Former car company revived after article penned (7)
I believe the answer is:
reliant
'former car company' is the definition.
'revived after article penned' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
'article' could be 'an' (indefinite article) and 'an' is found within the answer.
'revived' could be 'relit' and 'relit' is found within the remaining letters.
This accounts for all the letters.
This explanation may well be incorrect...
(Other definitions for reliant that I've seen before include "Trusting" , "Banking" , "Robin was one < in need of support" , "Lent air (anag.)" , "Depending (on) - a three-wheeled car" .)