By the 1970s, having inherited various struggling car and commercial vehicle marques (and factories) from the
Rootes Group, notably the commercial concerns
Commer and
Karrier, in addition to various French concerns and
Barreiros (manufacturer) in Spain, Chrysler Europe were struggling to return a profit. In 1978, they pulled out of their European operations altogether, selling their car operations to
Peugeot. Peugeot had little interest in larger commercial vehicles and instead their factory in Dunstable was run in partnership with
Renault Véhicules Industriels, who had sought a UK production site for engines for their existing Renault-branded models. Chrysler's cars and small vans were subsequently sold by Peugeot under the
Talbot brand. Renault continued manufacturing the 50 Series, which after all was a new design, alongside the smaller Dodge (formerly
Commer) Spacevan and the larger
Dodge 100 / Commando 2 Series of trucks. Until 1984, the 50 Series was marketed as being produced by Karrier Motors Ltd, the transition to Renault branding being gradual, with some vehicles bearing both a Dodge name and a Renault diamond badge.
Renault 50 By 1987, the 50 Series had been updated and re-badged as the Renault 50 Series; the UK incarnation of the Dodge marque ceased to be used for new vehicles. (Chrysler maintained an entirely separate
Dodge brand in the U.S., and in 2006 began re-introducing Dodge car models from the USA into the UK market). Renault continued to manufacture the 50 Series until it closed the Dunstable factory in March 1993, but it was never a great sales success for them, being forced to compete with Renault's
Master van, which Renault favoured in its export markets. In 1994, Renault sold the production tooling to a Leamington Spa-based company, RDS Automotive, who intended to establish a light trucks project in China. ==See also==