Chrysler/Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne wants to rush more product into U.S. showrooms ASAP.
Desperately short of new product, Chrysler may get a helping hand from Italian partner Fiat sooner than originally planned, according to the man who heads both companies.
Several compact-based Fiats could be on the market by the end of the 2011 calendar year, said Chairman and CEO Sergio Marchionne, in a conference call.
Meanwhile, said the Canadian-educated Marchionne, Chrysler is on target to beat its financial targets for this year, which could make it possible to push for an IPO, or public stock offering, “as quickly as we can.”
After a series of significant setbacks, Chrysler has been reporting a smattering of positive news, including an unexpected first-quarter operating profit of $143 million and an April sales increase that was the maker’s biggest year-over-year gain since 2005.
But analysts contend that the maker still needs an infusion of new models to truly move ahead. The plan calls for relatively little in the coming months, though the replacement for the Grand Cherokee is considered a first critical step.
The Grand Cherokee, he said, “is the basis on which we’ll try to rebuild the Jeep brand on a global scale.”
Now, it appears, Chrysler could add product in the equally essential compact sedan segment within about 18 months. The as yet-unnamed models would be based on Fiat platforms, and would slot in below the Chrysler Sebring midsize sedan that Chrysler is in the midst of restyling – which Marchionne described as “significant surgery.”
(Chrysler decides to keep Sebring name. Click Here for more.)
“We’ve run extensive clinics on the (compact) vehicles. We’re 98 percent there on styling,” said Marchionne. “My expectation today is we’ll be able to get this car into the market Q4 2011. We continue to work pretty aggressively on timing.”
That’s true when it comes to the financial side, as well, Marchionne suggested. Chrysler hoped to record revenues of between $40 billion and $45 billion for the full year, and generate an operating profit of up to $200 million. But based on initial performance, Marchionne indicated it may revise those numbers upward later this year.
“The fact that we have gotten this far would suggest there’s a strengthening base for us looking at an IPO in a much-shortened time frame than most people had expected,” said the Chrysler/Fiat CEO.
Chrysler’s April sales gain was particularly notable, said Marchionne, considering the company is steering clear of the market’s growing incentive battle, which is led by troubled Toyota. If anything, he pointed out, Chrysler reduced the average giveback, during the first quarter, from $5,000 to $3,500, year-over-year.
“I’m not chasing market share at any price,” stressed Marchionne.
Chrysler, meanwhile, picked up a vote of support from two of the key players in last year’s bailout, Steve Rattner and Ron Bloom, both of whom met with Michigan Senator Debbie Stabenow, yesterday.
Referring to both Chrysler and General Motors, both of which received federal assistance, Bloom said he was “hopeful, cautious” both companies are on the way to recovery. Rattner, meanwhile, concluded that both makers “are hitting all the milestones expected.”