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| transmission = | wheelbase = | length = | width = | height = | weight = }} The Renault Alliance is a subcompact automobile manufactured and marketed in North America by American Motors Corporation (AMC) for model years 1983–1987. It was available in two- and four-door sedan configurations, with a convertible added in 1985. The Alliance was also the basis of the three or five-door hatchback Renault Encore that was added in 1984. AMC also marketed a sports version called Renault GTA for 1987. A total of 623,573 vehicles were manufactured in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Production was discontinued after the acquisition of AMC by Chrysler in 1987. The Alliance and Encore derived from AMC's partnership since 1979 with Renault, which held controlling stake in the smallest U.S. automaker. The Alliance and Encore were essentially the Renault 9 & 11 re-engineered for the U.S. and Canadian markets. The cars featured exterior styling by Robert Opron, director of Renault Styling. The interior design was by AMC's Richard Teague, with both the Alliance two-door sedan and the convertible body styles were unique models developed by AMC. == History == Competition from the "Big Three," the rise of Asian import automobiles, new safety regulations, the 1973 oil crisis, and 1979 energy crisis left American Motors in a weak position in the U.S. marketplace. The company had three product lines: a profitable line of government vehicles, Jeeps, and passenger cars. However, sales dropped suddenly in 1979 with a declining economy meaning all four of the U.S. automakers saw their sales plummet, but this decline was dangerous to AMC's survival with only 2% share of the U.S. passenger car market.〔 Banks refused to provide AMC further credit to develop new products for the changing marketplace, so AMC turned to Renault for a $90 million loan. As the U.S. economy entered the early 1980s recession, AMC signed an agreement with Renault giving a share in AMC's ownership in exchange for the rights to sell Renault cars in the U.S. During the time when Chrysler received US$1.5 billion in loan guarantees when Congress passed the "Chrysler Corporation Loan Guarantee Act of 1979",〔Chrysler Corporation Loan Guarantee Act of 1979 Public Law 96-185, 96th Congress, 7 January 1980.〕 AMC was not considered by lawmakers to be "too big to fail" and thus the smallest U.S. automaker sought assistance from the French government-owned company. By the end of 1980, Renault held a controlling interest of AMC. Some called it "Franco-American Motors," a pun on the French-American combination and the Franco-American food company. With the United States dollar then relatively weak against the French franc, manufacturing in the U.S. seemed the best way to grow especially since fuel prices were rising and the major U.S. carmakers had yet to bring out large numbers of small, fuel-efficient cars.〔 Renault's objective was to build its newer models at AMC's existing manufacturing plants, thus avoiding the problems Volkswagen encountered with its "Rabbit" version of the Mk1 Golf assembled in its new factory in Westmoreland, Pennsylvania. The two automakers worked closely as each design studio developed spin-offs of cars created by the other. Richard Teague, AMC's Vice President of Design, and his French counterpart, Robert Opron, director of Renault Styling, each traveled between France and the U.S. at least three times a year.〔 Originally only a four-door sedan body style, Teague and AMC's design staff decided to mock-up a two-door coupe just before Opron was to review the work of the American team. Renault executives came in to run things alongside AMC officials, and the veritable factory in Kenosha, Wisconsin was retooled to produce an Americanized version of the European Renault 9 subcompact under the "Alliance" nameplate.〔 Consumer clinics were conducted between 1979 and 1982 using a fiberglass mockup (and later with actual cars) to evaluate various issues that concerned AMC officials. Market research indicated that consumers preferred the Renault name over AMC, though not strongly. The model was named the Renault Alliance, with the AMC logo only on a small sticker affixed on the inside of the rear window, as well as printed at the bottom or back of the advertising materials.〔 Production began in 1982, making Renault the second European automaker to build cars in the U.S. The cars were aimed at the lowest price range in the U.S. market, the Alliance had a sticker price starting at $5,995 (US$ in dollars).〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Renault Alliance」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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