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Chrysler banks $507 million in Q2, trims 2013 earnings forecast

Chrysler has some good news and some bad news. First, profits were up 16 percent over the second quarter of 2012, bringing the Auburn Hills, Michigan-based manufacturer $507 million on the back of strong demand for trucks and SUVs (a recurring theme this quarter, particularly in the US). Q2 revenue was up as well, from $16.8 billion in 2012 to $18 billion in 2013. The bad news is that the Pentastar's overall earnings forecast for net income in 2013 has been trimmed from $2.2 billion to between $1.7 and $2.2 billion, according to Automotive News.
In addition to the adjusted net income forecast, Chrysler tweaked its operating profit from $3.8 billion to between $3.3 and $3.8 billion. This has gone largely unexplained by Chrysler, perhaps hoping the news of a three-percent increase in its transaction prices for Q2 will allow it to sweep this adjustment under the rug.
The star of the show for Chrysler has been its US sales, which saw a 10-percent jump, both bettering the industry average of eight percent and improving over the same stretch of 2012. As with the increase in transaction prices, Chrysler has the new Ram pickup and Jeep Grand Cherokee to thank. Perhaps most worrying from this report, though, is that every brand in the automaker's stable saw an increase in sales... except for the Chrysler brand itself.

The Dodge Demon's massive torque wrinkles its massive tires

Horsepower doesn't mean a damn thing if a car can't properly put the power down. That's why Dodge has fitted the upcoming Demon with some of the stickiest road-legal rubber available. Those Demon-branded Nitto NT05R drag radials skirt by regulations with just the smallest of margins, and in order to maximize the potential of the 315/40R 18 size tires Dodge increased the car's torque multiplication with a higher stall speed for the torque converter and a 3.09 rear axle. The 12.6-inch-wide tires are fitted to 18x11-inch wheels at all four corners, and they're fatter than those 305-section front tires on the Camaro Z/28 that we raved about years ago. Dodge says the combination of soft, gooey rubber and the new gear ratio gives the Demon about a 15 percent larger tire contact patch, more than twice as much grip, and roughly an 18 percent increase in both converter torque and rear-axle torque multiplication. Simply put, the Dodge Demon moves. You can see the results in the teaser video above, which is titles "Multiplication" and shows the crazy wrinkling of the sidewall that results from putting that torque to the road. We wouldn't be surprised if the inner rim of the wheel needs some grip to keep the tire seated, something Chevy had to do on the last Z/28. There is something wonderful about Dodge's approach to performance cars. While the Ford Mustang and Chevrolet Camaro have moved on from their muscle car upbringings with proper track-focused models, Dodge has stayed true to its roots by developing a machine that's sole intent is traveling a quarter-mile quicker than anything else on the road. Twisty roads may be fun, but there is something wholly and deeply satisfying about going deep into the accelerator with a comical amount of power at your disposal. We can't wait. Related Video: New York Auto Show Dodge Coupe Performance dodge demon dodge hellcat dodge challenger srt demon drag strip

Here are the Challenger SRT Demon's bare-minimum performance numbers

This week's Dodge Challenger SRT Demon teaser video provides what seems like more concrete evidence than any of the others before it. We say it seems that way because the numbers flashed on the screen are likely not showing us everything the car has to offer. So we're looking at these as the minimum performance stats and expecting Dodge to reveal even crazier numbers alongside the car next month. The video also provides some hints at features and modes the car will offer. Let's pick it apart. First off, there's the performance data from the various SRT Performance Pages screens. The 0–60 mph time is 3.0 seconds, which compares well to the "regular" Hellcat's 3.5-second manufacturer claim. Then there are two 0–100 times: 6.08 and 6.8. An eighth-mile time of 6.6 seconds at 125 mph and a quarter-mile time of 0.5 seconds at 129 mph lead us to believe the driver lifted off the throttle in that second eighth-mile and that the car will actually do the quarter in the low 10s. For reference, Dodge claims an 11.2-second quarter for the Hellcat on its street tires and a 10.8 with race slicks. View 7 Photos We also get a cryptic message about the supercharger boost pressure, which suggests it will be higher than the 11.6 psi of the 6.2-liter Hellcat engine. A graph shows it heading up toward 10 psi but the final spike is obscured by a Demon head. Cute. There's a hint at horsepower and torque numbers in a graph on the Dyno page, which shows both peaking around 750. In every shot of this video, the clock is set to 7:57, which we think means it either has that much power or, well, more. We think there's more to it because it appears that part of the graph above the dyno run shown, which would reach to 800 or 850, has been blanked out. A horsepower total of 808 would be a nice complement to the Hellcat's 707, don't you think? We can see from the shift indicator screen that the car will come with or at least offer the eight-speed automatic that's also available in the Hellcat and other Challengers. That's likely to be the best option for drag racing. The Demon's user-defined shift light feature, which lets you choose an optimal shift rpm for each individual gear, also suggests that a six-speed manual will be available. We'll cover the many modes and settings highlighted in this video in a separate post. There's a lot to discuss. Related Video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.