MARCHIONNE KEEPS FIAT CHRYSLER ON ROAD TO SUCCESS

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV posted fatter profit margins in Europe and North American auto markets, boosting confidence in the carmaker’s plan to bolster its finances by better meeting global appetite for sport utility vehicles. After chief executive officer Sergio Marchionne had warned the first three months would be Fiat Chrysler’s weakest quarter this year, demand for SUVs including the Alfa Romeo Stelvio helped boost margins in Europe to 3.2 per cent, from 1.9 per cent a year earlier. Despite idling two U. S. assembly plants and retooling them to make SUVs and pickups instead of sedans, returns also ticked up in North America. The results were reassuring for investors in what was “potentially a troublesome quarter,” according to George Galliers, an analyst with Evercore ISI. The results show Fiat Chrysler is able to improve earnings in North America, “even on lower volumes and in a more competitive end market.” Marchionne, 64, is remaking Fiat Chrysler’s lineup with the goal of eliminating debt before he retires in 2019.