Chrysler swings into Q2 profit in turnaround

US automaker Chrysler said Monday it swung into profit in the second quarter on a sales surge, as it continues to mark a turnaround under the helm of Italy's Fiat. Chrysler Group reported second-quarter net income of $436 million, compared with a net loss of $370 million a year ago. The third-largest US automaker said that net income increased 141 percent in the second quarter, excluding a $551 million charge taken in the same period a year ago for repayment of a government bailout. In the first quarter, Chrysler had quadrupled profit from a year earlier, to $473 million. Revenue for the second quarter was $16.8 billion, a 23 percent increase from a year earlier driven largely by higher shipments. Worldwide shipments surged 22 percent to 630,000 vehicles. Chrysler also confirmed its 2012 targets of around $65 billion in sales and a net profit of around $1.5 billion. Fiat, which took over management of Chrysler in June 2009 after the US company emerged from bankruptcy proceedings and now owns a controlling stake, plans to publish quarterly earnings Tuesday. Fiat's chief Sergio Marchionne, Chrysler Group chairman and chief executive, praised the US company's pursuit of producing top quality and value brands. "Nowhere is our dedication more evident than in the all-new Dodge Dart, with up to 41 mpg (miles per gallon) highway and levels of customization not typically found in the compact car segment," Marchionne said. The Dodge Dart is a fuel-efficient model based on a Fiat design. Chrysler ended the second quarter with a debt pile of $432 million, sharply lower than the first-quarter level of $1.3 billion and the year-ago level of $2.1 billion.