Ram Pickups, Jeep Grand Cherokees Drive Strong Chrysler Results

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By Trey Thoelcke Published
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Chrysler reported preliminary fourth-quarter and full-year 2013 results before markets opened Wednesday. For the quarter, the automaker posted adjusted net income of $659 million on net revenues of $21.2 billion. In the same period a year ago, the company reported adjusted net income of $378 million and net revenues of $17.1 billion. Strong U.S. sales of Ram pickups and Jeep Grand Cherokees helped Chrysler post its 10th-straight profitable quarter.

For the full year, Chrysler posted adjusted net income of $1.8 billion on revenues of $72.1 billion, compared with net income of $1.6 billion on revenues of $65.7 billion. That was its best performance since exiting bankruptcy in 2009.

For the year, worldwide vehicle sales totaled 2.4 million, up 9% from a year ago. That gain was due largely to a 14% increase in U.S. retail sales. However, U.S. fleet sales as a percentage of total U.S. sales fell from 26% in 2012 to 22% in 2013. Sales in the fourth-quarter rose 11% from a year ago to 592,000 vehicles.

Worldwide vehicle shipments came to 2.6 million for the year, up from 2.4 million a year ago. For the fourth quarter, worldwide vehicle shipments totaled 736,000 vehicles, or 20% more than in the same period last year.

U.S. market share was 11.4% for the year, an 11.2% gain from a year ago.

Chrysler set the following targets for 2014:

  • Worldwide vehicle shipments of ~2.8 million
  • Net revenue of ~$80 billion
  • Modified Operating Profit of $3.7-$4.0 billion
  • Net income of $2.3-$2.5 billion
  • Free Cash Flow of $0.5-$1.0 billion

In addition, the newly combined Fiat-Chrysler group is expected to announce Wednesday what its name will be, the country of its legal registration and on which exchanges its stock will be traded.

Photo of Trey Thoelcke
About the Author Trey Thoelcke →

Trey has been an editor and author at 24/7 Wall St. for more than a decade, where he has published thousands of articles analyzing corporate earnings, dividend stocks, short interest, insider buying, private equity, and market trends. His comprehensive coverage spans the full spectrum of financial markets, from blue-chip stalwarts to emerging growth companies.

Beyond 24/7 Wall St., Trey has created and edited financial content for Benzinga and AOL's BloggingStocks, contributing additional hundreds of articles to the investment community. He previously oversaw the 24/7 Climate Insights site, managing editorial operations and content strategy, and currently oversees and creates content for My Investing News.

Trey's editorial expertise extends across multiple publishing environments. He served as production editor at Dearborn Financial Publishing and development editor at Kaplan, where he helped shape financial education materials. Earlier in his career, he worked as a writer-producer at SVE. His freelance editing portfolio includes work for prestigious clients such as Sage Publications, Rand McNally, the Institute for Supply Management, the American Library Association, Eggplant Literary Productions, and Spiegel.

Outside of financial journalism, Trey writes fiction and has been an active member of the writing community for years, overseeing a long-running critique group and moderating workshop sessions at regional conventions. He lives with his family in an old house in the Midwest.

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