Ford Motor Company (F), General Motors Company (GM): Chrysler Profits Fall as Costs Rise

Its adoption by Fiat – a company that had been shut out of the U.S. market for a generation – was intended to give both automakers the global scale to compete in the automotive major leagues. So far, the mash-up has worked better than most observers anticipated: Shortly after taking control of Chrysler, Fiat mounted a high-speed makeover of Chrysler’s neglected product line that resulted in a series of surprisingly competitive vehicles.

But Chrysler will have to carry Fiat for a while longer
Now, Marchionne is looking to Chrysler to carry Fiat, which has been hammered by wretched economic conditions in its home base of southern Europe and is expected to post a big loss later on Monday. Among other things, Fiat has helped Chrysler expand overseas: The company is bringing several of its Jeeps to China, for instance, where SUVs are a white-hot product category at the moment.

But while Chrysler’s profits continue to be encouraging, Marchionne is right: Getting this mashed-up automaker safely through the next few years remains a daunting task.

The article Chrysler Profits Fall as Costs Rise originally appeared on Fool.com and is written by John Rosevear.

Motley Fool contributor John Rosevear owns shares of Ford and General Motors. The Motley Fool recommends Ford and General Motors. The Motley Fool owns shares of Ford.

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