Chrysler profit up 22 percent; 2013 sales outlook affirmed

Reuters – 4 hours ago


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  • A 1955 Chrysler 300 is seen on display at the Walter P. Chrysler museum in Auburn Hills, Michigan June 19, 2009. REUTERS/Molly Riley



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By Bernie Woodall and Jennifer Clark

DETROIT/MILAN (Reuters) - Chrysler Group LLC on Wednesday said its net profit for the third quarter rose 22 percent to $464 million (289 million pounds), and it confirmed its full-year sales forecast of $72 billion to $75 billion.

The No. 3 U.S. automaker's net sales rose 13.5 percent to $17.56 billion in the quarter.
Fiat SpA (MIL:F), which owns 58.5 percent of and has management control of Chrysler, will report its quarterly earnings later on Wednesday. (Analysts' estimates:http://link.reuters.com/byp34v)
Shares of Fiat rose 1.5 percent after Chrysler affirmed its forecast for 2013, which also includes net income of $1.7 billion to $2.2 billion and global shipments of about 2.6 million vehicles.
Analysts had been expecting Chrysler to trim its full-year forecast. As goes Chrysler so goes Fiat in recent earnings, as the once-floundering American company has become the profit centre for the Italian parent, which sells most of its cars in the downtrodden European market.
Chrysler said profit in the quarter was limited by "higher industrial and launch-related costs and vehicle content enhancements."
The company said it had shipped 593,000 vehicles in the quarter, up 6 percent from a year earlier. The midsize SUV Jeep Cherokee, which replaced a vehicle Chrysler no longer makes, began shipping to North American dealers last week, after being delayed for about two months.
Sales of the Cherokee had previously been expected to boost the company's third-quarter earnings.
Chrysler's cash at the end of the quarter was $11.5 billion.


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