Chrysler reports second-quarter profit of $436 million

DETROIT — Chrysler, now majority owned by Italy’s Fiat SpA, reported a $436 million second-quarter profit Monday. It was a huge turn around from a year ago, when the company lost $370million, mainly because it refinanced government bailout loans.

Chrysler’s reliance on North America sales used to be a huge weakness, one that sent the company into bankruptcy protection.

Now it’s a strength. The region is generating profits for the company while losses in Europe and slowing sales in South America and China are drains on other car makers. Chrysler sells almost 90 percent of its cars and trucks in the U.S. and Canada.

The automaker also backed an earlier profit forecast of about $1.5 billion for the year. Such a performance would have been unthinkable three years ago, when Chrysler nearly ran out of cash and needed a government bailout to survive.

Chrysler has emerged from bankruptcy protection with far lower costs, and it’s saved money by using Fiat parts and expertise to engineer new models. Since exiting Chapter 11, it has rolled out a revamped Jeep Grand Cherokee, a highly profitable vehicle that saw sales rise almost 40 percent in the first half of the year. The company also is making money on minivans and Ram pickups, said Joe Phillippi, a former Wall Street analyst who is now president of AutoTrends Consulting in Short Hills, N.J.

“The pickup market is picking up, and that’s helping them a lot,” he said.

Chrysler also is propping up Fiat. Like other automakers, the Italian company is struggling with falling sales as Europeans pull back on car buying. Last week, Ford reported that its second-quarter net income fell 57 percent, largely because of a loss in Europe.

Chrysler’s revenue rose a healthy 23 percent to $16.8 billion in the second quarter. It also paid less in interest last quarter than a year earlier,saving $50 million with the refinancing of its government loans.

The company’s U.S. sales rose 24 percent in the quarter to 436,000, its best sales quarter since it left bankruptcy protection. Its share of the U.S. market went from 10.1 percent last year to 11.5 percent. In Canada, sales rose 7 percent in the first half of the year to just more than 130,000.

There may be some trouble ahead, though. Chrysler, which made $909 million in the first half of the year, is predicting that it will make less than $600 million in the second half as the global and U.S. economies continue to slow. Also, the company’s second-quarter profit was almost 8 percent lower than the first quarter.

Chrysler is giving a conservative full-year profit outlook because it has big manufacturing and advertising costs from launching the new Dodge Dart compact car and a revamped Ram pickup, Phillippi said. But Chief Executive Officer Sergio Marchionne also is being cautious because of a slowing U.S. economy, he said.

“Sergio’s view is under promise and over-deliver,” Phillippi said.