Facing extreme foreign competition at home in the small econobox market, Chrysler used its European division to start selling cars in the five-door hatchback domestically. The Dodge Omni and its cousin, the Plymouth Horizon, were produced by Chrysler from 1978 to 1990.
This was Chrysler's first venture into front-wheel drive, and the main competitor during the gas shortage era, was the Volkswagen Rabbit. A funny thing happened on the way to the market though; Chrysler used a 75 horsepower VW engine, (with Chrysler heads), in their Omni and Horizon's (Chrysler had no four-cylinder engines in production), and even installed a four-speed manual transmission that Volkswagen also produced. A three-speed automatic option was a Chrysler product, though. So, it's fair to say that the Omni-Horizon's were, at least in a few ways, the American cousins of the VW Rabbit.
On February 2, 1990, after producing a total of 1,927,096 Omni-Horizon units, the assembly lines stopped as Chrysler moved on to their new K-Car design . The Omni-Horizon cars were bought by US buyers who wanted to save gas, buy American, (even though German VW engines and manual transmissions propelled them), and did not mind a MUCH smaller interior, a shorter, rough riding wheelbase, and minimal options to cut costs. Are the Omni-Horizon's beautiful? No, they are a utilitarian car to get from Point A to Point B with few frills, sip fuel, and be purchased new for a low price. But they did compete with the VW Rabbit and Honda Civic, opening up a segment of affordable automobiles for Chrysler, mostly known for large, V-8 cars that were luxurious.