US automaker Chrysler says Q1 profit quadruples to $473M on strong domestic sales

Chrysler said today its net profit more than quadrupled in the first quarter of 2012 as US sales of the Jeep Wrangler SUV, Dodge Challenger sedan and Ram pickup soared 40 percent.

It was the best financial result for the US automaker in 13 years and comes three years after the company nearly collapsed, according to the Associated Press.

Chrysler’s net profit soared to $473 million in the first three months of the year, compared with $116 million in the same quarter a year earlier, and exceeding its entire profit for 2011, the New York Times reported.

US sales increased by 40 percent year-on-year, boosting the company’s market share in the world’s second-largest auto market after China to 11.2 percent from 9.2 percent, according to the company’s statement.

Revenue increased 25 percent to $16.4 billion.

“I have really no bad news to tell you,” Chrysler chief executive Sergio Marchionne told US analysts on a conference call, according to the Financial Times.

Chrysler emerged from bankruptcy in 2009 after the automaker and its financing arm received a $12.5 billion government bailout.

The Financial Times said the company has repaid all but $1.3 billion of the original loan and the US Treasury has said it expects to write off the remaining debt.