Chrysler Bounces Back with Net Income of $183M in 2011

KAREN BLEIER/AFP/Getty Images(AUBURN HILLS, Mich.) -- Chrysler is back in business. After suffering a deep loss the year before, and requiring billions as part of a massive taxpayer-funded bailout to stay alive, the automaker reported on Wednesday it ended 2011 with a net income of $183 million.

The gain marks a major turnaround for the company, which saw a net loss of $652 million in 2010. The net income comes even after Chrysler paid $551 million in outstanding obligations to the U.S. Treasury and Canadian governments.

"The house is in good order.  We are proud of the work we’ve done," said Sergio Marchionne, chairman and CEO of Chrysler Group LLC, in a statement. "Now we greet a new year of high expectations with our heads down, forging ahead and focused on executing the goals we’ve set for ourselves as a company."

Along with the net income, the company also said its 2011 net revenue rose 31 percent from the prior year to $55 billion.

Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio

Toyota Reports 77% Drop in Fourth Quarter Profit

TED ALJIBE/AFP/Getty Images(TOKYO) -- Toyota released its latest quarterly report Wednesday, showing a 77 percent drop in profit for the company's fourth quarter.

The Japanese automaker said its net income fell to 25.4 billion yen, or about $314 million, for the three months ended March 31.  During the same time period in 2010, the company made 112.2 billion yen.

Meanwhile, Toyota's fourth quarter sales fell 12 percent and operating profits were down 52 percent from last year.

These sluggish figures are mainly due to the March 11 earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan, causing disruptions in production.

Toyota said on Wednesday that it expects global production to be carried out at 70 percent capacity by June.  Currently, Japanese production plants are operating at half capacity, while North American plants are running at 30 percent capacity due to parts shortages.

Copyright 2011 ABC News Radio

Toyota's Nine-Month Profits Quadruple Despite Drop in Third Quarter

Photo Courtesy - Ted Aljibe/AFP/Getty Images(TOKYO) -- Toyota Motor Corporation released its latest financial report Tuesday, announcing its net income -- despite dropping close to 39 percent in the third quarter -- nearly quadrupled in the nine months leading to the end of 2010.

The Japanese automaker said its net income for the nine months leading to Dec. 31, 2010 went up to 382.7 billion yen from last year's total of 97.2 billion yen.

"Strong vehicle sales, especially in emerging markets such as Asia, Central and South America, and Africa, contributed to the increase in operating income in the nine-month period," TMC Senior Managing Director Takahiko Ijichi said.  "These regions are now increasingly representing one of the pillars supporting our earnings."

The increase comes after Toyota reported its net income dropped to 93.6 billion yen in the third quarter from 153.2 billion yen during the same time period the year before.

Forecasting the new fiscal year, Ijichi said, "In addition to an improving vehicle-sales outlook in Japan, Asia and Russia, the progress of our company-wide profit improvement activities, such as further reduction of variable costs and control over fixed costs, has exceeded our earlier expectations.  As a result, we now expect to overcome the rapid and acute yen appreciation and achieve a substantial increase in operating income.  One can therefore see that our earnings are firmly recovering."

Copyright 2011 ABC News Radio