Amid recalls and hacking, FCA announces Q2 profits jump 69%

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) reported robust growth in North American profit in the second quarter Thursday and boosted its full-year forecast, as the world’s seventh-largest carmaker narrowed the gap with its bigger US rivals.

Fiat Chrysler reported its net profit in the three months ending June 30 was 333 million euros ($364 million), compared with 197 million euros in the same period past year. Adjusted EBIT was 1.53 billion euros, compared to 968 million euros a year ago.

The company said Monday it will pay a $70-million fine to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), and a further $20 million on “consumer outreach activities and incentives”.

Fiat Chrysler says 57,000 2009-2011 Ram 1500 and Dakota pickups and 2009 Aspen and Durango SUVs are eligible, as are 94,000 2008-2012 heavy duty Ram pickups and 24,000 2008-2012 Ram Chassis Cab trucks.

Deliveries across all brands in North America rose by eight percent, helping offset a 32-percent decline in Latin America. The company claims that the $20 million earmarked for the campaign will be more than enough to cover its costs in buying and/or repairing recalled vehicles. Another Dollars 15 million would be assessed if the company violates the agreement. “That’s not an excuse and we must and will do better about this”, he said.

“We need to achieve 100% compliance”.

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV (NYSE:FCAU) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th.

Improved earnings in the North American region, which contributed more than half of FCA’s profits last year, should help Chief Executive Sergio Marchionne in his search for a partner to boost scale and share costs to build greener and smarter cars. But he said the product portfolio has always been fluid. “That has continued unabated”, he said. Asian sales also slipped, by 15 percent, due to increased competition in China, although revenues were in line with a year earlier. FCA earned revenue of $32.26 billion (29.2 billion euros), up $6.5 billion (5.9 billion euros) from the previous second quarter, which is an absolute increase of 25 percent, though up just 10 percent based on constant exchange rates.

Ferrari’s revenues were up 5 percent on higher volumes, while Maserati’s slipped 17 percent as demand dropped for the Ghibli and Quattroporte models.