Ram Trucks Help Push FCA To Record Q2 Profits:

Yesterday, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) released its financial results for the second quarter of 2019, along with their outlook for the remainder of the year. While the automotive industry continues to slow down, worldwide FCA is sticking to their earlier earnings guidance for the rest of 2019. 

“We continue to deliver strong performance in North America and LATAM. Robust demand for our new products, along with steps we’ve taken to exert discipline across all of our businesses, have generated the momentum to achieve our full-year 2019 guidance.” – Mike Manley, CEO of FCA

FCA reported record second-quarter profits in the North American market with an adjusted EBIT (Earnings Before Interest and Taxes) of 1.565 Billion Euros. FCA attributes much of their success in the North American Market to the Ram Brand which has had much success with the all-new 2019 Ram 1500 (DT), Ram 1500 Classic (DS), and a successful launch of the 2019 Ram Heavy Duty models. Through the first half of the year, Ram now holds 27.9% of the full-sized pickup market share, up 7% from the same period last year. 

The Jeep Gladiator is also outperforming FCAs expectations with production now running at full speed, earlier than anticipated. Back in June, the Gladiator held 7.7% of midsized pickup sales for the month. 

The record profits come even with vehicle shipments being down 12% compared to Q2 of 2018, which is attributed mainly to dealer stock reductions of approximately 80 thousand units. This year FCA held 12.4% of the U.S automotive market, mirroring their position from last year while the market as a whole was down 2% compared to the previous year. FCA also continued to work on the Mack Avenue plant, preparing it for the next-generation Jeep Grand Cherokee and mid-sized three-row Jeep SUV.

The overall adjusted EBIT Margin (operating profit in relation to sales) for Q2 2019 was 8.9% for the North American market.