Chrysler posted net income of $507 million, compared with $436 million during the same quarter a year earlier. The second quarter marked Chrysler's eighth-consecutive quarter of positive net income. Net revenue increased 7 percent to $18 billion and Chrysler's operating profit also increased 7 percent to $808 million from $755 million a year ago.
"Chrysler Group is poised for a very strong performance in the second half of the year, with the new Jeep Grand Cherokee and Ram 1500 pickup earning best-in-class recognition, and the all-new Jeep Cherokee now rolling off the line," Chrysler Group Chairman and CEO Sergio Marchionne said in a statement accompanying the second-quarter release.
If anything, Marchionne noted that Chrysler faced some challenges during the first half of the year. That was particularly the case for its Jeep brand which had ended production of the Liberty model as it began the changeover of its big Toledo, Ohio, assembly plant to produce the all-new Cherokee.
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"The timing of product launches and capacity increases causes this year's performance to be biased to the second half," the CEO emphasized, "and a continued aggressive drive for excellence and flawless execution will be essential to attain the targets we've set for ourselves."
In fact, Chrysler is likely to miss earlier targets, the company confirmed. It now expects shipping just 2.6 million vehicles for the full year, at the low range of its original estimate for 2013, while the slow start to the year is likely also to result in earnings coming in at the low side of its $1.7 billion to $2.2 billion forecast.
The 7 percent increase in the second-quarter operating profit was primarily because of higher shipment volumes and positive pricing, partially offset by higher industrial and launch-related costs as well as a $151 million charge related to the voluntary safety recall for the maker's various Jeep products announced in July.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration had originally called for a much larger safety campaign to address a possible fire hazard with 2.7 million vehicles. In the end, Chrysler and NHTSA wound up compromising on just 1.2 million.
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Chrysler's modified operating profit was $1.2 billion for the first half of the year.