Jan
3
Chrysler to Announce Record Profit
Filed Under Chrysler News
In a “state of the corporation” speech Jan. 3 at the North American International Auto Show, Chrysler Chairman Robert J. Eaton predicted the report would show 1994 earnings to be the best in the company’s 69-year history.
“In the third quarter of last year alone we earned more money than the company did in 62 of those 69 total years,” Eaton said.
Three years ago, Chrysler was reporting a loss of $538 million for 1991, its share of Big Three losses that topped $7 billion.
But the companies did a dramatic turnaround in two years and in 1994 they capitalized on surging demand for cars and trucks. They also began to enjoy the fruits of painful years of closing excess factories and eliminating thousands of jobs.
In fact, the strong economy and confident consumers put the automakers in a situation last year where the factories they had left couldn’t build enough of high-demand cars and trucks, especially pickups and sport-utility vehicles.
Chrysler ended the year with a cash surplus of $7.5 billion. It eliminated the unfunded portion of its pension plans and in December increased its dividend to shareholders by 60 percent.
The company set sales records for the year in the United States and 21 other countries. Its new Cirrus sedan was named car of the year by Motor Trend magazine and panel of automotive journalists. Eaton said the company’s 80,000 U.S. employees could expect profit-sharing checks that average two months gross pay _ a total estimated in news reports at more than $7,500.
