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Chrysler Q3 profits surge to $611M but per-unit profits trouble

Chrysler Group has announced its third-quarter financial results a little later than its crosstown rivals at General Motors and Ford, but the company has reason to celebrate thanks to strong numbers across the board.
The biggest attention-grabber from the automaker is that its net income was up 32 percent in the third quarter to $611 million, compared to $464 million over the same period last year. Modified operating profit was also strong at $946 million - a 10 percent gain. Furthermore, net revenue grew as well to $20.7 billion - 18 percent higher Q3 2013.
Growing sales pushed the strong financials. Chrysler Group sold about 711,000 vehicles worldwide for the quarter, up 18 percent from a year ago. Things looked especially good in the US, where its market share grew to 12.3 percent, versus 11.2 percent in Q3 2013.

Supplier says Jeep Cherokee hack only affects FCA cars

Harman doesn't think that drivers need to worry about any further hacks of its products. The company supplies FCA's Uconnect infotainment system where a software vulnerability is responsible for a 1.4-million vehicle recall. "This experimental hack is unique to Chrysler," Harman CEO Dinesh Paliwal said to Automotive News. "This does not exist, to our assessment, in any other vehicle." The reason that the company wouldn't be involved is that automakers aren't simply plugging in the existing infotainment systems into new vehicles. According to Paliwal, Harman supplies the unit, but FCA and other automakers are able to make additional modifications for their vehicles. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has also recently taken up the question of broader software vulnerabilities in Harman's products. On July 29, the agency began investigating the company to check for similarities between Uconnect and the infotainment systems supplied to other automakers. The Jeep hack became national news when two researchers were remotely able to take control of a Cherokee. The vulnerability in the cellular connection even gave control over the brakes. "Once people get in the car and get into the CAN bus, then you can start to mimic and mess up many, many things in the car," Paliwal said to Automotive News. Politicians immediately responded with legislation to create federal standards in hopes of protecting drivers better. NHTSA also opened an investigation to make sure the automaker's software update actually solved the problem. Related Video:

Ferrari IPO could come any day now

According to Bloomberg, Fiat Chrysler Automotive Sergio Marchionne told reporters at the Toronto Global Forum that the Ferrari IPO could come any day now. "We are days away from filing the prospectus," said Marchionne, who declined to confirm whether rumors of involvement from UBS Group AG, JPMorgan Chase & Co and Goldman Sachs Group were accurate. In addition to an expected filing in New York, Marchionne hinted that a secondary filing could take place in Milan, Italy. Although the FCA Chief Executive didn't offer any expected sum for Ferrari, he had previously suggested that an IPO for the iconic Italian brand could be worth $1 billion, ringing the registers to the tune of 10 percent of the company's $11 billion valuation. According to Bloomberg, that potential sum is significantly higher than its own internal figures indicate after taking a poll of analysts who we assume must know a heck of a lot more about such things than we do. Considering how close we apparently are to the actual filing, though, we probably won't have to wait long to find out. Another hot topic any time Sergio is the subject of reporter questioning is a potential merger with General Motors or another large, full-line automaker. It seems there aren't any new revelations to reveal on the consolidation front, though Marchionne told reporters there were no plans to mount a hostile takeover of GM or any "other, less optimal" partners. Related Video: News Source: BloombergImage Credit: STR/AFP/Getty Earnings/Financials Chrysler Ferrari Fiat Sergio Marchionne FCA