More confirmations from Chrysler for Sergio Marchionne. The US group taken over by Fiat closed the best month of October since 2007 with a 27% increase in sales in the US compared to a year earlier. Cars sold thus rose by 114.512 units, to a total of 1.123.923 units, for a leap of 23%. Chrysler thus closed the month with an inventory of 299.896 units, which corresponds to 68 days of supplies.
The driving force behind the month's performance was above all the dealerships, which sold 40% more cars than the previous year and well above the average of +10% recorded by the entire auto sector. The Chrysler group thus marks the nineteenth consecutive month of sales increase, as also underlined by the head of sales in the USA, Reid Bigland. The most popular models were the Chrysler 200, the Jeep Compass and Liberty, the Dodge Journey and Avenger and the Ram Pickup.
Here's how the individual brands fared. In October, Jeep recorded a 25% increase in sales compared to a year earlier (to 35.733 units): above all, the 566% leap of the Compass stands out. Overall, 10 Jeeps were sold in the first 339.526 months of the year (+44% year on year). In the same month, Chrysler recorded an increase of 28%, to 21.244 units, while from the beginning of the year the increase was 2% (178.795 cars).
Dodge posted a 25% sales increase to 33.734 units and a 15% increase to 379.175 units in the first ten months of the year. Finally, Ram benefited from a 21% increase in sales for the month to 21.836 and a 24% increase between January and October (to 210.601 units). The Fiat 500 sold in the USA amounted to 1.965 in the month for a total of 15.826 since its launch. Chrysler's sales numbers come after the positive indications of a few days ago: on the occasion of the third quarter results, Chrysler revised upwards its targets for the whole of 2011.
Specifically, it raised adjusted net income from a range of $200 million to $500 million to approximately $600 million, while cash flow estimates were raised from $1 billion to $1,2 billion. Net sales are expected to be $55 billion, with operating profit of $2 billion and EBITDA of $4,8 billion. Just in the third quarter, the Fiat group released data that for the first time fully reflect the contribution of Chrysler.
