2001 Pt Cruiser Limited Edition on 2040-cars

Auto blog

FCA close to paying off debt, outperforming Ford in earnings

FCA boosting output of SUVs, trucks in U.S. Marchionne says the company no longer needs a merger partner FCA expects to pay off all debt this year "There's a very strong likelihood that we will outperform Ford" MILAN/DETROIT — Fiat Chrysler's shift to sell more trucks and SUVs boosted margins yet again in its North American profit center, making Chief Executive Sergio Marchionne confident he can hit most of the final targets of his five-year turnaround plan. FCA has been retooling some U.S. factories to boost output of lucrative sport-utility vehicles and trucks while ending production of some unprofitable sedans. This put the world's seventh-largest carmaker on track to become debt-free by the end of the year, and allowed Marchionne to make good on his promise to close the gap on larger U.S. rivals General Motors (GM) and Ford. "There's a very strong likelihood that we will outperform Ford in terms of operating earnings in 2018," Marchionne told analysts on an earnings call Thursday. "That's something that if I told any of us in the room here that would've been doable five years ago, nobody would have believed it." As the 65-year-old executive prepares to hand over the reins to an internal successor next year, he said the improvements mean the company no longer needed a partner to survive. The carmaker has often been the subject of merger speculation, especially after its unsuccessful 2015 attempt to tie up with GM. "The necessity to find a partner, to try and guarantee our survival, going forward, is put to bed. I mean we're done," Marchionne told analysts on a post-results conference call. North America accounted for 71 percent of earnings last quarter, and profit margins in the region rose to 8 percent from 7.1 percent a year earlier, even as shipments fell 3 percent. Meanwhile Ford's automotive margin for North America slipped to 6.8 percent, down from 8.5 percent a year earlier.FCA trimmed its expectations for 2018 revenues and forecast adjusted operating profit of at least 8.7 billion euros, at the lower end of a previously given range. Analysts said FCA's margin improvement was impressive, and it could be on the cusp of a big boost from its new Jeep Wrangler and Jeep Cherokee models and its Ram 1500 truck. FCA ready to pay off its debt But the Italian-American carmaker expects to cancel all debt during 2018 — possibly by the end of June — and generate around 4 billion euros in net cash by the end of the year.

Bailout dealership cuts did their job as profits surge

Almost five years after US taxpayers bailed out General Motors and Chrysler, a large majority of their slimmed-down dealership networks are posting soaring profits, Bloomberg reports, and contributing to the US auto industry on track this year to deliver 15.4 million vehicles, the most since 16.15 million were delivered in 2007.
Consider another important figure: Bloomberg says that more than 90 percent of GM dealerships are profitable, compared to about half of them in 2008 and 2009. At the start of 2013, GM had 4,355 US dealerships and Chrysler had about 2,600. Compare that with just a few years ago, when GM had 6,246 dealers in 2008, while Chrysler had 3,200 in 2009.
As part of their bankruptcy restructuring, both GM and Chrysler decided that their retail networks contained far too many dealerships and insisted that they be slimmed down. The resultant dealership terminations followed by a rebounding auto market - in part due to better new GM and Chrysler vehicles - have increased the number of sales per dealership to record levels. Many dealers are taking advantage of increasing profits and investing in facility renovations and updates, such as Chrysler dealership owner David Kelleher. He's spending $2 million to expand his store.

FCA registers 'Cuda' trademark, but we wouldn't get our hopes up

It seems Chrysler has submitted a trademark with the US Patent and Trademark Office for the name "Cuda," as first reported by Motor1. Fans of Mopar will instantly recognize this as the abbreviated name of Plymouth's classic Barracuda muscle car, which occasionally bared the shortened nomenclature. Though this might seem like a sign that FCA is considering a revival of the beloved machine, we wouldn't get our hopes up. See, rumors of a 'Cuda or Barracuda revival have circulated pretty much since the moment Dodge showed the modern Challenger and when it went on sale. And some of those rumors have involved the re-registering of the 'Cuda trademark, even as far back as 2010. Over the years, each rumor died a quiet death as time went on and no 'Cudas appeared on dealer lots. There is one rumor that's recent enough to still have a slim chance of realization, circa 2015 to be exact. It predicts a smaller Challenger-based car called Barracuda that could appear as a Dodge in both coupe and drop-top versions. However, we doubt it will come true, since FCA doesn't exactly have a large development budget, and we're not sure what the company would have to gain by making another sports car to sell below the Challenger. Odds are, it would cannibalize sales from the older, completely developed, and thus more profitable Challenger. Really, this trademark filing is probably just a defensive move for Chrysler. It will ensure that no one else can slip in and snag the name for their own vehicle. It should also help ensure that Chrysler has the rights to use the name on other products such as memorabilia. Sorry to crush your dreams. Related Video: News Source: US Patent and Trademark Office via Motor1Image Credit: Chrysler Rumormill Chrysler Dodge Coupe Performance hemi cuda