CHRYSLER SHOWS INDUSTRY ITS HEELS

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, February 7, 1992                   TAG: 9202070171
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: B7   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Los Angeles Times
DATELINE: DETROIT                                LENGTH: Short
CHRYSLER SHOWS INDUSTRY ITS HEELS
Chrysler Corp., which nearly broke even in its ongoing operations during the last three months of 1991, on Thursday posted the only quarterly earnings the auto industry has seen since the fourth quarter of 1990.
Wall Street, which had predicted the No. 3 automaker's performance, credited good management in the midst of a punishing sales slump made even more difficult by Chrysler's dearth of freshly designed vehicles.
"To basically break even, given the slack industry volumes . . . is a superb achievement," said Joseph Phillippi, who follows the auto industry for Shearson Lehman Bros. in New York.
Including a $127 million after-tax gain from the sale of its half-interest in Diamond-Star Motors Corp., a joint venture with Mitsubishi Motors, Chrysler said it earned $97 million in the fourth quarter of 1991, compared with a year-earlier profit of $31 million.
Sales came to $8.2 billion, up 7.9 percent. Operating losses for the quarter totaled $30 million. Net losses for the year, including an accounting change in the first quarter, were $795 million; 1990 earnings were $68 million.
Both General Motors Corp. and Ford Motor Co. are expected to report enormous losses next week, assuring that 1991 will be the most disastrous ever for the automakers.

by Bhavesh Jinadra by CNB