CHRYSLER’S QUARTERLY EARNINGS SKYROCKET

[moparstuart]

From the New York Times, April 27, 2012

CHRYSLER'S QUARTERLY EARNINGS SKYROCKET

U.S. Automaker earns $473 million,  more than all last year, thanks to 33 % sales bump.



    On Thursday Chrysler said it earned $473 million in the first quarter, exceeding its profit for all of the 2011 year in just three months of 2012 as its sales rose 33%.

   The profit, the largest in any quarter since the carmaker's 2009 bankruptcy, was more than quadruple that of the same period a year ago, when it earned $116 million.  Revenue increased 25% to $16.4 billion.

   "Another positive quarter – built on sales gains that have surpassed industry average is affirmation that the Chrysler team is maintaining its focus." Said Chrysler chief executive Sergio Marchionne.

   Chrysler's results caused Fiat's first quarter profit to more than triple, to $137 million from $38 million a year ago.  Fiat, which owns 58.5 % of Chrysler, lost $274 million in Europe as sales dropped amid that region's economic struggles, but it was profitable in all other regions. Fiat's woes in Europe mean it would be losing money without Chrysler, only a few years after Fiat kept Chrysler from going out of business.

   After being largely written off (again) by many industry observers, Chrysler has steadily improved its finances by overhauling its portion of its product lineup and using creative, high-profile advertising to attract new customers.  Its market share in the United States jumped 2 percentage points in the first quarter to 11.2%.  Sales at U.S. dealerships increased 39 %, with passenger car deliveries up 89 % versus an 11 % gain for the rest of the industry.  In Canada, Chrysler surged ahead of General Motors and Ford and became that country's top-selling carmaker for the first time.

   The average price that buyers are paying for Chrysler cars and trucks increased nearly $1,300, or 5 % in their first quarter from a year ago, according to the automotive research firm TrueCar.com.  Inventory figures also show that Chrysler vehicles have been spending fewer days on dealer lots before finding buyers.

[hemigeno]

In Canada, Chrysler surged ahead of General Motors and Ford and became that country's top-selling carmaker for the first time.

That's interesting

[41husk]

I guess it must be the mini vans and trucks.  As far the Challenger, I see 2-1 more Camaros and 3-1 more Mustangs on the road.     What is selling best for the new and improved Fopar label.  Does that include Fiat sales here and in Canada?

[Ponch ®]

I guess it must be the mini vans and trucks.  As far the Challenger, I see 2-1 more Camaros and 3-1 more Mustangs on the road.     What is selling best for the new and improved Fopar label.  Does that include Fiat sales here and in Canada?

300s, FIAT 500s, RAM trucks. And I see 2012 Chargers all over the place nowadays.

[Troy]

Holy cow! Oh wait, for the math challenged, that's 2.66% profit. That's the best in 13 years and the first time they've turned a profit since 2005... 

Ford took a 45% hit and still turned 4.32%.

On a related note...

The company paid back its loans to the American and Canadian governments a year ago, although taxpayers took a $1.3 billion loss in the bankruptcy reorganization.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/27/business/chrysler-reports-strong-results.html

But the UAW workers get a $1,725 bonus as part of the bankruptcy deal (and presumably since the union owns a minority of the company).

Best sellers were Grand Cherokee, Ram pickups, and Chrysler 200.

Troy

[41husk]

Wow! I would have thought the Caravan and town and country would be up there.  It seems like every other car I see is a Mopar minivan

[SG1022]

Wow! I would have thought the Caravan and town and country would be up there.  It seems like every other car I see is a Mopar minivan

Out of the 25-30 cars I service a day, 5 or so are vans. 4 are usually Odesseys. Here in Oregon, that is. It seems like every damn van is a Honda. 

[41husk]

Maybe I just notice the Mopars

[Scaregrabber]

Kind of sad Chrysler was milked to death by Mercedes and now Fiat is going to take their meat and leave bone bits behind as well. It just isn't right.

Sheldon

[Cooter]

Holy cow! Oh wait, for the math challenged, that's 2.66% profit. That's the best in 13 years and the first time they've turned a profit since 2005... 

Ford took a 45% hit and still turned 4.32%.

On a related note...

The company paid back its loans to the American and Canadian governments a year ago, although taxpayers took a $1.3 billion loss in the bankruptcy reorganization.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/27/business/chrysler-reports-strong-results.html

But the UAW workers get a $1,725 bonus as part of the bankruptcy deal (and presumably since the union owns a minority of the company).

Best sellers were Grand Cherokee, Ram pickups, and Chrysler 200.

Troy

Exactly! Not hard to turn a profit if you simply bankrupt the company every time it loses money. At least I ASSUME Ford didn't get in on the bailout deal?

[stripedelete]

And don't forget we crushed more than we sold for the last four years.

[J-440]

 Great they made a profit. Now can I have my bailout money back that I "donated" a few years ago? 

[aussiemuscle]

Exactly! Not hard to turn a profit if you simply bankrupt the company every time it loses money. At least I ASSUME Ford didn't get in on the bailout deal?

No, Ford restructured before the worst of the GFC, and was able to weather the storm without declaring bankruptcy protection, unlike GM and Anti-Chrysler.

[Ghoste]

"Anti-Chrysler", I like that. 

[Road Dog]

I guess it must be the mini vans and trucks.  As far the Challenger, I see 2-1 more Camaros and 3-1 more Mustangs on the road.     What is selling best for the new and improved Fopar label.  Does that include Fiat sales here and in Canada?

Only because production of Challengers is 3 times or more less than Camaro or Mustang.

[41husk]

Why is that If they are selling fast and thats a big if, why wouldn't they build more?

[Road Dog]

I don't know kinda the way it's always been. Back when our Chargers were made  they were cranking out Mustangs 3 and 4 times the amount.
I own an 11 R/T Challenger. They made 12,562 six cyl. , 8,552 R/T , and 5,265 SRT of that year.  I read somewhere Chrysler set out originally to produce only 30,000 total Challengers per year.

[41husk]

I looked up the figures for the 09 Challengers and was surprised to find that The R/T was produced in the largest #s followed by the SRT, then the SE.  I thought it was strange to have the base model be the most rare

[charger_fan_4ever]

IMO they are shooting themselves in the foot again like back in the musclecar era. Why only offer a handful of certain color challengers in only a certain year ? Purple and B5 were only available in 2010 models right ?

I would think if they lowered the sticker price and produced a few more cars it would make everyone happy.

I'd love a purple srt 8 challenger. When surfing the ads for srt 8's they are already being marketed as "rare" 1 of X number of cars. Come on they are new cars.

At 50k new I'm sure the srt 8 challenger is more expensive then the comparable new mustang/camaro.

I stand corrected only 939 SRT8 PCP challengers built.
http://www.plumcrazychallenger.com/


I don't get it.

[Ghoste]

Is it supposed to be a halo model though?  Maybe they are trying to keep the exclusive image of it alive by making it less available?  I don't know, just throwing it out there.

[moparstuart]

I'm A homer , just glad to see they are alive and well and still in buisness . 

[Ghoste]

Me too, but that likely makes me wonder whats going on sometimes even more.

[charger_fan_4ever]

Is it supposed to be a halo model though?  Maybe they are trying to keep the exclusive image of it alive by making it less available?  I don't know, just throwing it out there.

Quite possible. Then we get into the same problem with the aftermarket that is still very small for old wedge stuff. There is not much out there for the new challengers cause the market is so small.  Makes a speed freak want to go with brand X as summit has pages of go fast goodies at 1/2 cost. Last time I checked in summit there were like 2 pages for mopar.