to sabotage the draft commitment. China was responsible for around 27% of the world's current GHG emissions in 2019.


title: Manhattan (cocktail)

text: A Manhattan is a cocktail made with whiskey, sweet vermouth, and bitters. While rye is the traditional whiskey of choice, other commonly used whiskies include Canadian whisky, bourbon, blended whiskey, and Tennessee whiskey. The cocktail is usually stirred then strained into a cocktail glass and garnished traditionally with a maraschino cherry. A Manhattan may also be served on the rocks in a lowball glass.


title: Manhattan (cocktail)

text: The whiskey-based Manhattan is one of five cocktails named for a New York City borough. It is closely related to the Brooklyn cocktail, which uses dry vermouth and Maraschino liqueur in place of the Manhattan's sweet vermouth, and Amer Picon in place of the Manhattan's angostura bitters.


title: Manhattan (cocktail)

text: The Manhattan is one of six basic drinks listed in David A. Embury's 1948 classic "The Fine Art of Mixing Drinks".


title: Manhattan (cocktail)

text: Popular history suggests that the drink originated at the Manhattan Club in New York City in the mid-1870s, where it was invented by Iain Marshall for a banquet hosted by Jennie Jerome (Lady Randolph Churchill, mother of Winston) in honor of presidential candidate Samuel J. Tilden. The success of the banquet made the drink fashionable, later prompting several people to request the drink by referring to the name of the club where it originated—"the "Manhattan" cocktail". However, Lady Randolph was in France at the time and pregnant, so the story is likely a fiction.


title: Manhattan (cocktail)

text: However, there are prior references to various similar cocktail recipes called "Manhattan" and served in the Manhattan area. By one account it was invented in the 1860s by a bartender named Black at a bar on Broadway near Houston Street.


title: Manhattan (cocktail)

text: Some of the earliest records of the cocktail can be found in Charlie Paul's "American and other Drinks" and O.H. Byron's "The Modern Bartender's Guide", both written in 1884. Paul describes it containing "three or four drops of angostura bitters, ditto of plain syrup; add half a liqueur glass of vermouth, half wine glassful of Scotch whiskey" and garnished with lemon. Byron describes two versions, one with French vermouth and the other with Italian. Another early record of the cocktail can be found in William Schmidt's "The Flowing Bowl", published in 1891. In it, he details a drink containing 2 dashes of gum (gomme syrup), 2 dashes of bitters, 1 dash of absinthe, portion of whiskey, and portion of vermouth.


title: Manhattan (cocktail)

text: The same cocktail appears listed as a "Tennessee Cocktail" in "Shake 'em Up!" by V. Elliott and P. Strong: "Two parts of whiskey, one part of Italian Vermouth, and a dash of bitters poured over ice and stirred vigorously."


title: Manhattan (cocktail)

text: On the small North Frisian island of Föhr, the Manhattan cocktail is a standard drink at almost every cafe, restaurant, and "get together" of locals. The story goes that many of the people of Föhr emigrated to Manhattan during deep sea fishing trips, took a liking to the drink, and brought it back to Föhr with them. The drink is usually mixed 1 part vermouth to 2 parts whiskey, with a dash of bitters, served ice cold, in an ice cold glass, or with ice and a cherry garnish.


title: Manhattan (cocktail)

text: Traditional views insist that a Manhattan be made with American rye whiskey. However it can also be made with bourbon or Canadian whisky. The Manhattan is subject to considerable variation and innovation, and is often a way for the best bartenders to show off their creativity. Some shake the ingredients with ice in a cocktail shaker instead of stirring it, creating a froth on the surface of the drink. Angostura is the classic bitters, but orange bitters or Peychaud's Bitters may be used. Some make their own bitters and syrups, substitute comparable digestifs in place of vermouth, specialize in local or rare whiskeys, or use other exotic ingredients. A lemon peel may be used as garnish. Some add juice from the cherry jar or Maraschino liqueur to the cocktail for additional sweetness and color.


title: Manhattan (cocktail)

text: Originally, bitters were considered an integral part of any cocktail, as the ingredient that differentiated a cocktail from a sling. Over time, those definitions of "cocktail" and "sling" have become archaic, as "sling" has fallen out of general use (other than in certain drink names), and "cocktail" can mean any drink that resembles a martini, or simply any mixed drink.


title: American Motors Corporation

text: American Motors Corporation (AMC; commonly referred to as American Motors) was an American automobile manufacturing company formed by the merger of Nash-Kelvinator Corporation and Hudson Motor Car Company on May 1, 1954. At the time, it was the largest corporate merger in U.S. history.


title: American Motors Corporation

text: American Motors' most similar competitors were those automakers that held similar annual sales levels such as Studebaker, Packard, Kaiser Motors, and Willys-Overland. Their largest competitors were the Big Three—Ford, General Motors, and Chrysler.


title: American Motors Corporation

text: American Motors' production line included small cars - the Rambler American which began as the Nash Rambler in 1950, Hornet, Gremlin, and Pacer; intermediate and full-sized cars, including the Ambassador, Rambler Classic, Rebel, and Matador; muscle cars, including the Marlin, AMX and Javelin; and early four-wheel drive variants of the Eagle and the Jeep Wagoneer, the first true crossovers in the U.S. market.


title: American Motors Corporation

text: Regarded as "a small company deft enough to exploit special market segments left untended by the giants", American Motors was widely known for the design work of chief stylist Dick Teague, who "had to make do with a much tighter budget than his counterparts at Detroit's Big Three", but "had a knack for making the most of his employer's investment".


title: American Motors Corporation

text: After periods of intermittent independent success, Renault acquired a major interest in American Motors in 1979, and the company was ultimately acquired by Chrysler.


title: American Motors Corporation

text: In January 1954, Nash-Kelvinator Corporation began the acquisition of the Hudson Motor Car Company (in what was called a merger). The new corporation would be called the American Motors Corporation. An earlier corporation with the same name, co-founded by Louis Chevrolet, had existed in Plainfield, New Jersey from 1916 through 1922 before merging into the Bessemer–American Motors Corporation.


title: American Motors Corporation

text: The Nash-Kelvinator/Hudson deal was a straight stock transfer (three shares of Hudson listed at 11⅛, for two shares of American Motors and one share of Nash-Kelvinator listed at 17⅜, for one share of American Motors) and finalized in the spring of 1954, forming the fourth-biggest auto company in the U.S. with assets of US$355 million and more than $100 million in working capital. The new company retained Hudson CEO A.E. Barit as a consultant and he took a seat on the board of directors. Nash's George W. Mason became president and CEO.


title: American Motors Corporation

text: Mason, the architect of the merger, believed that the survival of the U.S.'s remaining independent automakers was dependent on their joining in one multiple-brand company capable of challenging the Big Three as an equal. The "frantic 1953–54 Ford/GM price war" had a devastating impact on the remaining "independent" automakers. The reasons for the merger between Nash and Hudson included helping cut costs and strengthen their sales organizations to meet the intense competition expected from autos' Big Three.


title: American Motors Corporation

text: One quick result from the merger was the doubling up with Nash on purchasing and production, allowing Hudson to cut prices an average of $155 on the Wasp line, and up to $204 on the more expensive Hornet models. After the merger, AMC had its first profitable quarter during the second three months of 1955, earning $1,592,307, compared to a loss of $3,848,667 during the same period in the previous year. Mason also entered into informal discussions with James J. Nance of Packard to outline his strategic vision. Interim plans were made for American Motors to buy Packard Ultramatic automatic transmissions and Packard V8 engines for certain American Motors products.


title: American Motors Corporation

text: In July 1954, Packard acquired Studebaker. The new Studebaker-Packard Corporation (S-P) made the new Packard V8 engine and Packard's Ultramatic automatic transmission available to American Motors for its 1955 Nash Ambassador and Hudson Hornet models. When Mason died in 1954, George W. Romney succeeded him. Ironically, Romney had once been offered Nance's job. In 1948, Romney received offers from Packard for the post of chief operating officer and from Nash for the number two position in the company. Although the Packard offer would have paid more, Romney decided to work under Mason because he thought Nash had a brighter future. Studebaker-Packard President James Nance refused to consider merging with American Motors unless he could take the top position (Mason and Nance were former competitors as heads of the Kelvinator and Hotpoint, respectively), and a week after Mason's death Romney announced, ""there are no mergers under way either directly or indirectly."" Romney agreed with Mason's commitment to buy S-P products. Mason and Nance had agreed that in return S-P would endeavor to purchase parts from American Motors, but S-P did not do so. As the Packard engines and transmissions were comparatively expensive, American Motors began development of its own V8. American Motors also spent US$40 million developing its Double Safe Single Unit monocoque, which debuted in the 1956 model year. In mid-1956, the Packard V8 and transmission were phased out and replaced by American Motors's new V8 and by GM Hydra-Matic and Borg-Warner transmissions.


title: American Motors Corporation

text: American Motors combined the Nash and Hudson product lines under a common manufacturing strategy in 1955, with the production of Nashes and Hudsons consolidated at the Nash plant in Kenosha. The Detroit Hudson plant was converted to military contract production and eventually sold. The separate Nash and Hudson dealer networks were retained. The Hudsons were redesigned to bring them in harmony with Nash's body styles.


title: American Motors Corporation

text: The fast-selling Nash Rambler model was sold as both a Nash and a Hudson in 1955 and 1956. These badge-engineered Ramblers, along with similar Metropolitans, were identical save for hubcaps, nameplates, and other minor trim details.


title: American Motors Corporation

text: The pre-existing full-size Nash product line was continued with the Nash Statesman restyled as the "new" Hudson Wasp and the Nash Ambassador restyled as the Hudson Hornet. Although the cars shared the same body shell, they were at least as different from one another as Chevrolet and Pontiac. Hudsons and Nashes each used their own engines as they had previously: the Hudson Hornet continued to offer the I6 that had powered the (NASCAR) champion during the early 1950s; the Wasp now used the former engine of the Hudson Jet.


title: American Motors Corporation

text: The Nash Ambassador and Statesman continued with overhead- valve and L-head sixes respectively. Hudson and Nash cars had different front suspensions. Trunk lids were interchangeable but other body panels, rear window glass, dash panels, and braking systems were different. The Hudson Hornet and Wasp, and their Nash counterparts, had improved ride and visibility; also better fuel economy owing to the lighter unitized Nash body.


title: American Motors Corporation

text: The larger Nash and Hudson range did not sell well and AMC lost money each year. Dismayed with the results Romney decided in 1956 that the future of the company lay with the compact Rambler line. Romney halted production on the new large cars and focused entirely on the new Rambler Six and V8 introducing them in 1956, despite being scheduled for a 1957 release. Sales of the new Ramblers were poor and sales of the Hudson and Nash models almost non-existent, resulting in a $31.7 million operating loss for 1956. Sales improved in 1957 but the year still saw an $11.8 million loss for the company. In response Romney launched a massive PR blitz, traveling 70,000 miles nationwide in 12 months. Romney spoke at union halls, dinners, churches, fairgrounds, as well as radio and TV stations, and anywhere where he could get the word out about Rambler. Rambler sales took off in 1958, up by 58.7% and 425 new dealers were signed up. 1958 became AMC's first year of profitability since its formation, to $28 million. The Nash and Hudson brands were dropped and Rambler became a marque in its own right and the mainstay of the company. The popular British-built Metropolitan subcompact continued as a standalone brand until it was discontinued in 1961. The prototype 1958 Nash Ambassador / Hudson Hornet, built on a stretched Rambler platform, was renamed at the last minute as "Ambassador by Rambler". To round out the model line American Motors reintroduced the old 1955, wheelbase Nash Rambler as the new Rambler American with only a few modifications. This gave Rambler a compact lineup that included the wheelbase American, wheelbase Rambler Six and Rebel V8, as well as the wheelbase Ambassador.


title: American Motors Corporation

text: Sales of Ramblers soared in the late 1950s in part because of American Motors' focus on the compact car and its marketing efforts. These included sponsoring the hugely popular Walt Disney anthology television series and as an exhibitor at the Disneyland theme park in Anaheim, California. George Romney himself pitched the Rambler product in the television commercials.


title: American Motors Corporation

text: While the "Big Three" introduced ever-larger cars, American Motors followed a "dinosaur-fighter" strategy. George W. Romney's leadership focused the company on the compact car, a fuel-efficient vehicle 20 years before there was a real need for them. This gave Romney a high profile in the media. Two core strategic factors came into play: (1) the use of shared components in American Motors products and (2) a refusal to participate in the Big Three's restyling race. This cost-control policy helped Rambler develop a reputation for building solid economy cars. Company officials were confident in the changing market and in 1959 announced a $10 million (US$ in 2016 dollars) expansion of its Kenosha complex (to increase annual straight-time capacity from 300,000 to 440,000 cars). A letter to shareholders in 1959 claimed that the introduction of new compact cars by American Motors's large domestic competitors (for the 1960 model year) "signals the end of big-car domination in the U.S." and that American Motors predicts small-car sales in the U.S. may reach 3 million units by 1963.


title: American Motors Corporation

text: American Motors was also beginning to experiment in non-gasoline powered automobiles. On April 1, 1959, American Motors and Sonotone Corporation announced a joint research effort to consider producing an electric car that was to be powered by a "self-charging" battery. Sonotone had the technology for making sintered plate nickel–cadmium batteries that can be recharged very rapidly and are lighter than a typical automobile lead–acid battery.


title: American Motors Corporation

text: In 1959, American Motors hired designer Dick Teague, who had previously worked for General Motors, Packard, and Chrysler; after Edmund E. Anderson left the company in 1961, Teague was named principal designer and in 1964, Vice President.


title: American Motors Corporation

text: In an effort to stay competitive, American Motors produced a wide range of products during the 1960s and added innovations long before the "Big Three" introduced them.


title: American Motors Corporation

text: For example, the Rambler Classic was equipped with a standard tandem master cylinder in 1962 that provided stopping ability even if there was a failure in the brake system. Only Cadillac also included this safety feature six years before U.S. safety regulations required it on all cars.


title: American Motors Corporation

text: Rambler also was an early pioneer in offering an automatic shift indicator sequence (P R N D2 D1 L, where if one selected "D2", the car started in second gear, while "1" started in first gear) on its "Flash-O-Matic" transmission which is similar to today's "PRNDSL" shift pattern, made mandatory for the 1968 model year cars, which required a neutral position between reverse and drive, while General Motors still offered a shift selector that had reverse immediately next to low gear (PNDSLR) well into the 1960s.


title: American Motors Corporation

text: Unique in the domestic automotive industry, American Motors offered adjustable front seat backrests from their Nash-origin, and in 1964, the Classic and Ambassador were equipped with standard dual reclining front seats nearly a decade before the Big Three offered them as options. Bendix disc brakes were made standard on the Marlin and optional on other models in 1965. This made the Marlin one of the first modern American cars with standard disc brakes, while the Big Three did not offer them until the early 1970s on most of their models to meet Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards.


title: American Motors Corporation

text: In the early part of the decade, sales were strong, thanks in no small part to the company's history of building small cars, which came into vogue in 1961. In both 1960 and 1961, Ramblers ranked in third place among domestic automobile sales, up from third on the strength of small-car sales, even in the face of a lot of new competition. Romney's strategic focus was very successful as reflected in the firm's healthy profits year after year. The company became completely debt-free. The financial success allowed the company to reach an agreement on August 26, 1961, with the United Auto Workers for a profit sharing plan that was new in the automobile industry. Its new three-year labor contract also included generous annual improvement pay increases, as well as automatic cost-of-living raises. However, in 1962, Romney resigned to run for Governor of Michigan. His replacement was Roy Abernethy, American Motors's successful sales executive.


title: American Motors Corporation

text: By 1964, Studebaker production in the United States had ended, and its Canadian operations ceased in 1966. The "Big Three", plus the smaller American Motors, Kaiser Jeep, International Harvester, Avanti, and Checker companies were the remaining North American auto manufacturers.


title: American Motors Corporation

text: Abernethy believed that American Motors's reputation of building reliable economical cars could be translated into a new strategy that could follow AMC buyers as they traded up into larger, more expensive vehicles. American Motors, in reality, had produced large cars throughout most of its history, The Rambler Ambassadors were every bit as large as a full-sized Ford or Chevy. There was only an absence of largest sized cars from the American Motors lineup in 1963 and 1964 The first cars bearing his signature were the 1965 models. The 1965 models were a major makeover of the new platform that had just been introduced in 1963. These were a longer Ambassador series and new convertibles for the larger models. During mid-year a fastback, called the Marlin, was added. It competed directly with cars like the Dodge Charger, but AMC's "family-sized" fastback emphasized personal-luxury.


title: American Motors Corporation

text: The continuing quest "in the business world's toughest race – the grinding contest against the Big Three automobile makers" also meant annual styling changes requiring large expenditures. American Motors's management total confidence "that the new 1965 models would stem a bother some decline" actually began falling behind in share of sales.


title: American Motors Corporation

text: Moreover, a new line of redesigned cars in the full and mid-sized markets was launched in the fall of 1966. The cars won acclaim for their fluid styling, and Abernethy's ideas did work as Ambassador sales increased significantly. The dated designs of the Rambler Americans, however, hurt its sales which offset gains from Ambassador sales. There were quality control problems with the introduction of the new full-sized cars, as well as persistent rumors of the company's demise because of their precarious cash flow. Consumer Reports' negative ratings for American Motors' safety did not help.


title: American Motors Corporation

text: During this time, AMC's international sales were expanding. From only 18,000 cars five years ago, the 1965 model year AMC sold 74,420 cars in Canada, Europe, and Latin America. AMC remained the biggest U.S. seller of autos in both France and Germany.


title: American Motors Corporation

text: Abernethy also called for the de-emphasis of the Rambler brand, because he believed the public associated it too strongly with economy cars, and that it was hindering the sale of American Motors' other models at a time when mid and luxury car sales were very strong. As a result, he ordered that for 1966, the Ambassador and Marlin were to be badged purely as a product of American Motors. The strategy shift at first seemed to be working because sales of the redesigned 1965 and 1966 Ambassadors improved, even as AMC's overall production decreased from the record level achieved in 1963. However, corporate earnings per share were a meager 27 cents per share, the lowest since AMC made its famous compact car comeback in 1958. Investors received a message of the changing fortune of the automaker when the company's 1966 annual financial report was delivered in a plain brown wrapper, instead of the previous year's glossy cover.


title: American Motors Corporation

text: A completely new design was also slated for the larger 1967 models. This strategy added $60 million in retooling costs, which was a major stretch for the company. The new models shared fewer parts with each other and were more expensive to build. Abernethy continued his objective to position the new Rebel and Ambassador designs on an equal basis with competitive economy models marketed by the Big Three.


title: American Motors Corporation

text: American Motors did not have their own electric car program as did the Big Three, and after some negotiation, a contract was drawn in 1967 with Gulton Industries to develop a new battery based on lithium and a speed controller designed by Victor Wouk. A nickel-cadmium battery powered 1969 Rambler station wagon demonstrated the power systems that according to the scientist was a "wonderful car". This was also the start of other "plug-in"-type experimental American Motors vehicles developed with Gulton – the Amitron city concept car and later the similar Electron.


title: American Motors Corporation

text: Although the new models were well-received by the Motor industry media the last quarter sales for AMC ended September 30, 1966 (AMC was not on a calendar fiscal year) were disappointing. The company recorded a balance sheet loss of $12,648,000 for the year before Tax Credits and deferred Tax Assets. By this time the Board had lost confidence in Abernethy due to his huge spending which had unstabilized the company and each year under his leadership the company had suffered huge financial losses. As a result, Abernethy was forced into taking an "early retirement" from American Motors on January 9, 1967. Abernethy was replaced by Roy D. Chapin Jr. (son of Hudson Motors founder Roy D. Chapin). Chapin quickly instituted changes to American Motors's offerings and tried to regain market share by focusing on younger demographic markets. Chapin's first decision was to cut the price of the Rambler to within US$200 of the basic Volkswagen Beetle. Innovative marketing ideas included making air conditioning standard on all 1968 Ambassador models (available as a delete option). This made American Motors the first U.S. automaker to make air conditioning standard equipment on a line of cars, preceding even luxury makes such as Lincoln, Imperial, and Cadillac.


title: American Motors Corporation

text: The company introduced exciting entries for the decade's muscle car boom, most notably the AMX, while the Javelin served as the company's entrant into the sporty "pony car" market created by the Ford Mustang. Additional operating cash was derived in 1968 through the sale of Kelvinator Appliance, once one of the firm's core operating units. The Kelvinator divestiture left American Motors a downsized company solely manufacturing automobiles.


title: American Motors Corporation

text: The Rambler marque was discontinued in 1968 leaving only the Rambler American as the last product to bear the name, until 1969. The Rambler brand continued to be used only for export markets with Mexico being the last market to use it in 1983. From 1970, American Motors was the brand used for all American Motors passenger cars; and all vehicles from that date bore the American Motors name and the new corporate logo. However, the names "American Motors" and "AMC" were used interchangeably in corporate literature well into the 1980s. The branding issue was further complicated when the company's Eagle all-wheel drive passenger cars were marketed as the American Eagle in the 1980s.


title: American Motors Corporation

text: In the late 1960s Kaiser Jeep Corporation (formerly Willys-Overland) decided to leave the automotive industry and sought a buyer for its money-losing Jeep division. American Motors's vice president for manufacturing, Gerald C. Meyers headed the team sent to evaluate Kaiser's Jeep factories. Although opposed by AMC's top management, Chapin made a major decision in February 1970 to purchase Kaiser's Jeep operations for $70 million. Although it was a gamble Chapin believed that Jeep vehicles would complement American Motors's passenger car business. The Jeep market was also a market in which the Big Three had no presence, and therefore there was no competition. American Motors gained the iconic Jeep brand of light trucks and SUVs, as well as Kaiser-Jeep's government contracts – notably the M151 line of military Jeeps and the DJ-Series postal Jeeps. American Motors also expanded its international network. The military and special products business was reconstituted as American Motors General Products Division, later reorganized as AM General.


title: American Motors Corporation

text: In 1970, American Motors consolidated all passenger cars under one distinct brand identity and debuted the Hornet range of compact cars. The Hornet and the later Gremlin shared platforms. The Gremlin, the first North American-built subcompact, sold more than 670,000 units from 1970 through 1978. The Hornet became American Motors' best-selling passenger car since the Rambler Classic, with more than 860,000 units sold by the time production ended in 1977. The Hornet platform continued to be built under a variety of models through 1987.


title: American Motors Corporation

text: The new facelifted, mid-sized AMC Matador replaced the Rebel in 1971, using an advertising campaign that asked, "What's a Matador?" In 1972, American Motors won the tender for Los Angeles Police Department cruisers, and Matadors were used by the department from 1972 until 1975, replacing the Plymouth Satellite. American Motors supplied Mark VII Limited owner Jack Webb with two Matadors, a sedan and a wagon, for use in his popular television series "Adam-12", increasing the cars' public profile. Matadors saw fleet use as taxis, government, as well as police, and fire vehicles in some states.


title: American Motors Corporation

text: In 1973, American Motors signed a licensing agreement with Curtiss-Wright to build Wankel engines for cars and Jeeps.


title: American Motors Corporation

text: Starting in 1974, the Matador sedan and station wagon were mildly refreshed, with new boxier front and rear ends, making it full-sized. This second generation model was made virtually unchanged until 1978.


title: American Motors Corporation

text: From 1970 the Rebel and Ambassador were identical from the A-pillar back. The Ambassador continued as American Motors' upmarket model with more choices of creature comforts and with air conditioning as standard. From the A-pillar forward the Ambassador was redesigned and stretched to become the biggest ever, just as the 1973 Arab Oil Embargo sparked gasoline rationing across the nation. The additional length was due to a new front end design and stronger energy-absorbing bumpers required of all automobiles sold in the U.S. Sales of all large cars fell due to economic problems and rising gasoline prices. The Ambassador became a full-sized car in 1974 and was discontinued after the 1974 model year, leaving only the Matador as American Motors's full-size offering. Nash and American Motors made Ambassadors from 1927 through 1974, the longest use of the same model name for any American Motors product and, at the time, the longest continuously used nameplate in the industry.


title: American Motors Corporation

text: In 1974, the first-generation Matador two-door hardtop, known as the "flying brick" due to its poor aerodynamics in NASCAR competition, was replaced at great cost with a sleek, smoothly shaped, and radically styled two-door coupe. The model received praise for its design, including "Best Styled Car of 1974" by "Car and Driver" magazine, customer satisfaction, and sold almost 100,000 coupes over a five-year period. The Matador Coupe shared few components with the Matador sedan and station wagon other than suspension, drive train, some trim, and interior parts.


title: American Motors Corporation

text: In 1974, American Motors's AM General subsidiary began building urban transit buses in cooperation with Flyer Industries of Winnipeg, Manitoba. A total of 5,431 "Metropolitan" buses, including 219 electric trolley buses, were built before production ceased in 1979. Production of diesel buses had ceased in 1978, with only trolley bus production taking place in 1979.


title: American Motors Corporation

text: The AMC Pacer, an innovative all-new model introduced in March 1975 and marketed as "the first wide small car", was a subcompact designed to provide the comfort of a full-sized car. Its pre-production development coincided with tightened U.S. Federal passenger emissions and auto safety regulations.


title: American Motors Corporation

text: With the Arab Oil Embargo of 1973, General Motors aborted the Wankel rotary engine around which the Pacer had been designed, as its fuel consumption exceeded that of conventional engines with similar power. Therefore, American Motors's existing AMC Straight-6 engines were used in the Pacer instead. The fuel economy was better than a rotary engine, but still relatively low in light of the new focus on energy efficiency. Also, as the Pacer shared few components other than drivetrain with other American Motors cars, it was expensive to make and the cost increased when sales fell steeply after the first two years.


title: American Motors Corporation

text: Development and production costs for the Pacer and Matador Coupe drained capital which might otherwise have been invested in updating the more popular Hornet and Gremlin lines so that toward the end of the 1970s the company faced the growing energy crisis with aged products that were uncompetitive in hotly contested markets. However, "AMC used cars, as far back as 1967, had the advantage of good warranty coverage … so most owners were conscious of low-cost car maintenance … AMC units [became] some of the very best buys on the used car market" by 1975.


title: American Motors Corporation

text: The 1977 Gremlin had redesigned headlights, grille, rear hatch, and fascia. For economy in the fuel crisis, American Motors offered the car with a more fuel-efficient Volkswagen-designed Audi 4-cylinder engine . The engine was expensive for American Motors to build and the Gremlin retained the less costly but also less economical as standard equipment.


title: American Motors Corporation

text: The AMX nameplate was revived in 1977. It was a sporty appearance package on the Hornet hatchback featuring upgrades, as well as the inline six as standard with a choice of three-speed automatic or four-speed manual transmissions. The V8 engine was optional with the automatic transmission.


title: American Motors Corporation

text: As all Matadors now received standard equipment that was formerly optional (e.g. power steering, automatic transmission), the "Brougham" package was dropped. Optional on the Matador coupe was a landau vinyl roof with opera windows, and top-line Barcelonas offered new two-tone paint.


title: American Motors Corporation

text: For 1978, the Hornet platform was redesigned with an adaptation of the new Gremlin front-end design and renamed AMC Concord. American Motors targeted it at the emerging "premium compact" market segment, paying particular attention to ride and handling, standard equipment, trim, and interior luxury.


title: American Motors Corporation

text: Gremlins borrowed the Concord instrument panel, as well as a Hornet AMX-inspired GT sports appearance package and a new striping treatment for X models.


title: American Motors Corporation

text: The AMC Pacer hood was modified to clear a V8 engine, and a Sports package replaced the former X package. With falling sales of Matador Coupes, sedans and wagons, their V8 engine was dropped, leaving only the Inline-6 (standard on coupes and sedans) and the V8 (optional on coupes and sedans, standard on wagons). The two-tone Barcelona luxury package was offered on Matador sedans, and two-tone red paint was introduced as an additional Barcelona option. Matador production ceased at the end of the model year with total sales of 10,576 units. The Matador was no longer attractive as automakers struggled to overcome economic woes including continuing fuel price increases and double-digit domestic inflation.


title: American Motors Corporation

text: In 1979, the Spirit sedan replaced the Gremlin. A new fastback version of the car, the Spirit Liftback, proved successful.


title: American Motors Corporation

text: In December, Pacer production ceased after a small run of 1980 models was built to use up parts stock.


title: American Motors Corporation

text: Concords received a new front-end treatment, and in their final season, hatchbacks became available in DL trim. On May 1, 1979, American Motors marked the 25th anniversary of the Nash-Hudson merger with "Silver Anniversary" editions of the AMC Concord and Jeep CJ in two-tone silver (Jeeps then accounted for around 50 percent of the company's sales and most of their profits); and introduced LeCar, a U.S. version of the small, fuel-efficient Renault 5, in dealer showrooms.


title: American Motors Corporation

text: In February 1977, "Time" magazine reported that although American Motors had lost $73.8 million in the previous two fiscal years, U.S. banks had agreed to a year's extension for a $72.5 million credit that had expired in January; that stockholders had received no dividends since 1974; and that Pacer sales did not match expectations. However, Time noted record Jeep sales and a backlog of orders for AM General's buses.


title: American Motors Corporation

text: In July 1977 it was announced that the General Services Administration of the Federal U.S government had awarded AMC a three year contract worth $15 miIlion dollars to lease 5,838 cars. Since the beginning of the fiscal year on October 1, 1976, the GSA had purchased 8,700 cars from AMC for $30-million.


title: American Motors Corporation

text: On March 31, 1978, American Motors and Renault announced a sweeping agreement for the joint manufacture and distribution of cars and trucks that would achieve benefits for both. A month later, American Motors announced that it would halt the production of standard urban transit buses after about 4,300 were sold by its AM General subsidiary over a period of three years. In May 1978, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ordered the recall of all American Motors's 1976 cars (except those conforming to California emissions regulations) – some 270,000 vehicles— plus 40,000 1975 and 1976 Jeeps and mini trucks, for correction of a fault in the pollution control system. Total cost was estimated at up to $3 million—more than AMC had earned the previous quarter.


title: American Motors Corporation

text: American Motors lost an estimated $65 million on its conventional (non-Jeep) cars for the fiscal year ended September 30, 1978, but strong Jeep sales helped the company to an overall $36.7 million profit on sales of $2.6 billion. However, American Motors faced costly engineering work to bring their Jeeps into compliance with a federal directive for all 4-wheel-drive vehicles to average by 1981.


title: American Motors Corporation

text: A year later, with its share of the American market at 1.83%, the company struck a deal with Renault, the nationally owned French automaker. American Motors would receive a $150 million cash injection, $50 million in credits, and also the rights to start building the Renault 5 in 1982. (A deal for Renault products to be sold through the American Motors-Jeep dealer network had already been made in 1979). In return, Renault acquired a 22.5% interest in American Motors. This was not the first time the two companies had worked together. Lacking its own prestige model line in the early 1960s, Renault assembled CKD kits and marketed Rambler cars in France.


title: American Motors Corporation

text: In 1979, American Motors announced a record $83.9 million profit on sales of $3.1 billion (US$ in dollars) for the fiscal year ending in September—this despite an economic downturn, soaring energy prices, rising American unemployment, automobile plants shutting down, and an American market trend towards imported cars.


title: American Motors Corporation

text: In 1980, all American Motors cars received a new rust-proofing process called Ziebart Factory Rust Protection. This included aluminized trim screws, plastic inner fender liners, galvanized steel in every exterior body panel, and a deep-dip (up to the window line) bath in epoxy-based primer. American Motors backed up the rust protection program with a 5-year "No Rust Thru" component to its comprehensive "Buyer Protection Plan".


title: American Motors Corporation

text: A drop in Jeep sales caused by the declining economy and soaring energy prices began to constrict American Motors' cash flow. At the same time, pressure increased on the company's non-Jeep product lines. The face-lifts and rebranding of American Motors's once-innovative and successful cars were not enough in a competitive landscape that had changed dramatically. No longer was the threat limited to the Big Three automakers (General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler). The Japanese manufacturers (Honda, Toyota, Nissan) used streamlined production methods such as outsourcing and Just In Time (JIT) supply-chain management. They had new, highly efficient assembly plants in the United States. And now they targeted the heart of American Motors's passenger product line: small cars.


title: American Motors Corporation

text: While Americans turned to the new imports in increasing numbers, American Motors continued its struggle at the inefficient and aging Kenosha, Wisconsin, facilities—the oldest continuously operating automobile plant in the world, where components and unfinished bodies still had to be transported across the city.


title: American Motors Corporation

text: In early 1980, the banks refused American Motors further credit. Lacking both capital and resources for the new, truly modern products it needed to offer, the company turned to Renault for a $90 million loan (US$ in dollars). By September that year, American Motors's U.S. market share had fallen to 1.7%, and in November sales dropped 19.1%. American Motors warned stockholders that the company could be bankrupted if they did not approve a plan for Renault to acquire as much as 59% of the company. On December 16, 1980, American Motors shareholders "overwhelmingly approved making the French Government-owned Renault" their company's principal owner. Jean-Marc Lepeu, former corporate treasurer at Renault, became vice president for finance at American Motors. In September 1981, Jose Dedeurwaerder, a Renault veterans of 23 years, mainly in manufacturing, became American Motors's executive vice president for manufacturing.


title: American Motors Corporation

text: In January 1982 the company's former president W. Paul Tippett Jr. replaced Gerald C. Meyers as chairman and CEO, and Dedeurwaerder moved up to be president. By this time Renault owned 46% of American Motors. Dedeurwaerder brought a broad perspective at this critical time: he is credited with streamlining many of American Motors' arcane management techniques. He also instituted important improvements in plant layouts, as well as in cost and quality control.


title: American Motors Corporation

text: Renault, having increased its stake in the company several times to keep it solvent, eventually owned 49% in 1983. This development is viewed by some as ending American Motors' run as a truly American car company.


title: American Motors Corporation

text: New ownership and new management heralded a new product venture for American Motors: a line of modern front-wheel drive cars, designed by Renault, to be produced at Kenosha.


title: American Motors Corporation

text: In August 1979, for the 1980 model year, American Motors introduced four-wheel-drive versions of the Spirit and Concord, calling the collective line the AMC Eagle. Eagles rapidly became one of the company's best-known products and are considered one of the first "crossover SUVs". Eagles used the 2-wheel drive body shells mounted on an all-new platform developed by American Motors in the late 1970s. Featuring an innovative full-time four-wheel-drive system, it sold best in snow-prone areas. Sales started strongly but declined over time. While the two-wheel drive Spirit and Concord were both discontinued after 1983 as the company concentrated on its new Renault Alliance, the Eagle survived for five years longer, albeit only in station wagon form, into the 1988 model year. This meant the four-wheel-drive Eagle was the lone representative of the American Motors brand from 1984 until the 1988 model year. All the company's remaining output was branded Renault or Jeep. The last AMC Eagle was built on December 14, 1987.


title: American Motors Corporation

text: The Renault Alliance was the first joint product of the American Motors-Renault partnership. Introduced in 1983, the Alliance was a front-wheel-drive Renault 9 compact car slightly restyled for the American market by Dick Teague, mostly to comply with American safety standards, and produced by American Motors at Kenosha. The car was badged as a Renault and some cars also carried American Motors badges. It was available as a sedan with two or four doors and later as a convertible. The hatchback, introduced in 1984 and badged as the Renault Encore, was basically the same as the European Renault 11 model. For the final 1987 model year, a higher-performance version of the Alliance 2 door sedan and the convertible was sold as the Renault GTA. This version had a Renault two-liter engine that was exclusive to it and not shared with the European Renault 9 and 11 models.


title: American Motors Corporation

text: The new model, introduced at a time of increased interest in small cars, won several awards including Motor Trend Car of the Year. "Motor Trend" declared: "The Alliance may well be the best-assembled first-year car we’ve ever seen. Way to go Renault!" The Alliance was listed as number one on "Car and Driver's" list of Ten Best cars for 1983. The positive reception and sales of 200,000 Alliances by 1984 was hindered by the availability of only two body styles. The Alliance was a European-designed car and not fully suited to U.S. market demands. The distribution network was also not well supported, which led to the lower quality delivered by dealerships with "disastrous consequences" for the image of the automobiles, as well as high warranty costs because of quality failings which greatly impacted sales from 1985 to the end of production in 1987.


title: American Motors Corporation

text: The Encore models were renamed Alliance Hatchback in 1987. Alliance and GTA production ended in June of that year while the Renault 9 and 11 models continued through the 1988 model year in Europe, being replaced by the all-new Renault 19.


title: American Motors Corporation

text: More beneficial to American Motors' future was the introduction of an all-new line of compact Jeep Cherokee and Wagoneer models in the autumn of 1983 for the 1984 model year. Renault's Francois Castaing, head of AMC's product development team, designed the new Jeep platform with styling by Dick Teague. Renault was interested in selling the Cherokee in Europe but to meet European expectations the vehicle needed to be lighter and more fuel-efficient. The new XJ was only 3,100 lbs, helped by its unibody construction and lighter seats taken from the Renault 9 and 11 and new Renault Alliance.


title: American Motors Corporation

text: "The new XJ Jeep ... was 1,200 pounds lighter, 31 inches shorter, six inches narrower and four inches lower than the Cherokee SJ it replaced, and yet — thanks to unibody construction — the XJ kept 90 percent of its predecessor's interior volume." And, not only was fuel economy much improved, but "articulation is also better, as is ground clearance, as well as approach, departure and breakover angles. These, along with its smaller profile, make the XJ better both off-road and on."


title: American Motors Corporation

text: AMC's initial forecasts of 40,000 Cherokee and Wagoneer sales were shattered with sales amounting to 75,000 in their first year. The three leading Off-roading magazines, "Petersen's 4-Wheel & Off-Road", "Four Wheeler", and "Off-Road" each named the new Jeep Cherokee as the "4x4 of the year." The popularity of these downsized Jeeps pioneered a new market segment for what later became defined as the sport utility vehicle (SUV). They initially used the American Motors 150 C.I.D. () OHV four-cylinder engine with a carburetor, and a General Motors-built carbureted V6 was optional. In 1986, throttle-body injection replaced the carburetor on the 2.5 L I4 engines. A Renault Turbo-Diesel I4 diesel was also offered. Starting with the 1987 models, a I6 engine, derived from the older I6 with a new head design and an electronic fuel injection system, replaced the outsourced V6. American Motors' "new" engine was designed with help from Renault and incorporated Renault-Bendix (Renix) parts for fuel and ignition management. The 4.0 developed an outstanding reputation for reliability and toughness. Retained by Chrysler after the buyout, the design continued to be improved and refined until its discontinuation at the end of the 2006 model year. The 4.0 engine saw extensive application in XJ Cherokees and Wagoneers, Grand Cherokees, and Wranglers, and many of those engines saw (or are seeing) extremely long lives, quite a few exceeding . The XJ Cherokee itself was built by Chrysler until the end of the 2001 model year in the U.S. and until 2005 in China.


title: American Motors Corporation

text: Three other designs continued to be used after the Chrysler buyout: the Grand Wagoneer full-size luxury SUV, the full-sized J-series pickups, built on the same chassis as the earlier SJ model Wagoneers and Cherokees that dated from 1963 with the AMC V8, and the Jeep Comanche (MJ) compact pickup, which debuted in 1986. Unlike most sport-utility vehicles that are based on adapted pickup truck designs, the Cherokee XJ SUV came first and the Comanche was designed as a later pickup truck version.


title: American Motors Corporation

text: Production of the full-sized pickups ceased after 1987. The Grand Wagoneer and 360 V8 engine were dropped after 1991 (the last American-made vehicle whose engine used a carburetor for fuel delivery), and the Comanche bowed after 1992.


title: American Motors Corporation

text: There were significant changes in 1985 as the market moved away from American Motors' small models. With fuel relatively cheap again, buyers turned to larger more powerful automobiles and American Motors was unprepared for this development. Even the venerable Jeep CJ-5 was dropped after a "60 Minutes" TV news magazine staged exposé of rollover tendencies under extreme conditions. American Motors also confronted an angry workforce. Labor was taking revenge, and reports circulated about sabotage of vehicles on the assembly lines because of the failure to receive promised wage increases. There were rumors that the aging Kenosha plant was to be shut down. At the same time, Chrysler was having trouble meeting the demand for its M-body rear-drive models (Dodge Diplomat, Plymouth Gran Fury and Chrysler Fifth Avenue). Because they were assembled using the old "gate and buck system" and the tooling could be easily moved, Chrysler could supply the components and control the quality, while American Motors assembled the car. Therefore, Lee Iacocca and Joe Cappy reached an agreement to use some of American Motors' idle plant capacity in Kenosha.


title: American Motors Corporation

text: At the beginning of 1985 Renault's chairman in France, Bernard Hanon, was fired in a shake-up triggered by huge losses. Renault had lost its number one position in Europe, a position it had held from 1980 until 1983. The company had been losing money since 1981 and had fallen to sixth place, behind Ford, Fiat, Volkswagen, Peugeot, and General Motors. Strikes plagued Renault at the end of 1984 and the French government introduced price controls that severely cut the profit margins on cars sold in France, Renault's most important market. In addition to Renault's domestic losses, the company had already invested $545 million in AMC. Hanon was replaced by Georges Besse, ex-president of Produits Chimiques Ugine Kuhlmann in France.


title: American Motors Corporation

text: In April 1985 AMC Chairman W. Paul Tippett resigned to become president of a textile company. In December 1985 Jose J. Dedeurwaerder, who had been president since 1982 and CEO since September 1984, became chairman of the executive committee while continuing as president and chief executive officer. Joe Cappy was moved up from executive vice president to chief operating officer and Tippet's position was filled by an ex-Renault vice president, Pierre Semerena.


title: American Motors Corporation

text: Semerena made his managerial reputation as a no-nonsense cost cutter. The new management responded with tactical moves by selling the lawn care Wheel Horse Products Division and signing an agreement to build Jeeps in the People's Republic of China. The Pentagon had problems with AM General, a significant defense contractor, being managed by a partially French-government-owned firm. The U.S. government would not allow a foreign government to own a significant portion of an important defense supplier. As a result, the profitable AM General Division was sold. Another milestone was the departure of Dick Teague; American Motors' design vice president for 26 years, he was responsible for many Jeep and AMC designs including the Rambler American, Javelin, Hornet, Gremlin, Pacer, and Matador coupe.


title: American Motors Corporation

text: In France, Renault continued to experience financial trouble. The investment in American Motors (including the construction of a new Canadian assembly plant in Brampton, Ontario) forced cuts at home, resulting in the closure of several French plants and mass layoffs. Renault was down to just three alternatives regarding its American holdings: (1) It could declare American Motors officially bankrupt, thereby losing its investment; (2) It could come up with more money, but Renault management perceived American Motors as a bottomless pit; or (3) American Motors could be put up for sale and the French company could get back part of its investment. At the same time, Renault's new chairman, Georges Besse, continued to champion the French firm's future in the North American market; pointing to the company's completion of the newest and most advanced automotive assembly plant in North America, then known as Bramalea Assembly, as well as the recent introduction of the thoroughly modern, fuel-injected 4.0 L and 2.5 L engines. In addition, Jeep vehicles were riding an unprecedented surge in demand. It seemed to Besse and others that American Motors was on course for profitability.


title: American Motors Corporation

text: However, on November 17, 1986, Besse, who had a high profile among French capitalists, was assassinated by a member of a French clandestine far-left extremist group, Action directe. AMC's plans to reinvigorate sales with higher-priced Renaults continued for a little longer, with the plan being a three-pronged lineup beginning with the mid-sized Medallion, the larger Premier above it, and the sporty Renault Alpine providing a halo car. The Medallion and the Premier both did go on sale, but the Alpine never made its planned mid-1987 rollout.


title: American Motors Corporation

text: Under pressure from Renault executives following Besse's death, Renault's new president, Raymond Levy, set out to repair employee relations and divest the company of its investment in American Motors. Renault owned 46.1% of American Motors' outstanding shares of stock. In 1986 American Motors had lost $91.3 million.


title: American Motors Corporation

text: The earlier agreement between Chrysler and American Motors in 1985, under which American Motors would produce M-body chassis rear-drive large cars for five years from mid-1986 through 1990, fed the rumor that Chrysler was about to buy AMC. According to the head of manufacturing for Chrysler at the time, Stephan Sharf, the existing relationship with American Motors producing a car for a competitor facilitated the negotiations.


title: American Motors Corporation

text: On March 9, 1987, Chrysler agreed to buy Renault's share in American Motors, plus all the remaining shares, for about $1.5 billion ($ in dollars).


title: American Motors Corporation

text: Chrysler made no secret that they were only interested in AMC for Jeep, AMC's new assembly plant in Canada, and AMC's network of 1,300 dealerships nationwide. Chrysler President, Lee A. Iacocca was quoted in the March 10, 1987 LA Times as saying:


title: American Motors Corporation

text: The sale came at a time when the automotive press was enthusiastic about the proposed 1988 lineup of Renault, Eagle, and Jeep vehicles, as well as reports that the financial outlook for the small automaker was improving. American Motors' quarterly results for all of 1987 were positive, Chrysler purchased American Motors at a time the company appeared to be in a very good financial position with its new product line.


title: American Motors Corporation

text: It was the Jeep brand that Chrysler CEO Lee Iacocca really wanted – in particular the ZJ Grand Cherokee, then under development by Jeep engineers, which ultimately proved highly profitable for Chrysler (the nameplate remains in production today). However, the buyout included other attractive deal sweeteners for Chrysler. Among them was the world-class, brand-new manufacturing plant in Bramalea, Ontario, which offered Iacocca an unprecedented opportunity to increase his company's production capacity at a fire-sale price. American Motors had designed and built the plant in anticipation of building the Renault 25-based Eagle Premier. Additional profitable acquisitions were the American Motors dealer network (the addition of which strengthened Chrysler's retail distribution – many American Motors dealers switched to selling Chrysler products); and American Motors' underrated organization and management talent – which Chrysler quickly assimilated (numerous leading Chrysler engineers and executives were ex-American Motors). American Motors was renamed Jeep Eagle Corporation (a Chrysler subsidiary) August 25, 1988, and was fully merged as of March 29, 1990.


title: American Motors Corporation

text: The 1954 merger of Nash-Kelvinator Corporation and Hudson Motor Car Company, and the establishment of American Motors was led by Nash-Kelvinator president George W. Mason to reap benefits from the strengths of the two firms to battle the much larger "Big Three" automakers (General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler). The merger was originally intended to be a three-way merger, with Packard being the number three. Mason had first discussed the possibility of a merger with Packard president James J. Nance in the late 1940s. Nance insisted that if Packard were to join, then he would have to be the CEO of the new company. Mason fully intended to lead the new company, thus the deal did not go through. Packard acquired Studebaker two months after Nash acquired Hudson.


title: American Motors Corporation

text: Mason became CEO and president of the new company and Hudson's president A.E. Barit retired to become an American Motors board member. Mason selected long-time Nash associate and future governor of Michigan, George W. Romney, as vice president. Roy Abernethy, ex-vice president of sales for Willys, was hired to be vice president of sales.


title: American Motors Corporation

text: Following Mason's sudden death on October 8, 1954, Romney took over, reorganizing the company and focusing American Motors's future on a new small car line. Mason's death also allowed Romney to put an end to any further discussions for a merger between American Motors and Studebaker-Packard.


title: American Motors Corporation

text: By the end of 1957, the legacy Nash and Hudson brands were completely phased out, replaced with the Rambler and Metropolitan brands. The company struggled at first, but under Romney, Rambler sales took off. A Rambler won the 1959 Mobil Economy Run, and by 1960, was the third-most-popular brand of automobile in the United States, behind Ford and Chevrolet.


title: American Motors Corporation

text: George Romney left American Motors in 1962 to run for governor in Michigan and was replaced as CEO by Roy Abernethy. After two model years (1963 and 1964) of only producing compact cars, Abernethy shifted the focus of American Motors back to larger and more profitable cars such as the Ambassador line from the perceived negative of the Rambler's economy car image. Ambassador sales jumped from 18,647 in 1964 to over 64,000 in 1965. In 1966, they went to more than 71,000. However, the huge costs of developing the new cars and engines meant American Motors now had problems in securing working capital to keep the company going. American Motors sales dropped 20% in the first half of 1966, and the firm reported a fiscal six-month loss of $4.2 million on sales of $479 million. Consequently, Robert B. Evans invested more than $2 million because American Motors's stock was selling for only 60% of the company's net worth; thus, he became its largest stockholder and was named its chairman on June 6, 1966, replacing Richard E. Cross, who continued as a director and chairman of the executive committee. In the quarter ending September 30, 1966, American Motors recorded a loss of $12,648,000 before tax credits and deferred tax assets. In the face of deteriorating financial and market positions, Abernethy "retired" as CEO in 1967, and Evans "resigned" as chairman.


title: American Motors Corporation

text: Abernethy was replaced by the son of Hudson co-founder Roy D. Chapin, Roy D. Chapin Jr. and Evans was replaced by William V. Luneberg. American Motors's public explanation for the removals was that the two had "stepped aside according to a plan to give a younger team an opportunity to move the company forward".


title: American Motors Corporation

text: Chapin took charge to revitalize the company, and designer Dick Teague economized by developing several vehicles from common stampings. While prices and costs were cut, new and more sporty automobiles were introduced, and from 1968, American Motors became known for the Javelin and AMX muscle cars.


title: American Motors Corporation

text: American Motors purchased Kaiser's Jeep utility-vehicle operations in 1970 to complement its existing passenger-car business. Beginning in the early 1970s, the company moved towards all-new compact car designs based on the Hornet, including the Hornet itself and the Gremlin. Other new models in the 1970s included the Matador and Pacer.