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Chief Executive Mike Manley said customers were
responding "enthusiastically" to the roll out of the new models
and that the Italian-American company would continue efforts to
strengthen underperforming parts of its business.
"Based on these factors and our first quarter results being in
line with our expectations, we are confident in our 2019
guidance," he said.
Adjusted earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) fell 29 percent
to 1.07 billion euros ($1.2 billion) in the January-March
period, as sales and margins weakened in FCA's North American
profit center. Analysts had expected a 1.31 billion-euro
adjusted EBIT, according to a Reuters poll.
"The whole quarter was powered by RAM (pickup trucks) while the
rest of the company was lagging," said Michelle Krebs, an
analyst at Cox Automotive.
"The question is whether the strong performance by RAM is going
to be enough to give FCA a push moving forward."
Global sales dropped 5 percent to 24.48 billion euros, versus
estimates of 26.49 billion euros.
Operating profit margins in North America fell to 6.5 percent,
down 90 basis points on the same period a year ago.
Analysts and investors have been worried about FCA's
over-reliance on one region, which accounted for nearly all - 98
percent - of profits in the quarter, and given its loss-making
operations in both Asia and Europe.
Milan-listed shares in FCA fell 2.8 percent after the results,
before rebounding to trade up 1.2 percent at 1200 GMT.
"The numbers are pretty weak, but what's good is that they
confirmed their guidance, and this is giving support to FCA
shares," a Milan based analyst told Reuters.
(Additional reporting by Stefano Rebaudo; Editing by Susan
Fenton and Mark Potter)
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