Chrysler Swings to Full-Year Profit, as Sales Surge 44% in January

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. - Chrysler said Wednesday that its US auto sales rose 44 percent last month as the manufacturer reported its strongest January in four years.

The automaker, which is now in an alliance with Italy's Fiat, is benefiting from a far-reaching overhaul of the model line it pushed through in 2010. The company, which filed for bankruptcy in 2009, reported double-digit sales gains every month last year.

Chief Executive Sergio Marchionne said earlier this month that Chrysler is running ahead of its recovery plan as the US economy continues to recover and international sales continue to expand.

Broadly, US new-auto sales are expected to rise 5.8 percent in January from a year earlier and drop 30 percent from December, according to car-shopping website Edmunds.com.

Edmunds predicted Chrysler will post the biggest year-over-year sales gains among major automakers, with sales expected to rise 35 percent.

For January, Chrysler said it sold 101,149 vehicles, 27 percent below December's total. Truck sales rose 25 percent from a year ago, while car sales more than doubled.

Sales for the Dodge brand advanced 29 percent, while sales for the Jeep brand gained 37 percent. The namesake line's sales increased 81 percent.

Chrysler finished the month with an 83-day supply of inventory. It also estimated the industry's US sales in January at a seasonally-adjusted annualized rate of 13.8 million.

Earlier Wednesday, Chrysler reported a fourth-quarter and full-year profit for the first time since emerging from bankruptcy in 2009, as the automaker increased its worldwide shipments of new vehicles and nabbed a bigger piece of the US market.

The company's full-year net income included a $551 million loss on expired debt obligations tied to the early repayment of US Treasury and Canadian government loans in full, which were received at the height of the financial crisis.

Chrysler's annual income figure exceeded objectives set in November 2009, Chrysler said in a statement.

"The house is in good order. We are proud of the work we've done," Marchionne said in a statement.

General Motors, Ford and the other major automakers are expected to report January sales later Wednesday.

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