The Eagle Summit joined the Dodge Colt and Plymouth Colt starting in 1989 as Chrysler wound down the production of the subcompact Plymouth Horizon and Dodge Omni twins. The introduction of the Summit coincided with the release of the Mitsubishi Mirage's third generation. The Eagle Summit was the subcompact automobile model in the product mix for Jeep-Eagle dealers. Previously this position was held by the Renault Alliance until Renault withdrew from the U.S. and Canadian markets in 1987. The Eagle Summit line lasted through the extent of the Mirage's fourth generation, which ended in 1996. The somewhat related Eagle Summit Wagon ran from 1992–1996 and was based on the Mitsubishi RVR. The Chrysler Neon was introduced in January 1994 and was marketed by Dodge and Plymouth dealers. Chrysler officials declared that no Eagle version of the Neon was planned leaving Eagle dealers with a competitor to the Neon, and combined with the Summit's Mitsubishi heritage made the line expendable.
The Summit was a badge engineered version of the Mitsubishi Mirage. In a pairing of the Japanese-built Mitsubishi Mirage and the identical Eagle Summit to test if Lee Iacocca's theory was true regarding the preference of a Japanese to an American brand on similar cars, Popular Mechanics found that American consumers were "not sold on Japanese cars. Quite the opposite. They want to "Buy American," but the Japanese manufacturers seem to offer more of the type of cars Americans need and at a better price, and from more cooperative dealers." Originally assembled in Japan, starting with the 1991 model year, the Eagle Summits were built by Diamond-Star Motors, a joint-venture between Chrysler and Mitsubishi, in Normal, Illinois.
The 1993 model year Summits were completely new and featured more room on the inside as well as weighing less than before. The Summit was now based the fourth generation Mitsubishi Mirage 'CC' chassis platform featuring a mutlilink rear suspension and the body was given a rounder shape. The hatchback body design was dropped in favor of a two-door coupe version, while a four-door sedan joined the Summit lineup. The Summit Wagon, a rebadged Mitsubishi RVR was a subcompact minivan, or mini-MPV.
