Chrysler reports strongest quarter in 13 years

Geoff Robins / AFP - Getty Images

The 2013 Dodge Dart is unveiled during the 2012 Detroit auto show.

By msnbc.com staff

Chrysler put its dark days further behind it Thursday, reporting its strongest quarterly results in 13 years.

The Auburn Hills, Mich., automaker said its net income more than quadrupled in the first quarter of 2012, rising to $473 million as U.S. sales soared.

U.S. market share increased to 11.2 percent for the first quarter, up from 9.2 percent a year ago, driven primarily by a 40 percent increase in U.S. retail sales, Chrysler said. For the first time in its history, Chrysler was the quarterly market leader in Canada with a share of 15 percent, the automaker said.

â??We continue to deliver on the targets in our five-year plan and are now focused on successfully launching the Dodge Dart, a car that is a true melding of Chryslerâ??s and Fiatâ??s engineering and styling strengths,â?? Sergio Marchionne, Chryslerâ??s chairman and CEO, said in a statement.

The new Dodge Dart will be Chryslerâ??s first good compact car for decades, and the automaker is set to release an updated version of its top-selling Ram pickup truck.

Chrysler, now controlled by Italian auto company Fiat, came close to bankruptcy when it ran out of money at the end of 2008 after a series of business missteps. The carmaker needed $12.5 billion from U.S. taxpayers to survive.

Of the original Chrysler bailout, $11.2 billion has been repaid, and the U.S. Treasury Department says it won't recover the remaining $1.3 billion, the AP reported.

Jeep Brand Celebrates Year of the Dragon With an Inspired Wrangler

by Mike Driehorst

April 23, 2012 11:41 AM
Americans know it: Jeep® is as iconic a name as any in the automotive world.

And the world knows it as well. Of Chrysler Group's various brands, Jeep is the most global. During 2011, 108,649 Jeep vehicles were sold outside of North America.

While the U.S. and Canada are the top two markets, which country is #3 for Jeep brand?

Answer: China, with 22,294 sold last year, up 81% from 2010. Through the date of this blog post, we've already sold 10,477 Jeep vehicles in China during 2012.

To demonstrate Jeep brand's commitment to the China market, Jeep brand introduced the Jeep Wrangler Dragon design concept at the 2012 Beijing International Automotive Exhibition on April 23, 2012 (Beijing time).

Why Dragon?

This year is the year of the dragon. In Chinese culture, the dragon symbolizes strength and power, and is an aspirational character normally associated with royalty and good fortune. It was those characteristics that inspired the designers in Chryslerâ??s CTC office in Auburn Hills.

Wrangler Dragon is the first Jeep vehicle designed specifically with Chinese elements in mind. As you can see on these photos and on the Jeep Wrangler Dragon Flickr set:

• Design concept features a tone-on-tone dragon motif, inspired by the Year of the Dragon
• Vehicle is painted black with numerous bronze-gold details, including inside the front grille slats, headlamp surrounds, Jeep badging, Chinese dragon character side badge, and wheel outer edge and center cap
• Exterior has tone-on-tone dragon decal that starts on the hood and runs down the driverâ??s side of the vehicle, as well as a dragon motif under the hood and on the spare tire cover
• Inside, the black and bronze-gold theme continues with black leather seating surfaces and bronze-gold accents throughout

Most Hybrid Drivers in Boston Don't Buy Hybrids Again, Says Edmunds.com

SANTA MONICA, Calif. â?? April 17, 2012 â?? Only 38.4 percent of hybrid vehicle owners in Boston chose to purchase a hybrid again when they returned to the car market in 2011, according to an Edmunds.com analysis of new car registration data provided by Polk. The rate exceeds the national average of 35 percent, but suggests that hybrid car owners â?? both in Boston and nationwide â?? are finding attractive and affordable alternatives among the selection of gasoline-powered vehicles.

"Even as gas prices soar, the economics of buying a hybrid vehicle don't make much sense in many cases," says Edmunds.com Chief Economist Lacey Plache. "The lineup of hybrid vehicles and their premium price points just aren't appealing enough to consumers, especially given the growing strength of fuel economy among compact and midsize competitors."

Edmunds.com found several examples where the "payback period" â?? or the amount of time in which a driver can use fuel savings to make up the price premium between a hybrid and its gasoline-powered alternative â?? exceeds the six-year average that car owners typically hold on to their vehicles. With gasoline at $4.00 per gallon, it would take 10 years to make up the more than $4,000 price difference between a Honda Civic Hybrid and a Honda Civic. It would take seven years at $4.00/gallon to close the gap between a $22,800 Toyota Prius and a $16,800 Toyota Corolla.

By Edmunds.com's count, 46 of 327 vehicles on sale in the 2011 and 2012 model years were capable of delivering 30 miles per gallon, combined city and highway fuel efficiency, according to the EPA's formula. That is a nearly 30 percent increase from mid-2011, when Edmunds.com compiled its first list of 30-mpg combined vehicles. In 2010, only one vehicle â?? the Smart ForTwo â?? achieved 40 mpg. Today the 40 mpg club is up to nine vehicles and growing.

Does it make economic sense to trade in your gas-guzzling car for a more fuel-efficient vehicle? Edmunds.com helps car buyers crunch the numbers with its Gas Guzzler Calculator.

About Edmunds.com, Inc. (http://www.edmunds.com/help/about/index.html)

Edmunds.com, the premier online resource for automotive information, launched in 1995 as the first automotive information Web site. Its acclaimed mobile site, Edmunds.com Android App and five-star Edmunds iPhone and iPad apps make car pricing and other research tools available for car shoppers at dealerships and on the go. Its automotive enthusiast web site, InsideLine.com, is the most-read car publication of its kind. Its highly regarded mobile site and iPhone app features the wireless Web's most comprehensive gallery of automotive photos and videos. Edmunds.com Inc. is headquartered in Santa Monica, California, and maintains a satellite office in suburban Detroit. Follow Edmunds.com on Twitter@edmunds and fan Edmunds.com on Facebook.