The K-car platform was a key automotive design platform introduced by Chrysler Corporation for the 1981 model year, featuring a transverse engine, front-wheel drive, independent front and semi-independent rear suspension configuration—a stark departure from the company's previous reliance on solid axle, rear-drive unibody configurations during the 1970s. Derived from Chrysler's L-cars, the Plymouth Horizon and Dodge Omni, the platform was developed just as the company faltered in the market, at first underpinning a modest range of compact/mid-size sedans and wagons—and eventually underpinning nearly fifty different models, including all-wheel drive variants—and playing a vital role in the company's subsequent resurgence.
Common platforms
The use of a common platform is a widely used practice for reducing the number of parts and engineering time. Before creating the K platform, Chrysler was building vehicles on a small number of common platforms (e.g. F/L/J/M and R), but the different models shared few parts. In announcing his decision to develop the K platform, Chrysler CEO Lee Iacocca said the company's huge number of parts in inventory and the complexity of building many completely different versions of vehicles were reasons Chrysler was losing money. He directed the engineers to focus on making a larger number of common parts where they would not be visible to customers; this was already common practice in Japan and Germany and would help to make the K-cars profitable even at low prices.
Arriving on the brink of Chrysler's near-certain financial collapse, the new platform had a dramatic effect, helping Chrysler report a profit in October 1980 of $10 million ($ in ), its first profit in two years. Within two years, the K platform vehicles accounted for roughly half of Chrysler's operating profits.
They were initially very profitable, and Iacocca credited them with allowing the company to pay off its bankruptcy loans early.